Power, powerlessness and petroleum: Indigenous environmental claims and the limits of transnational law

New Political Science

Volumn 33, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 143-167

  Bernal, Angélica M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79957911988     PISSN: 07393148     EISSN: 14699931     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/07393148.2011.570078     Document Type: Article

References (133)

1. Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., 93 Civ. 7527 (S.D.N.Y. 1993).
2. Judiciary Act of 1789, Ch. 20, §9 (b), 1 Stat. 73, 77 (codified as amended at 28 U.S.C. §1350 (2000). It is alternatively known as the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).
3. See Natalie Bridgeman, "Human Rights Litigation under the ATCA as a Proxy for Environmental Claims, " Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal 6:1 (2003), pp. 1-43.
4. Phillip Blumberg, "Asserting Human Rights against Multinational Corporations under United States Law: Conceptual and Procedural Problems, " The American Journal of Comparative Law 50:3 (2002), pp. 493-529.
5. Judith Kimerling, "The Environmental Audit of Texaco's Amazon Oil Fields: Social Justice or Business as Usual?, " Harvard Human Rights Journal 7 (Spring 1994), pp. 199-224.
6. and Elizabeth Black, "Litigation as a Tool for Development: The Environment, Human Rights, and the Case of Texaco in Ecuador, " Journal of Public and International Affairs 15 (Spring 2004), pp. 142-164. The case was also covered extensively by the media.
7. For examples of this position see Bridgeman, "Human Rights Litigation under the ATCA, " pp. 35-36.
8. Leah Nico, "From Local to Global: Reform of Forum Non Conveniens Needed to Ensure Justice in the Era of Globalization, " Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas 11:1 (2005), pp. 345-362.
9. Lyndsy Rutherford, "Redressing US Corporate Environmental Harms Abroad through Transnational Public Law Litigation: Generating a Global Discourse on the International Definition of Environmental Justice, " Georgetown International Environmental Review 14:3 (2002), pp. 807-832.
10. and Judith Kimmerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice: Chevrontexaco and Indigenous Huaorani and Kichwa in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador, " American Indian Law Review 31:2 (2007), pp. 506-508.
11. See, for instance, Lisa Lambert, "At the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights Standards: Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc.: Using the Alien Tort Claims Act to Hold Multinational Corporate Violators of International Laws Accountable in US Courts, " Journal of Transnational Law and Policy 10:1 (2000), pp. 109-132.
12. and Beth Van Schaack, "Unfulfilled Promise: The Human Rights Class Action, " The University of Chicago Legal Forum (2003), pp. 279-352.
13. Kimberlé Crenshaw et al. (eds), Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement (New York: The New Press, 1995).
14. See background of case in Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., Dkt. No. 93 Civ. 7527 (S.D. NY. 1993).
15. Judith Kimerling, El Derecho del Tambor: Derechos Humanos y Ambientales en los Campos Petroleros de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (Quito: Abya-Yala, 1996).
16. and Roberto Santana, Ciudadanos en la Etnicidad? Los Indios en la Política o la Política de los Indios (Quito: Abya Yala, 1995).
17. In the history of political philosophy the concept of terra nullius was elaborated most notably by Emmerich Vattel, building on John Locke's theory of the rights of occupancy, labor and property rights. See Emerich de Vattel, Concerning the Indians Lately Discovered: The Indian Cause before the Law of Nations, Colonial Period (Salt Lake City, UT: AmericanWest Center, University of Utah, 1980).
18. Ley de Tierras Baldias y Colonización, Decreto Supremo 2172, Registro Oficial No. 342, September 28, 1964.
19. Norman E. Whitten, Sicuanga Runa: The Other Side of Development in Amazonian Ecuador (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1985).
20. Judith Kimerling, "Indigenous Peoples and the Oil Frontier in Amazonia: The Case of Ecuador, ChevronTexaco, and Aguinda v. Texaco, " New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 38:3 (2006), p. 427.
21. For background of the Ecuadorian government's policies see Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. 945 F. Supp. 625, 626-6227 no. 1 (S.D.N. Y 1996).
22. See also Lambert, "At the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights Standards, " pp. 112-114.
23. Kimerling, "The Environmental Audit of Texaco's Amazon Oil Fields, " p. 204.
24. John D. Matz, Ecuador: The Fragility of Dependent Democracy (1990).
25. cited in Lambert, "At the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights Standards, " p. 113.
26. Rutherford, "Redressing US Corporate Harms Abroad, " p. 808.
27. Kimerling, "The Environmental Audit of Texaco's Amazon Oil Fields, " p. 205.
28. Steven R. Donziger, "Rainforest Chernobyl: Litigating Indigenous Rights and the Environment in Latin America, " Human Rights Brief 11:2 (2004), pp. 1-4.
29. For an excellent discussion of Texaco's operations see also Kimerling, "Indigenous Peoples and the Oil Frontier in Amazonia, " pp. 451-455.
30. Donziger, "Rainforest Chernobyl: Litigating Indigenous Rights and the Environment in Latin America, " pp. 1-2.
31. Cited in Kimerling, "Indigenous Peoples and the Oil Frontier in Amazonia, " p. 458.
32. Oil Spill Case Histories (1967-1991): Summaries of Significant US and International Spills, (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ed., 1992), .
33. Rights Violations in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Human Consequences of Oil Development (New York: Center for Economic and Social Rights, 1994).
34. Kimerling, "The Environmental Audit of Texaco's Amazon Oil Fields, " p. 206.
35. Notes Kimerling that "[i]ndigenous Cofan, who once hunted and foraged in the area were dispossessed of huge tracts of their traditional territory and now live in five small, non-contiguous pockets of land. " See Kimerling, "The Environmental Audit of Texaco's Amazon Oil Fields, " p. 206.
36. Other populations such as the Tagaeri clan of the Huaorani group have as of 2003 nearly disappeared as a distinct group. See Kimerling, "Indigenous Peoples and the Oil Frontier in Amazonia, " p. 464.
37. Alison Brysk, From Tribal Village to Global Village: Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000), p. 8.
38. Alison Brysk, From Tribal Village to Global Village: Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000), p. 8.
39. Alison Brysk, From Tribal Village to Global Village: Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin America (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000), p. 8.
40. For an excellent discussion of the Filartiga case, a case involving wrongful kidnapping and torture by a former Paraguayan official, see Richard Pierre Claude, "The Case of Joelito Filartiga and the Clinic of Hope, " Human Rights Quarterly 5:3 (1983), pp. 275-301.
41. These cases include Kadic v. Karadzic (1995), for claims of war crimes and genocide by the Bosnian Serb leader, and In Re Estate of Ferdinand Marcos, Human Rights Litigation (1994), for claims of torture and disappearances under the Marcos regime.
42. and In Re Estate of Ferdinand Marcos, Human Rights Litigation (1994), for claims of torture and disappearances under the Marcos regime.
43. See Igor Fuks, "Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain and the Future of Atca Litigation: Examining Bonded Labor Claims and Corporate Liability, " Columbia Law Review 106:1 (2006), pp. 112-143.
44. Donziger, "Rainforest Chernobyl, " pp. 1-2.
45. Donziger, "Rainforest Chernobyl, " pp. 1-2.
46. For a discussion of the forum non conveniens doctrine under ATCA law, see Blumberg, "Asserting Human Rights against Multinational Corporations, " pp. 501-505.
47. For a discussion of the latter two in relation to the Aguinda case see Rutherford, "Redressing US Corporate Environmental Harms Abroad, " pp. 816-829.
48. Texaco's position can be found on the website they have established in response to this case, available at: .
49. This move was prompted by declines in production and dwindling reserves. http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en/default.aspx.
50. Cited in Texaco, Inc.'s Memorandum of Law in Support of its Renewed Motions to Dismiss on forum non conveniens and International Comity, January 11, 1999, .
51. Kimerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice, " p. 465.
52. and Michael Smith and Karen Gullo, "Texaco Toxic Past Haunts Chevron as Judgment Looms, " Bloomberg News, December 30, 2008, .
53. Michael Smith and Karen Gullo, "Texaco Toxic Past Haunts Chevron as Judgment Looms, " Bloomberg News, December 30, 2008, .
54. Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., 142 F. Supp. 2d 534 (S.D.N.Y. 2001).
55. Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., 303 F. 3d 470 (2d Cir. 2002).
56. Kimerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice, " pp. 473-475.
57. Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001. Kimerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice, " 475-476.
58. and Smith and Gullo, "Texaco Toxic Past Haunts Chevron. "
59. Amazon Defense Coaltion website: .
60. .
61. This increased media attention has included numerous articles in Newsweek, the New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and a piece in CBS's "60 Minutes" which appeared in May 2009. A small sampling of articles of the past two years include
62. Simon Romero and Clifford Krauss, "Under Pressure, Ecuadorean Judge Steps Aside in Suit Against Chevron, " The New York Times, September 5, 2009.
63. Juan Forero, "In Ecuador, High Stakes in Case Against Chevron, " The Washington Post, April 28, 2009.
64. Michael Isikoff, "A $16 Billion Problem, " Newsweek, July 26, 2008.
65. Ben Casselman, "Chevron Expects to Fight Ecuador Lawsuit in US, " The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2009, p. B3.
66. Moi Vicente Enomenga Mantohue v. ChevronTexaco Corp. & Texaco Petroleum Co. (July 30, 2003).
67. cited in Kimerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice, " p. 478.
68. Kimerling, "Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice, " p. 478.
69. Kimerling criticized the representational quality of Frente's leadership and the organization because these leaders were not among the named plaintiffs of either suits. Others have lauded Frente's leadership, as attested by their garnering in 2008 of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. See "Amazon Defense Front Wins Prestigious Environmental Prize, " April, 15, 2008, .
70. Procedural reasons included failure to translate into English the complaint. Jurisdictional reasons centered on the transnational nature of indigenous populations (membership extended beyond Ecuador and into Peru) and their ancestral lands. See Kimerling, "Transnational Operation, Bi-National Injustice, " p. 480.
71. Cortelyou Kenney, "Disaster in the Amazon: Dodging 'Boomerang Suits' in Transnational Human Rights Litigation, " California Law Review 97:3 (2009), p. 857.
72. .
73. 376 F. Supp.2d 334 (2005).
74. Pablo Fajardo and George Byrne, "Corporate Accountability, Human Rights and Pursuing Justice in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Attorney Pablo Fajardo's Perspective on Aguinda v. Chevron, " Harvard International Law Journal, 51 (August 2010), pp. 181-187.
75. Pablo Fajardo and George Byrne, "Corporate Accountability, Human Rights and Pursuing Justice in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Attorney Pablo Fajardo's Perspective on Aguinda v. Chevron, " Harvard International Law Journal, 51 (August 2010), pp. 185. He notes that the arbitration process "makes no provision for the plaintiffs to appear, intervene, or even be notified of the private proceedings. "
76. Braden Reddall, "Chevron Wins an Ecuador Claim, Awaits Major Ruling, " Reuters, March 31, 2010, .
77. Fernando Cabrera Diaz, "Tribunal Finds Ecuador in Breach of BIT for its Judiciary's Slow Handling of Texaco Lawsuits, " Investment Treaty News, April 8, 2010, .
78. Roger Parloff, "Evidence of Fraud Mounts in Ecuadorian Suit Against Chevron, " CNN Money. com, September 13, 2010, .
79. Forero, "In Ecuador, High Stateks in Case Against Chevron. "
80. Juan Forero, "Rain Forest Residents, Texaco Face Off in Ecuador, " NPR, April 30, 2009, .
81. Crude, directed by Joe Berlinger (New York: First Run Features, 2009). Chevron subpoenaed 600 hours of raw footage from the film to use in the Ecuadorian phase of this case. This has resulted in another historic legal struggle that now pits independent filmmaking against corporate power. See Robert Redford, "Joe Berlinger vs. Chevron: Why We Must All Defend Independent Filmmaking, " June 4, 2010, .
82. In July 2010, Chevron successfully subpoenaed outtakes from Berlinger's film of statements made by plaintiff's attorney Steven Donzinger. See Parloff, "Evidence of Fraud Mounts in Ecuadorian Suit. "
83. Redford, "Joe Berlinger vs. Chevron. "
84. "Crude Fight for the First Amendment Campaign, " .
85. Parloff, "Evidence of Fraud Mounts in Ecuadorian Suit Against Chevron. "
86. For a summary of this view see Jean Cohen, "Whose Sovereignty? Empire vs. International Law, " Ethics and International Affairs 18:3 (2004), pp. 1-24.
87. For an influential statement of this position see Anne-Marie Slaughter, A New World Order (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
88. Daniele Archibugi, David Held and Martin Kohler (eds), Reimagining Political Community: Studies in Cosmopolitan Democracy (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998).
89. and Allen Buchanan, Justice, Legitimacy and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
90. Cohen, "Whose Sovereignty? Empire vs. International Law, " p. 2.
91. Michael Ignatieff, "Human Rights as Politics, " in Amy Guttmann (ed.), Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003), pp. 3-52.
92. Jürgen Habermas, "The Constitutionalization of International Law and the Legitimation Problems of a Constitution for World Society, " Constellations 15:4 (2008), pp. 444-455.
93. Bridgeman, "Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA, " p. 35.
94. Bridgeman, "Human Rights Litigation Under the ATCA, " p. 40.
95. Nico, "From Local to Global, " p. 357.
96. Debra Abelowitz, "Discrimination and Cultural Genocide in the Oil Fields of Ecuador: The US as a Forum for International Dispute, " New England International and Comparative Law Annual 7:1 (2001), p. 152.
97. Habermas, "The Constitutionalization of International Law, " p. 453.
98. Robert Dahl, "The Concept of Power, " in Roderick Bell, David Edwards, and R. Harrison Wagner (eds), Political Power: A Reader in Theory and Research (New York: Free Press, 1969), p. 80. Dahl defined his intuitive idea as, "A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do. "
99. John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980).
100. John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980). 33-83.
101. John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980). 84-121.
102. John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980). 165-201.
103. Gaventa defines quiescence as the antithesis of rebellion. He writes: "the political response of the deprived group or class may be seen as a function of power relationships, such that power serves for the development and maintenance of the quiescence of the nonélite. The emergence of rebellion, as a corollary may be understood as a process by which the relationships of power may be altered. " John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980). 4.
104. Steven Lukes, Power: A Radical View (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
105. Robert Dahl, Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005).
106. Peter Bacharach and Morton Baratz, Power and Poverty: Theory and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1970).
107. Bacharach and Baratz define a mobilization of bias as, "A set of predominant values, beliefs, rituals, and institutional procedures ('rules of the game') that operate systematically and consistently to the benefit of certain persons and groups at the expense of others. " Peter Bacharach and Morton Baratz, Power and Poverty: Theory and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1970). 43.
108. Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness, pp. 15-20.
109. Brysk, From Tribal Village to Global Village.
110. Jeffrey Isaac, "Beyond the Three Faces of Power: A Realist Critique, " Polity 20:1 (1987), pp. 4-31.
111. Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness, p. 255.
112. Isaac, "Beyond the Three Faces of Power, " p. 5.
113. Isaac, "Beyond the Three Faces of Power, " p. 5.
114. Thomas E. Wartenberg, The Forms of Power: From Domination to Transformation (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1990).
115. Isaac, "Beyond the Three Faces of Power, " p. 22.
116. Isaac, "Beyond the Three Faces of Power, " p. 23.
117. Wartenberg, The Forms of Power, p. 6.
118. Wartenberg, The Forms of Power, p. 74.
119. Wartenberg, The Forms of Power, p. 145.
120. Wartenberg, The Forms of Power, p. 145.
121. I employ this term rather than Digeser's as the "fourth face of power. " See Peter Digeser, "The Fourth Face of Power, " The Journal of Politics 54:4 (1992), pp. 977-1007.
122. To use this terminology in relation to Foucault's, and other poststructuralists', theorization of power is problematic and counter to its non-agential basis. With Hayward, I agree that Foucault's approach represents a "de-faced" approach, rather than a fourth "face" of power. See Clarissa Hayward, De-facing Power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
123. Clarissa Hayward, "De-Facing Power, " Polity 31:1 (1998), p. 10.
124. Hayward, De-Facing Power, pp. 11-31.
125. and Chapter 6, "Power and Freedom, " pp. 161-178.
126. Michel Foucault, "Disciplinary Power and Subjection, " in Steven Lukes (ed.), Power: A Radical View (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 234.
127. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Power: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage Books), p. 27.
128. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 5.
129. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 7.
130. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 7.
131. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 39.
132. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 31.
133. Hayward, De-Facing Power, p. 30.