Post-neoliberal energy modernity and the political economy of the landlord state in Ecuador

Purcell, Thomas; Martinez, Estefania

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2018.04.003

Cited by 29 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…As discussed by Coronil (1997), the dialectic between capital, labour and land makes the landlord state an independent economic actor rather than simply a mere political actor dependent on capital (see also Emel et al. 2011; Purcell and Martinez 2018).…”

Section: Global Production Network the Landlord State And Ground Rentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilising Rents: Natural Gas Production Networks and the Landlord State in Peru and Bolivia

Irarrázaval

2022

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The ongoing choreography of extractive industries asks for a deeper appraisal about the processes and scales underpinning resource extraction. This paper unpacks how the assembly between natural gas production networks, extractivist states and local politics is anchored in resource peripheries in Peru and Bolivia through contingent schemes of value distribution. From a critical production network approach, the paper examines the transformation of resource peripheries through the transfer of natural gas rents to sub-national governments and, more specifically, through investments in public infrastructure. Such investments embed natural gas production networks to local politics through three processes: providing an image of modernisation and progress; coopting local elites through corruption; and mobilising local labour. In conclusion, the articulation between production networks and extractivist states involves an entangled scheme of rent distribution that flows at very local levels and consolidates multi-scalar arrangements for resource extraction. Resumen: La organizaci on actual de las industrias extractivas requiere una evaluaci on profunda de los procesos y escalas que sustentan la extracci on de recursos. Este art ıculo desglosa c omo el ensamblaje entre redes de producci on de gas natural, estados extractivistas y pol ıticas locales se ancla en las periferias de recursos en Per u y Bolivia a trav es de reg ımenes contingentes de distribuci on de valor. Desde un enfoque cr ıtico de las redes globales de producci on, el documento examina la transformaci on de las periferias de los recursos a trav es de la transferencia de rentas del gas natural a los gobiernos subnacionales y, m as espec ıficamente, a trav es de las inversiones de esas rentas en infraestructura p ublica. Dichas inversiones anclan las redes de producci on de gas natural en la pol ıtica local a trav es de tres procesos: generan una imagen de modernizaci on y progreso; cooptan a las elites locales a trav es de la corrupci on; y movilizaci on de mano de obra local. En conclusi on, la articulaci on entre redes de producci on y estados extractivistas implica un esquema de distribuci on de rentas que fluye a niveles muy locales y consolida arreglos multiescalares para la extracci on de recursos.

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Section: Global Production Network the Landlord State And Ground Rentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilising Rents: Natural Gas Production Networks and the Landlord State in Peru and Bolivia

Irarrázaval

2022

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“…Ecuador’s debt to China stood at 38.7 percent of its GDP in 2017 (Koening, 2017). When Ecuador invited Chinese state-owned companies to construct a series of sustainable energy projects, many influential social movement leaders and intellectuals criticized the government’s reliance on Chinese capital and debt for resource extraction as reproducing the neoliberal development model (Purcell and Martinez, 2018). In response, the Ecuadorian government increased oversight to protect workers’ rights and benefits as a means of justifying its legitimacy (Hawkins, 2011).…”

Section: Context: the Role Of China In Ecuador’s Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnational migrant labor, split labor markets, and workers’ boundary-making practices in a Chinese state-sponsored workplace in Ecuador

Peng

2021

International Journal of Comparative Sociology

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Existing research on transnationalization of labor documents split labor markets between less-skilled (im)migrant workers and native workers in the host countries. But there is little research on how labor relations take shape when relatively skilled workers migrate from more developed countries to work temporarily in less-developed countries in the Global South. Based on ethnographic research on a Chinese state-sponsored construction project in Ecuador, this article explicates an understudied case. Although the temporary migrant Chinese workers come from a more developed country and hold higher status jobs, they are compensated at a lower rate and have fewer labor rights compared to their lower status Ecuadorian counterparts. By comparatively examining workers’ everyday interactions and boundary-making practices, this study develops a twofold argument. First, the development strategies and political interests of the home and host states interact to shape divergent recruitment processes and labor policies, which gives rise to disparate working conditions and labor rights between migrant and native workers. Second, the foreign migrant and native workers cope with labor disparities by invoking national stereotypes to draw social boundaries, which exacerbates their labor market splits. This analysis has theoretical implications for understanding labor relations under transnational state capitalism, workers’ strategies against labor control, and the future of labor solidarity in the Global South.

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“…Until approximately 2012, the government was able to exert higher control and extract increasing rents from companies without jeopardizing investments. In addition, new lending acquired in exchange for untapped oil translated into new dynamics of mortgaging underground resources (Purcell & Martínez 2018). Third, surplus rents channelled through direct spending or currency subsidies were used politically to benefit a new model of authoritarian governance, closely associated with the figure of the president, rewarding loyalty and punishing dissent (Ellner 2018).…”

Section: The Decay Of the Rentier Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

The crisis in Venezuela: Drivers, transitions, and pathways

Bull

Rosales

2020

ERLACS

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In this introduction, we present the main contributions of this special collection, which aim to open the analysis to the broader political and economic processes that underpin Venezuela's recent crisis. We highlight the transition from a limited democracy to an authoritarian regime and some of the potential pathways to democratization. We further explain how the political transition that occurred in the last decade was influenced by structural conditions of the Venezuelan economy, elaborating on the collapse of the Venezuelan rentier economy and some of the emerging processes that feed the strengthening of authoritarianism. Lastly, we analyse how these transformations have been affected by a changing international order with emerging actors and dynamics in a global order upheaval. The articles in this special collection locate in Venezuela's crisis on broader theoretical discussions rooted in comparative and historical perspectives.

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Post-neoliberal energy modernity and the political economy of the landlord state in Ecuador

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Mobilising Rents: Natural Gas Production Networks and the Landlord State in Peru and Bolivia

Mobilising Rents: Natural Gas Production Networks and the Landlord State in Peru and Bolivia

Transnational migrant labor, split labor markets, and workers’ boundary-making practices in a Chinese state-sponsored workplace in Ecuador

The crisis in Venezuela: Drivers, transitions, and pathways

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