Access, power and justice in commodity frontiers : the political ecology of access to land and palm oil expansion in Colombia

Investigating the ‘curious’ case of civil war and foreign direct investment: evidence from Sudan

“…Through widespread forced displacement of civilians, oil companies were able to expand commercial activities that would have otherwise been unavailable. Similar trends are found in Colombia's palm oil sector (Maher, 2015b(Maher, , 2018; see also Marin-Burgos, 2014).…”

“…For example, when considering natural resource extraction, high levels of violence in economically important areas can be followed by increased levels of FDI into the extractive industries within those areas. Similarly, political ecology scholars have traditionally investigated conflict over natural resources, recognising that extraction of the natural world has led to various levels and types of violence (e.g., Le Billon & Duffy, 2018;Marin-Burgos, 2014). 2 The critical civil war literature and political ecology scholarship can provide insights into civil war and FDI.…”

Violence and visibility in oil palm and sugarcane conflicts: the case of Polochic Valley, Guatemala

“…Such tension and breakdown of alliances on an international scale occurred among the international human rights and national organizations.. Over the course of the conflict, international NGOs pursued specific campaigning actions at international level, while national and local organizations diverged in their strategies depending on the type of organization that they were (development, research or peasant). In other studies, tensions have also been noted between organizations that seek to negotiate and define sustainability criteria with regard to oil palm production and those that are against the expansion of oil palm in and of itself (Borras 2015;Marin-Burgos 2014).…”

“…In this article, I use agrofuel as a synonym for biofuel. fertility and increased water and air pollution (Goldemberg et al 2008;Martinelli and Filoso 2008). Moreover, social differentiation characterizes oil palm plantations, where the poorest smallholders, the landless and womenoften overlapping categoriesare oftentimes unable to reap the benefits from cultivation or employment (Alonso-Fradejas 2012; Cardenas 2012; Mingorría et al 2014).…”

“…When I talk about conflicts in this article, I refer to disputes and confrontations, visible or invisible, which occur as a result of flex-crops plantations and/or their expansion. Such disputes can be related to their environmental impacts, potentially resulting in changes in land tenure and resource access relations, and over labor rights and working conditions (Borras et al 2010;Marin-Burgos 2014). In the Polochic, oil palm and sugarcane plantation conflict is manifested through Q'eqchi' groups and a diverse types of social organizations in opposition to the expansion of flex-crops that are controlled by two oligarchic families present in the Polochic.…”