Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability
This article analyzes the experiences of the small Shuar community of Kenkuim (Congüime) in the Ecuadorian Amazon that since 2016 carries out gold mining through the communitarian company Exploken Minera. The case is unique in South America, not only for being the only example of indigenous mining g...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Zaragoza, Cátedra de Solidaridad y Ciudadanía Global
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ried.unizar.es/index.php/revista/article/viewFile/570/570.es |
| _version_ | 1826904230081855488 |
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| author | Rickard Lalander María Beatriz Eguiguren-Riofrío Ana Karina Vera Gabriela Espinosa Maleny Reyes Magnus Lembke |
| author_facet | Rickard Lalander María Beatriz Eguiguren-Riofrío Ana Karina Vera Gabriela Espinosa Maleny Reyes Magnus Lembke |
| author_sort | Rickard Lalander |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyzes the experiences of the small Shuar community of Kenkuim (Congüime) in the Ecuadorian Amazon that since 2016 carries out gold mining through the communitarian company Exploken Minera. The case is unique in South America, not only for being the only example of indigenous mining granted formal state concession, but also for its green profile, without the usage of chemicals or heavy metals. Within a setting of expanding extractivism conditioned by global capitalism and a theoretical framework of a decolonial and postcapitalist approach to sustainability, this ethnographic study deals with the expressions of resistance and adaptation of the Kenkuim community and how socio-cultural, ecological, and economic values are articulated by Shuar actors in relation to the new indigenous mining project. The results indicate that this mining experiment constitutes a meaningful alternative to destructive extractivism in line with decolonial and postcapitalist reasoning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:53:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad9e9e2e6fb84e53bb40addb6ae1fced |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2254-2035 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-17T08:08:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Zaragoza, Cátedra de Solidaridad y Ciudadanía Global |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad9e9e2e6fb84e53bb40addb6ae1fced2025-01-03T00:05:12ZengUniversidad de Zaragoza, Cátedra de Solidaridad y Ciudadanía GlobalRevista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo2254-20352021-11-0110217820210.26754/ojs_ried/ijds.570Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to SustainabilityRickard Lalander0María Beatriz Eguiguren-Riofrío1Ana Karina Vera2Gabriela Espinosa3Maleny Reyes4Magnus Lembke5Södertörn University (Sweden)Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja/UTPL (Ecuador)Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja/UTPL (Ecuador)Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja/UTPL (Ecuador)Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja/UTPL (Ecuador)Stockholm University (Sweden)This article analyzes the experiences of the small Shuar community of Kenkuim (Congüime) in the Ecuadorian Amazon that since 2016 carries out gold mining through the communitarian company Exploken Minera. The case is unique in South America, not only for being the only example of indigenous mining granted formal state concession, but also for its green profile, without the usage of chemicals or heavy metals. Within a setting of expanding extractivism conditioned by global capitalism and a theoretical framework of a decolonial and postcapitalist approach to sustainability, this ethnographic study deals with the expressions of resistance and adaptation of the Kenkuim community and how socio-cultural, ecological, and economic values are articulated by Shuar actors in relation to the new indigenous mining project. The results indicate that this mining experiment constitutes a meaningful alternative to destructive extractivism in line with decolonial and postcapitalist reasoning.http://ried.unizar.es/index.php/revista/article/viewFile/570/570.escongüimedecolonialitypostcapitalismresistance-adaptationshuar communitysustainable indigenous mining |
| spellingShingle | Rickard Lalander María Beatriz Eguiguren-Riofrío Ana Karina Vera Gabriela Espinosa Maleny Reyes Magnus Lembke Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo congüime decoloniality postcapitalism resistance-adaptation shuar community sustainable indigenous mining |
| title | Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability |
| title_full | Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability |
| title_fullStr | Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability |
| title_short | Indigenous Gold Mining in the Kenkuim Shuar Community: A Decolonial and Postcapitalist Approach to Sustainability |
| title_sort | indigenous gold mining in the kenkuim shuar community a decolonial and postcapitalist approach to sustainability |
| topic | congüime decoloniality postcapitalism resistance-adaptation shuar community sustainable indigenous mining |
| url | http://ried.unizar.es/index.php/revista/article/viewFile/570/570.es |
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