Description:
Based on case-studies in eight Latin American countries, this book investigates the extent to which there have been elite shifts, how new governments have related to old elites, and how that has impacted on environmental governance and the management of natural resources. New groups are emerging related to political and economic shifts, and the rise of new cadres of technocrats, while old economic and political elites struggle to remain influential. However, the combination of opposition from old elites, the commitment to social distribution of resource-rents, and the prerogative of state construction has often hampered initiatives to ensure a more sustainable and equitable governance of natural resources. Yet, in other cases constraints related to structural inequalities and entrenched elites have been overcome.
Review Quotes:
"The importance of elite politics to environmental governance is undeniable and yet the actual operations of this politics and the shifting constitution of elites have received far too little attention in studies of environmental governance in Latin America and beyond. This book provides a trove of valuable insights into the ways in which elites affect Latin American environments and the political possibilities for more equitable and sustainable relationships between society and natural resources. A super contribution."
Anthony Bebbington, Clark University, USA
"With the arrival of new left-wing governments to Latin America, and as elites shift in the region, this book offers an original look at their performance. Featuring several case studies, the chapters in this book simultaneously assess different economic sectors and countries governed by different versions of the Latin American left, both in terms of political power over society and over nature."
Eduardo Gudynas, Latin American Centre for Social Ecology, Uruguay