Towards a Political Ecology of Resource Appropriation

315 Pages·2017·3.62 MB·English

Consuming Landscapes: Towards a Political Ecology of
Resource Appropriation
Author
Franks, Daniel
Published
2008
Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
School
Griffith School of Environment
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1105
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Downloaded from
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365487
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Consuming Landscapes: Towards a
Political Ecology of Resource
Appropriation

By Daniel Franks, BSc (Hons)

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy

October, 2007

Griffith School of Environment, Centre for Governance and Public Policy,
Griffith University

Supervisors: Dr Michael Howes & Dr Giorel Curran
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Removal Notice

The following figures have been removed from the digital version of this thesis for
copyright reasons:

Figures 0.1-0.3 (pp. 2-3)

Figure 2.7 (p. 63), refer to
http://www.scratch.com.au/archive/displayimage.php?pos=-62

Figure 4.1 (p.116)

Figure 6.1 (p.187)

Figure 7.1 (p. 236)

Figure 7.2b (p. 242), refer to
http://www.otraco.com/admin/photolibrary/photolib/71.jpg

Figure 7.3 (p. 247), refer to http://www.fcx.com/envir/pdf/riverine/riverine2006.pdf

Abstract
In this thesis I develop a political-ecological model of Resource Appropriation called Landscape
Consumption. Resource Appropriation, the intentional taking by a social group(s) from one
society of the resources of another sovereign political society without consent, is a pervasive
and persistent social phenomenon. Resource Appropriation may manifest between states,
nations, corporations or other forms of social organisation and may range from the direct looting
of resources, occupation of land and colonialism, to the enforcement of disadvantageous
economic, political and trading relationships. Consistent with the field of Political Ecology this
thesis attempts to account for the broader environmental and social transformations that
accompany Resource Appropriation and the underlying political and economic processes. In
doing so the thesis contributes to the growing collection of literature that explores the
relationship between natural resource development and social and ecological transformation.
The Landscape Consumption model argues that Resource Appropriation is not simply achieved
by the power of an army or a type of economic instrument but through a broad array of socio-
ecological techniques employed by a dominant group(s) that reshapes the relations of space
and place, perception and experience, society and ecology. The model draws on three themes:
domination, detachment and consumption. Landscape Domination refers to the broader
political, social, economic and ecological control imposed by a dominant social group(s) in the
pursuit of a resource. While a single resource may be the focus of appropriation in practice
broader social and ecological domination is required. Landscape Detachment argues that such
domination facilitates the detachment of the dominated from the social and biogeophysical
processes of information feedback. Landscape Consumption hypothesises that the combined
effects of domination and detachment result in a deterioration of both societies and ecologies.
The process of consumption relates not only to the resources directly sought by dominant social
groups but also to the consequent deterioration of the function, abundance and diversity of the
landscapes where the resources were appropriated.
The Landscape Consumption model responds to the transformed power relationships that
characterise the contemporary international political environment. Resource Appropriation over
the past decades has shifted from direct nation-state domination (colonialism and neo-
colonialism) to more complex and less formal forms that have involved interstate and
international institutions and actors, argued here to constitute Empire. The thesis argues that
the project of Empire includes multilateral economic systems and institutions built since the
Second World War, the discourses of neoliberalism and trade liberalisation, expansion of
corporate power, and also the various foreign and economic policies pursued by nation-states;
but that the agency of Empire is more accurately attributable to the complex of interconnections
and relationships between these heterogenous elements and thus requires a new conception of
sovereignty. The model adopts a landscape approach to account for the complex sovereignty
and agency that has accompanied this shift. Landscape provides the means to explain the
multiple interactions between social groups and biogeophysical environs grounded by their
location in geographic space. Landscape is a theoretical tool that provides insight into the socio-
ecological processes, discourses, relationships and actors that contribute to domination for
Resource Appropriation and is flexible enough to conceptualise the agency of diverse social
groups. The model is useful in this context as Empires do not arise to dominate ecology and
society in one totalising moment, but are built and defended landscape by landscape.
To test the Landscape Consumption model the thesis makes a historical comparative analysis
of two case studies, in Chile and West Papua, where previously autonomous landscapes were
integrated or re-integrated into larger political-economic entities through practices of domination.
The case studies draw on a wide variety of sources, such as declassified government and
military records, fieldwork, and interviews to investigate copper Resource Appropriation during
the time period of 1955–2005. The case studies reveal the multiple processes and actors
involved in Resource Appropriation and confirm the applicability of the Landscape Consumption
model. The case studies suggest that while Resource Appropriation does lead to broader
deterioration of environmental and social resources, dominated landscapes can mitigate the
extent of Landscape Consumption by mobilising to challenge the dominance of imposed
landscapes.

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The Nation and Its Sorrows Speak
They have struck me
pained,
like a piece of land,
scarred,
with wounds that do not heal,
with beatings and falls,
They have struck me
like a never-ending curse,
like a home left to ruin and bitterness.
Oh, the weight of history!
I am filled with the treachery and thefts,
every added humiliation grows,
each new misery accumulates.
The imperial eagle tears at my insides
and powerful men divide among themselves
my seas and mountains,
my rivers and deserts,
my valleys and streams.
These are my afflictions,
great and never ending:
the pain of my mangled ground,
the pain of my impoverished land,
the pain of my son betrayed,
the pain of my battle lost…

Subcomandante Marcos
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
September 22, 1994
(2001, 52-53)

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Statement of Originality

This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university.
To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously
published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the
thesis itself.
Material in Chapter One of this thesis was published under my lead authorship in a
modified form in: Franks, D, and Mackenzie, J. 2005. Pleading with the Emperor: Pax
Americana and the Transformation of Environmental Governance. Griffith International
Journal of the Environment, Iss. 1, No. 1.
Material in Chapter Two was published under my authorship in a modified form in:
Franks, D. 2004. Landscape Transformation for Resource Appropriation in the Third
and Fourth World. Refereed paper presented at the Ecopolitics XV conference,
'Environmental Governance: Transforming Regions and Localities,' November 13-14,
Macquarie University Sydney.

Daniel Marc Franks,
October, 2007
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Table of Contents
Title Page i
Abstract iii
Statement of Originality v
Table of Contents vi
List of Figures ix
List of Tables x
Acknowledgments xi
Acronyms xii
Introduction 1
Research Problem 1
Research Field 5
Research Question 6
Method 7
Statement of Argument 11
Contribution of Thesis 14
Thesis Rationale 15
Chapter Outline 17
Part A: Developing the Landscape Consumption Model 17
Part B: Testing the Landscape Consumption Model 19
Part A: Developing the Landscape Consumption Model 21
Chapter One
Empire and the Appropriation of Resources 23
The Re-emergence of Empire 23
Introducing Three Schools of Empire 24
Pax Americana – Perpetual War for American Peace 25
Co-operative Liberal Humanitarian Empire 28
The ‘Rebellious Slaves Who Threaten Empire's Order’ 30
The Constitution of Empire 31
Resource Sovereignty and Appropriation 36
Conclusion 40
Chapter Two
From Imperialism to Colliding Ecologies:
Assessing Theories of Resource Appropriation 43
Introduction 43
Imperialism 44
Early Theorists of Imperialism 45
Corporate and Minerals Imperialism 49
Critiques and Contributions of Imperialism 54
Dependency Theory 56
The Structuralist School of Development Economics 57
The Dependency School of Latin American Political Economy 59
Critiques and Contributions of Dependency 64
Business Conflict Model 68
Critiques and Contributions of the Business Conflict Model 70
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The Resource Curse 71
The Resource Curse and Economic Growth 73
The Resource Curse and Democracy 74
The Resource Curse and Civil War 75
Critiques and Contributions of the Resource Curse 76
Corporate Globalisation and Development 78
Development and the World Bank 80
The IMF and Structural Adjustment 82
Free Trade and the World Trade Organisation 82
Critiques and Contributions of Corporate Globalisation 84
Fourth World Theory 85
Critiques and Contributions of Fourth World Theory 88
Ecological Imperialism and Colliding Ecologies 89
The Grunting, Neighing, Buzzing, and World Altering Avalanche 91
The Making of the Third World 93
Colliding Ecologies 94
Critiques and Contributions of Ecological Imperialism and Colliding Ecologies 95
Conclusion 97
Chapter Three
Landscape Consumption:
Towards a Model of Resource Appropriation 99
Introduction 99
Landscape: Politics and Perspectives 100
Emergence 101
The Symbolism of Landscape 103
Inscapes and Social Landscapes 104
Vernacular and Contested Landscapes 106
Landscape Consumption: Towards a Political Ecology of Resource Appropriation 108
Landscape Domination 108
Landscape Detachment 110
Landscape Consumption 110
Conclusion 111
Part B: Testing the Landscape Consumption Model 113
Chapter Four
Landscape Domination and Detachment:
Case Study One – Chile 115
Introduction 115
Overview of Resource Appropriation: Chile 115
Domination and Detachment of Chilean Landscapes (1955-2005) 118
The New Deal in Chile (1955-1964) 118
'Chileanisation' and the Christian Democrats (1964-1970) 124
Nationalisation and Unidad Popular (1970-1973) 130
The Dictatorship and the 'Chicago Boys' (1973-1990) 141
Denationalisation and Copper Boom (1990-2005) 145
Historical Analysis of Landscape Domination and Detachment – Chile 149
Comparison with other Theories of Resource Appropriation 152
Conclusion 155
Chapter Five
Landscape Consumption:
Case Study One – Chile 157
Introduction 157
Consumption of Chilean Landscapes 158
El Salvador and Chañaral 162
Carmen de Andacollo and Chepiquilla 165
Pascua Lama and the Huasco Valley 169
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Analysis of Landscape Consumption – Chile 173
Comparison with other Theories of Resource Appropriation 182
Conclusion 184
Chapter Six
Landscape Domination and Detachment:
Case Study Two – West Papua 185
Introduction 185
Overview of Resource Appropriation: West Papua 185
Domination and Detachment of West Papuan Landscapes (1955-2005) 189
Decolonisation of West New Guinea (1955-1962) 189
The Indonesian Annexation of Irian (1962-1965) 195
The Prize: Freeport and the Generals (1965-1969) 198
The Integration of 'Victorious' Irian (1969-1991) 211
Grasberg and the Indonesian Frontier (1991-1998) 217
Democracy and 'Special Autonomy' (1998-2005) 220
Historical Analysis of Landscape Domination and Detachment – West Papua 223
Comparison with other Theories of Resource Appropriation 228
Comparison with Case Study One 230
Conclusion 232
Chapter Seven
Landscape Consumption:
Case Study Two – West Papua 235
Introduction 235
Grasberg – Consumption of Highland Landscapes 237
The Amungme and the Grasberg Mine 237
Waste Rock and Acid Rock Drainage 240
Grasberg – Consumption of Lowland Landscapes 244
Riverine Tailings Disposal 244
Analysis of Landscape Consumption – West Papua 251
Comparison to other Theories of Resource Appropriation 257
Comparison with Case Study One 258
Conclusion 260
Conclusion 261
Bibliography 268

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