Papers

The Diffusion of the FPIC Norm in Latin America: How Norm Promoters Are More Diverse Than We Thought and Why It Matters

The norm of free, prior, and informed consultation (FPIC), codified by the ILO Convention No. 169, has numerous implications for how natural resources are governed and who are the actors that have a say in this process. The norm is being diffused in Latin America in documents known as consultation protocols, which local communities use as tools to influence high-level decisionmakers. The paper uses social network analysis (SNA) to map the relations of multiple actors involved in creating consultation protocols and diffusing the FPIC norm. The paper analyzes all consultation protocols in Latin America, including Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, Argentina, and Colombia. The SNA analysis shows insightful dynamics of how multiple actors collaborate to diffuse this norm and influence environmental decisions. Contrary to the general belief that norm diffusion is carried out by a certain type of actor (IOs or NGOs, for example), this analysis shows that norm promoters have diverse backgrounds but share one similarity – the characteristics of their positions in the network. Results show that norm promoters have high centrality and density scores. This analysis shows that norms diffuse through networks, and the characteristics of a network explain the extent to which a norm diffuses successfully.

Environmental Governance through Networks: A Social Network Analysis of Environmental Social Movements

The Amazon Forest is a vital piece of the puzzle in addressing climate change, yet it is under severe pressure. Environmental and social movements work together to protect the forest and its natural resources, sometimes failing to achieve their goals of influencing decisionmakers while at other times achieving incredible successes. What is the difference between environmental movements that succeed and fail? I argue that success is a function of how effectively they build networks. Effective social movement networks are characterized by how diverse their members are and how they distribute information, resources, and responsibilities among one another. Diversity is a measure of node attribute, whereas distribution of information, resources, and responsibilities are measured by tie strength, network connectivity, and centralization. There are many things that matter in influencing policymakers – how a problem or campaign is framed, how sensitive decisionmakers are to being targeted by social movements, and how many resources are available, among others. However, behind all these influential factors lies the ability of activists to build a network effectively. I develop a framework using SNA measures to analyze how different social movement structures lead to influencing policymakers successfully.

Chase, V. M. (forthcoming). The Economic Circuits of Social Movements. In Living Better Together: Social Relations and Economic Governance in the Work of Ostrom and Zelizer, edited by S. Haeffele and V.H. Storr. Palgrave Macmillan.

Viviana A. Zelizer is one of the founding scholars who has defined and established the field of economic sociology. Over the course of her career, she has developed new concepts and analytical frameworks that help us better understand the intersection between social and economic relations. Among the most important concepts are different kinds of monies, earmarking money, and economic circuits. In this chapter, I use her work to analyze environmental social movements in the Brazilian Amazon. In particular, I look at networks supporting environmental leaders facing death threats from those involved with illegal logging, mining, and other destructive activities. This chapter identifies a new economic circuit used to financially support social movement activities, particularly the protection of these leaders. Additionally, it uses Zelizer’s intellectual contributions to better understand the dynamics of social movements. While the literature on social movements is vast and rich, there are not many authors who have examined the intersection of how social and economic relations shape one another within these unique interactions. Zelizer’s work provides tremendous potential for social movement analysts to refine their understanding of how social and economic relations intersect and influence one another in grassroots and activist settings. This chapter is an effort to advance her work in two fronts. First, I discuss how boundaries in economic circuits are not binary - I identify a few important characteristics of these boundaries in social movement settings, and I argue that boundaries are layered. Social movements have a process of evaluating and vetting new members, and subsequent decisions allow them to get closer to the core or to stay at the periphery. The second contribution I offer is identifying the process of how social movement actors distinguish between different kinds of monies depending on the kinds of social relations they have with one another.

Chase, V. M. (2022). Damming sustainability: How social and environmental networks influence the construction and management of large dams in the Amazon Basin (Publication No. 29163425) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Dams are powerful structures that engender a flood of controversies. These projects face great criticism from numerous groups, many of whom succeed in influencing such enterprises. This research is an in-depth study on dam-related social and environmental movements in the Amazon: how they are created and internally organized; how members share information and resources, how they identify alternatives; and how they design strategies and implement agendas. Social movements include, but are not limited to, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic researchers, journalists, religious organizations, grassroots associations, and large private foundations. They create formal or informal coalitions and design joint strategies aimed at protecting local communities and ecosystems from the negative impacts of dams. To systematically understand these social interactions, it is important to realize that these groups operate as social networks. I ask, “How do networks of social and environmental groups influence decisionmakers regarding the construction and management of large dams in the Brazilian Amazon?” To answer my research question, I study how various groups form networks, trace the process through which their strategies were formulated and implemented, and assess the influence these strategies have had on policymakers. I use process tracing and social network analysis (SNA) to investigate two social movements that managed to successfully influence high-level policymakers around the Belo Monte and the Sao Luiz do Tapajos dams in the Brazilian Amazon. I investigate the kinds of relations activists have with one another and the networks they form. I evaluate the characteristics that render each of these networks successful at influencing policymakers. In both cases, the SNA method revealed important insights into these social movements. One of the main findings of this research is that social movements are more effective at influencing policymakers when they manage to build networks that are dense, diverse, and diffuse. I also offer theoretical contributions into the relations between agency and structure as co-constitutive forces in social movements. Activists shape and are shaped by the networks they build, and this co-constitutive nature of social movements is crucial in analyzing why some movements can successfully influence policymakers.

Barkin, J. S., Chase, V. M., & van Wees, S. (2021). Interpretive methodologies, quantitative methods, and comparative environmental politics. In J. Sowers, S. VanDeveer, & E. Weinthal (Eds.), Oxford handbook of comparative environmental politics (online ed.). Oxford University Press.

This chapter argues for a broader and more creative understanding of the relationship between methods and epistemology in the study of comparative environmental politics. Quantitative methods tend to be associated with comparative inferential questions, while interpretive questions tend to be associated with qualitative methods. This chapter argues against these associations. The chapter begins by fleshing out the argument against assumed methodological associations. It identifies the use of quantitative methods in interpretive research as the biggest lacuna in the methodological playing field of comparative environmental politics. It then presents two examples of how to use quantitative methods effectively in interpretive research, without embedding those methods in the epistemological positivism with which they are generally associated. The first of these cases, based on dissertation research by Saskia van Wees, looks at the different patterns of environmental performance and environmental foreign policy in India and China during the period 2002 to 2012. The second case looks at efforts by Indigenous and traditional communities in Brazil’s Amazon Basin to oppose the construction of dams that would impact their communities.

Chase, V. M., Rodrigues dos Santos, R., & Postigo, A. (2020). The Cantinas Network of Terra do Meio: A case of institutional learning in the Amazon forest. In P. J. Boettke, B. Herzberg, & B. Kogelmann (Eds.), Exploring the political economy and social philosophy of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom (pp. 211–237). Rowman & Littlefield.

Several initiatives have tried and failed to implement projects that promote economic growth and protect the environment in the Amazon region. We present one that has been succeeding, and we explain why. The case of the Cantinas Network of Terra do Meio in Brazil is puzzling because it shows local communities trading natural resources and protecting them at the same time. Cantinas are a social institution that provides market access for non-timber forest products. Relying on participant observation during years of experience in the field, we use Ostrom’s IAD framework to map this case of institutional learning. We identify who are the main actors in this action arena, how they interact, and which constrains they face. Our analysis shows that Cantinas emerged out of a social context marked by strong rules-in-use that influence participants’ decisions. We argue that the Cantinas Network is successful in promoting economic growth and forest conservation because it is a resilient institution that respects local norms. As circumstances change, actors adopt new strategies without losing focus of their larger goal.

Chase, V. M. (2019). The changing face of environmental governance in the Brazilian Amazon: Indigenous and traditional peoples promoting norm diffusion. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, 62(2), 1–20.

Transnational networks of non-state actors are using ILO Convention No. 169 as a powerful instrument of environmental governance. The treaty promotes the norm of free, prior and informed consultation (FPIC), empowering local communities to influence infrastructure projects that impact their livelihoods and natural resources. However, there is a disconnect between the Brazilian government’s discourse and the effective implementation of this norm. Using document analysis and process tracing, this article investigates this rhetoric-practice gap. It argues that these transnational networks are diffusing the FPIC norm through consultation protocols, slowly bridging the gap.

Chase, V. M. (2019). Review of the book Subnational hydropolitics: Conflict, cooperation, and institution-building in shared river basins, by Scott M. Moore. Global Environmental Politics, 19(4), 143–145.

For a long time, the literature on water politics has focused on the possibility of water wars between countries. Scott Moore calls attention to the fact that no such major war has yet happened, and that most international conflicts over water have been resolved diplomatically, thanks to several international organizations that have facilitated formal cooperation agreements between countries. Curiously, despite the work of these organizations, conflicts over water persist, most of them within national borders. These subnational water conflicts are not only common but often entrenched and hard to solve. Subnational jurisdictions find numerous ways to secure their own interests and often find it hard to build cooperative agreements with their own central governments and other water-sharing neighbors. The book investigates core features of these subnational water conflicts, and the author underlines three variables that explain why some conflicts are harder to solve than others: decentralization, sectional identity, and political opportunity structure.

Chase, V. M. (2018). Analyzing the impacts of climate adaptation plans in the Amazon Basin: Resilience and vulnerability for whom? In W. L. Filho & L. Esteves de Freitas (Eds.), Climate change adaptation in Latin America: Managing vulnerability, fostering resilience (pp. 223–239). Springer.

All countries that participated in the UNFCCC COP21 conference in 2015 were encouraged to submit Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). These are documents that outline how a particular country is planning to cope with climate hazards, and what measures are being taken to reduce carbon emissions. This paper analyzes the INDCs submitted by countries in the Amazon Basin in order to assess how this region perceives climate hazards and how it is coping with climate change adaptation. The analysis is informed by the concept of human security, a framework developed by the United Nations Development Programme in 1994. Human security encompasses economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. This list of “securities” is used to critically analyze how governments in Latin America are planning to promote economic development and environmental protection in light of the changing scenario caused by climate change. Most importantly, the paper discusses how the INDCs of these governments will have uneven impacts on the human security of particular groups.

Chase, V. M. (2017). Traditional communities and natural resources in the Amazon: Making live and letting die. In E. M. Ramos de Castro & S. R. Alves (Eds.), Anais do II Seminário Internacional América Latina: Políticas e Conflitos Contemporâneos (pp. 4449–4458). NAEA & UFPA.

Security suspension is generally seen as an antiquated legal instrument, a remnant of the authoritarian times of Brazil’s last dictatorship. Critics of the Brazilian government denounce the use of security suspension and claim that it has been causing an ethnocide of traditional populations around the Belo Monte dam. The paper uses a critical human security studies framework to understand the security suspension mechanism and the biopolitics concept of making live and letting die to analyze the Belo Monte ethnocide. The paper argues that the problem of security suspension is not caused by an outdated legislation but rather by the securitization of energy. National security is often used to justify decisions related to a range of issues, and it operates by "securitizing" them (i.e., economic security, food security, energy security, etc.) The Brazilian State has securitized energy, and this has caused a regional ethnocide of traditional populations. This process is carried out through the security suspension mechanism (an instrument of biopolitics) and its regulatory technology of making live and letting die.