“Greening,” the Highest Stage of Extractivism in Latin America

Abstract

Centred in ecosocialist and ecofeminist perspectives, this paper examines the negative impact of extractivism as an economic activity that removes a huge amount of natural resources, and evaluates how global capital’s ecological management, which I call “greening,” has developed in Central and South America. Three questions are addressed: how the regional and local network on the governance of nature in Latin America has been organized; why extractivism strikes women hardest; and to what extent and how movements against extractivism have become involved in contesting global trends as well as national and local policies supporting them. The paper exposes the United Nations as a key force in the permanent model of colonialism, economic dependence, patriarchy, and geopolitical power characterizing extractivism.