Global Links and Environmental Flows: Oil Disputes in Ecuador

Employing the works of Spaargaren and Mol, the intersections of "environmental flows," including both material flows (the extraction, transportation and exportation of oil) as well as non-material flows (community and environmental campaigns), are examined along an oil supply chain. Four communities in Ecuador are studied in order to reveal how a community's spatial and social dimensions influence its response to the construction of an oil pipeline as well as its establishment of advocacy networks. By holding constant the point of contention, these cases reveal that grassroots and professional organizations in communities most integrated in petroleum's commodity chain are least coupled with transnational campaigns. In contrast, environmental groups in areas least experienced in the environmental and health burdens associated with residing near oil facilities establish denser international ties. From these findings, this article calls for the insertion of community deliberation and community monitoring as necessary links in the flow of oil. (c) 2009 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.