Oil in the Soil

The Politics of Paying to Preserve the Amazon

By (author) Pamela L. Martin

Publication date:

27 July 2011

Length of book:

168 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

241x163mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442211285

Paradise may have been found in the Western Amazon, but it is on the brink of destruction. Oil in the Soil analyzes the campaign to save the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) block of Yasuní National Park in Ecuador's Amazon and the global networks that have resulted in one of the world's most innovative plans to save the Amazon and other biodiverse places on our planet. Pamela L. Martin examines the path-breaking global environmental governance mechanisms that have resulted from the transnational networks of the Yasuní-ITT campaign and their implications for replication around the world. The analysis of these networks reveals new dynamics of mobilization from the South, which may impact the future of global environmental negotiations. Martin also examines the alternative norms behind the initiative in the words of governmental and non-governmental actors. Such normative changes demonstrate the global struggles of the resource-dependent poor and provide insights toward new pathways of sustainable development for the planet.

Chapter 1: Saving Yasuní and the Planet: Toward a Global Politics of the Good Life
Chapter 2: Global Politics from the Canopy
Chapter 3: History in Black, Green, and Red
Chapter 4: Pay to Preserve: The Yasuní-ITT Trust Fund
Chapter 5: Behind the Scenes: Agents, Norms, and Structure in the Quest to Save Yasuní
Chapter 6: The Future of Global Governance in the Amazon: The Yasuní Effect
Bibliography

Importantly, this work is the first early assessment of an original global effort; it captures the personalities, the politics, and the ethical and environmental commitments that launched this effort in 2007 and that have maintained it until now. Other nations with high biodiversity and the paradox of being both low-income and oil-rich may consider it as a guide. Martin also documents the pitfalls to leading this effort from the South, while reminding the reader that the 'proposal is meant as a catalyst toward action with Ecuador in the lead' p. 99). Many points, made subtle by such a composed writer, are powerful in their implications.