ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa

This paper examines the U'wa affair, a confrontation that became well know when a small indigenous group threatened to commit collective suicide in response to an oil exploitation project by two transnational companies (OXY and SHELL) associated with the state in Colombia. The story of a “tribe...

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Main Author: Margarita Serje
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Institut Français d'Études Andines 2003-04-01
Series:Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
Subjects:
oil
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/6398
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spelling doaj-aa1c40ac3c934eee8c109f6746a7c2352020-11-25T01:46:44ZspaInstitut Français d'Études AndinesBulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines0303-74952076-58272003-04-013210113110.4000/bifea.6398ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputaMargarita SerjeThis paper examines the U'wa affair, a confrontation that became well know when a small indigenous group threatened to commit collective suicide in response to an oil exploitation project by two transnational companies (OXY and SHELL) associated with the state in Colombia. The story of a “tribe” willing to commit suicide in the name of what they consider to be sacred not only attracted the attention of the media all over the world, but the activism of numerous NGO's devoted to the environment and human rights. These organizations have played a key part in this confrontation which took place in the midst of the Colombian armed conflict. This article reflects on the set of images and representations which has guided the experience and the practice of the actors in dispute. At some point, all parties involved have prepared and even published maps intended to illustrate and sustain their argumentation. These maps all show the same combination of zones: those of the oil exploitation area and the indigenous lands, both the ones recognized by the state and the ancestral territories they claim as theirs. Each map shows these areas and the relation between them, but emphasizing particular features in different ways. They may thus be considered as cultural texts and constitute a corpus of information to approach and understand the conflict. Since cartography represents its objects in an allegedly objective manner, maps appear to be neutral in relation to the positions asserted by every actor. As a consequence, they offer a privileged standpoint from which to identify the hypotheses and assumptions that underlie their actions and enunciations. The paper explores, trough maps, and the “sub-text” in the arguments put forth by each of the antagonists: the notions, opinions and intentions they are not express explicitly (i.e., the “political unconscious” of the argumentation). The critical analysis of the conflict’s cartography shows how much the agenda of the environmental and human rights NGO’s resembles that of the oil boosters, and the means through which the indigenous cosmology is construed as static and essentialist, and in this way, rendered invisible and illegitimate in paradoxical ways.http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/6398Cartographyethnicityindigenismoilconflict resolutionenvironmentalism
collection DOAJ
language Spanish
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Margarita Serje
spellingShingle Margarita Serje
ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
Cartography
ethnicity
indigenism
oil
conflict resolution
environmentalism
author_facet Margarita Serje
author_sort Margarita Serje
title ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
title_short ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
title_full ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
title_fullStr ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
title_full_unstemmed ONGs, indios y petróleo: El caso U’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
title_sort ongs, indios y petróleo: el caso u’wa a través de los mapas del territorio en disputa
publisher Institut Français d'Études Andines
series Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
issn 0303-7495
2076-5827
publishDate 2003-04-01
description This paper examines the U'wa affair, a confrontation that became well know when a small indigenous group threatened to commit collective suicide in response to an oil exploitation project by two transnational companies (OXY and SHELL) associated with the state in Colombia. The story of a “tribe” willing to commit suicide in the name of what they consider to be sacred not only attracted the attention of the media all over the world, but the activism of numerous NGO's devoted to the environment and human rights. These organizations have played a key part in this confrontation which took place in the midst of the Colombian armed conflict. This article reflects on the set of images and representations which has guided the experience and the practice of the actors in dispute. At some point, all parties involved have prepared and even published maps intended to illustrate and sustain their argumentation. These maps all show the same combination of zones: those of the oil exploitation area and the indigenous lands, both the ones recognized by the state and the ancestral territories they claim as theirs. Each map shows these areas and the relation between them, but emphasizing particular features in different ways. They may thus be considered as cultural texts and constitute a corpus of information to approach and understand the conflict. Since cartography represents its objects in an allegedly objective manner, maps appear to be neutral in relation to the positions asserted by every actor. As a consequence, they offer a privileged standpoint from which to identify the hypotheses and assumptions that underlie their actions and enunciations. The paper explores, trough maps, and the “sub-text” in the arguments put forth by each of the antagonists: the notions, opinions and intentions they are not express explicitly (i.e., the “political unconscious” of the argumentation). The critical analysis of the conflict’s cartography shows how much the agenda of the environmental and human rights NGO’s resembles that of the oil boosters, and the means through which the indigenous cosmology is construed as static and essentialist, and in this way, rendered invisible and illegitimate in paradoxical ways.
topic Cartography
ethnicity
indigenism
oil
conflict resolution
environmentalism
url http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/6398
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