IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v92y2017icp130-142.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Rights of Nature Make Development More Sustainable? Why Some Ecuadorian lawsuits Succeed and Others Fail

Author

Listed:
  • Kauffman, Craig M.
  • Martin, Pamela L.

Abstract

In 2008, Ecuador became the world’s first country to include rights of Nature (RoN) in its constitution. The constitution presents RoN as a tool for building a new form of sustainable development based on the Andean Indigenous concept sumak kawsay (buen vivir in Spanish), which is rooted in the idea of living in harmony with Nature. While much is written on the ethical arguments regarding RoN (and buen vivir), few studies analyze how RoN might be implemented. We fill this gap by explaining why some efforts to apply Ecuador’s RoN laws succeeded while others failed. We compare 13 RoN lawsuits using an original framework for analyzing the pathways and strategies RoN advocates (and their opponents) use to build (and counter) momentum behind judicial processes meant to buttress the enforcement of contested RoN norms. The case descriptions and analysis draw on primary documents and in-depth interviews conducted during 2014–15. Through process tracing, we identified key structural conditions and strategic decisions shaping the outcomes in each case. Our findings as of 2016 reveal unexpected pathways of influence involving a symbiotic process among civil society, state agencies, and the courts. Surprisingly, civil society pressure was the least successful pathway, as activists lost high-profile lawsuits. Nevertheless, they facilitated judicial momentum by working on less-politicized local cases and training lower-level judges. Instrumental use of RoN laws by the state produced unintended consequences, including establishing precedent and educating judges. Knowledgable judges are unilaterally applying RoN in their sentencing, even when neither claimants nor defendants allege RoN violations. Ecuador’s cases demonstrate how “weak” RoN laws can strengthen, providing important insight into the global contestation over sustainable development and the strategies and legal tools being used to advance a post-neoliberal development agenda rooted in harmony with nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Kauffman, Craig M. & Martin, Pamela L., 2017. "Can Rights of Nature Make Development More Sustainable? Why Some Ecuadorian lawsuits Succeed and Others Fail," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 130-142.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:92:y:2017:i:c:p:130-142
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.11.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16305496
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.11.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eduardo Gudynas, 2011. "Buen Vivir: Today's tomorrow," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 54(4), pages 441-447, December.
    2. Ospina Peralta, Pablo & Bebbington, Anthony & Hollenstein, Patric & Nussbaum, Ilana & Ramírez, Eduardo, 2015. "Extraterritorial Investments, Environmental Crisis, and Collective Action in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 32-43.
    3. Barbara Hogenboom, 2012. "Depoliticized and Repoliticized Minerals in Latin America," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 28(2), pages 133-158, June.
    4. Craig M. Kauffman & Pamela L. Martin, 2014. "Scaling up Buen Vivir: Globalizing Local Environmental Governance from Ecuador," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 14(1), pages 40-58, February.
    5. Jean Grugel & Pía Riggirozzi, 2012. "Post-neoliberalism in Latin America: Rebuilding and Reclaiming the State after Crisis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 1-21, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. van de Water, Antoinette & Henley, Michelle & Bates, Lucy & Slotow, Rob, 2022. "The value of elephants: A pluralist approach," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Talbot-Jones, Julia & Bennett, Jeff, 2019. "Toward a property rights theory of legal rights for rivers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Jason Rudall, 2023. "Rights-Based Approaches to Environmental Protection and Pandemic Prevention," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Tiantian Zhai, 2022. "Double-Faceted Environmental Civil Liability and the Separate-Regulatory Paradigm: An Inspiration for China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Kahui, Viktoria & Armstrong, Claire W. & Aanesen, Margrethe, 2024. "Comparative analysis of Rights of Nature (RoN) case studies worldwide: Features of emergence and design," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    6. Francesco Facchinelli & Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo & Daniele Codato & Alberto Diantini & Giuseppe Della Fera & Edoardo Crescini & Massimo De Marchi, 2019. "Unburnable and Unleakable Carbon in Western Amazon: Using VIIRS Nightfire Data to Map Gas Flaring and Policy Compliance in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joe Gerlach, 2017. "Ecuador’s experiment in living well: Sumak kawsay, Spinoza and the inadequacy of ideas," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(10), pages 2241-2260, October.
    2. Beatriz Bustos, 2015. "Moving on? Neoliberal continuities through crisis: the case of the Chilean salmon industry and the ISA virus," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(6), pages 1361-1375, December.
    3. Murat Arsel & Aram Ziai, 2015. "Forum 2015," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(4), pages 833-854, July.
    4. Deborah C. Menezes & Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, 2018. "Roads and development = environment and energy?," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 18(1), pages 52-65, January.
    5. Peter Howard-Jones & Jens Hölscher, 2020. "The Influence Of The Washington Consensus Programme On The Transitional Economies Of Eastern Europe – A Firm-Level Analysis," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 65(226), pages 9-44, July – Se.
    6. Philipp Horn, 2018. "Indigenous peoples, the city and inclusive urban development policies in Latin America: Lessons from Bolivia and Ecuador," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(4), pages 483-501, July.
    7. Scarlato, Margherita & D'Agostino, Giorgio, 2016. "The political economy of cash transfers: a comparative analysis of Latin American and sub-Saharan African experiences," IDOS Discussion Papers 6/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    8. Berdegué, Julio A. & Bebbington, Anthony & Escobal, Javier, 2015. "Conceptualizing Spatial Diversity in Latin American Rural Development: Structures, Institutions, and Coalitions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Laura Aileen Sauls, 2020. "Becoming fundable? Converting climate justice claims into climate finance in Mesoamerica’s forests," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 307-325, July.
    10. Schützhofer, Timm B., 2016. "Ecuador’s fiscal policies in the context of the citizens’ revolution: a ‘virtuous cycle’ and its limits," IDOS Discussion Papers 15/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    11. Nicole Jenne, 2013. "Whither the push and pull for integration: Taking stock of Latin America’s declaratory regionalism," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/82, European University Institute.
    12. Lewis, David, 2015. "Contesting parallel worlds: time to abandon the distinction between the ‘international’ and ‘domestic’ contexts of third sector scholarship?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59636, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Parizeau, Kate, 2015. "When Assets are Vulnerabilities: An Assessment of Informal Recyclers’ Livelihood Strategies in Buenos Aires, Argentina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 161-173.
    14. Christian Berndt & Marion Werner & Víctor Ramiro Fernández, 2020. "Postneoliberalism as institutional recalibration: Reading Polanyi through Argentina’s soy boom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(1), pages 216-236, February.
    15. Daniel Coq-Huelva & Bolier Torres-Navarrete & Carlos Bueno-Suárez, 2018. "Indigenous worldviews and Western conventions: Sumak Kawsay and cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 163-179, March.
    16. Roberta Masala & Salvatore Monni, 2019. "The Social Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador Before and During the Revolución Ciudadana," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 62(1), pages 167-177, December.
    17. Fontana, Lorenza B. & Grugel, Jean, 2016. "The Politics of Indigenous Participation Through “Free Prior Informed Consent”: Reflections from the Bolivian Case," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 249-261.
    18. Cappelli, Federica & Caravaggio, Nicola & Vaquero-Piñeiro, Cristina, 2022. "Buen Vivir and forest conservation in Bolivia: False promises or effective change?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. Janet J. McIntyre‐Mills, 2021. "Communication and culture: A multispecies endeavour within a shared habitat," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 671-684, October.
    20. Aldo Mascareño & Pablo A. Henríquez & Marco Billi & Gonzalo A. Ruz, 2020. "A Twitter-Lived Red Tide Crisis on Chiloé Island, Chile: What Can Be Obtained for Social-Ecological Research through Social Media Analysis?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-38, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:92:y:2017:i:c:p:130-142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.