What is the likelihood that a developing country will make the transition to a sustainable economy? Tammy Lewis explores this question by looking at the development of environmental activism in the oil-dependent Andean nation of Ecuador. In spite of its dependence on extractive industries, Lewis contends that Ecuador represents a most likely case of a Global South country making the transition to sustainable development for two reasons. First, its high level of biodiversity draws the interest and concern of international environmentalists; secondly, the country is host to an array of national and local environmental movements and organisations that have made some real inroads politically, as evidenced by the striking ecological bent of Ecuador's 2008 Constitution. While the last several years of Correa's presidency indicate further intensification of extraction as opposed to moving in the direction of sustainability, the story is of course still unfolding. Lewis’ study is, perhaps, the first comprehensive history of modern environmentalism in Ecuador, and it provides an insightful analysis of the dynamics at play between international actors, national NGOs and movements, and the state. The book's analytical framework can be applied to other developing countries to analyse and understand the dynamics of struggles for sustainability in the Global South.
The study encompasses the time period from 1978 to 2015, beginning with the founding of the first national environmental organisation, Fundación Natura, in 1978, and ending in the middle of President Correa's second term. The author divides her analysis into four discrete periods characterised by different power constellations between the state, national environmental organisations, and international actors. The four central chapters cover these periods: the origins of environmentalism in Ecuador (1978–87), the neoliberal period from the late 1980s through 2000, followed by a period of economic and political crisis from 2000 to 2006, and finally the Citizens’ Revolution from 2006 to 2015. One of this study's main theoretical contributions is a typology of environmental actors: ‘ecoimperialists’ refers to international organisations that fund national environmental organisations; ‘ecodependents’ are national organisations that rely on ecoimperialist funding; ‘ecoresisters’ are national organisations that do not rely on foreign funding; and the fourth category of ‘ecoentrepreneurs’ are organisations that self-finance through revenue-generating activities. Ecodependent and ecoresister organisations have different goals and approaches. The former are heavily influenced by donor agendas and their goals are more circumscribed: they tend to avoid challenging the underlying capitalist development model. By contrast, ecoresisters are more attuned to the needs and concerns of local communities and tend to be more radical in their demands. For example, where ecodependent organisations may emphasise habitat conservation, ecoresisters often organise to block mining and drilling mega-projects that threaten to contaminate land and resources upon which local communities rely. Ecoresister organisations are the ones that have advanced the most radical environmental agendas, including the revolutionary concept of sumak kawsay (‘good living’), which rejects Western conceptions of development in favour of a cosmovision focused on sustainability and human and community well-being. The inclusion of sumak kawsay in the 2008 Constitution reflected the influence of ecoresisters, who aim to shift the Ecuadorian economy in a post-developmental and post-extractivist direction.
In terms of theory, Lewis builds on and contributes to several literatures. She uses the treadmill of production (TOP) theory to set the stage for understanding the forces arrayed against a sustainable economy. Then building on the work of people like Keck and Sikkink (Activists beyond Borders, Cornell University Press, 1998) she incorporates the idea of transnational social movement activism and integrates pro-environmental actors (both national and transnational) into the TOP model. She describes how factors such as state strength or weakness, especially as they related to the embrace or rejection of neoliberalism, and the availability or lack thereof of international funding, impact the power of different types of organisations. As with other work on transnational social movements, Lewis finds that the impact of ecoimperialists (international funders) on sustainability has been mixed. In the first place, the international actors were instrumental in helping to start the environmental movement. However, since they had the power to set the agendas of their dependent organisations, ecodependents were not accountable to, and therefore not as responsive to, local needs. Secondly, inter-organisational competition over access to funds impeded movement cohesion and the building of effective challenges to state policies. Finally, when international funding dried up many of the ecodependent organisations did not have the means to survive on their own and folded or substantially reduced their staff and activity.
The chapter on environmental politics during the Citizens’ Revolution is particularly interesting because, as Lewis explains, the period is full of paradoxes. In deconstructing neoliberalism, the state reasserted itself and usurped space that had previously been occupied by national and international NGOs. The retreat of ecoimperialists and of their funding led to the eclipse of the ecodependent organisations, which in turn opened space for ecoresisters. As the latter gained ground, the environmental agenda was radicalised. The paradox is that during the first few years of the Citizens’ Revolution ecoresisters made important inroads, notably with the incorporation of many of their ideas into the 2008 Montecristi Constitution, as well as with the launch of the Yasuní-ITT initiative. However, over time Correa increasingly rejected the radical environmental agenda and embraced extractivism as a means to fund his social welfare priorities. Indeed, extractivism accelerated under Correa.
This implies a frustrating answer to the book's initial question about the conditions conducive to a more sustainable economy. In spite of variation over time in terms of the strength of different actors, the rise of moderate and radical environmental agendas, and indeed some significant achievements by the environmental movement, in the final analysis a commitment to sustainability remained elusive. Lewis explains that in their support of President Correa, Ecuadorians appear to have prioritised the ‘economic and social pillars of sustainability, but not the environmental one’ (p. 194). Sustainability, she contends, will be possible only when societies begin to retreat from globalisation. The homogenising impact of globalisation precludes the rise of alternatives, and so only by withdrawing will alternatives become possible. The reader, however, is left wondering under what circumstances this might be possible. Given that Correa's left-wing administration seemed at first to offer the best prospects for moving in the direction of an alternative path, it is deeply disappointing from the standpoint of environmentalism that this path was ultimately not taken. Given the current state of affairs in the world, a retreat from globalisation does not seem terribly likely anywhere. The treadmill of production forges on.
Lewis writes in an accessible and engaging way. Her analysis will be of interest to scholars of the environment, social movements and development. This text will also work well in undergraduate and graduate classes on environmentalism, Latin American politics, social movements and economic development.
