“We are protectors, not protestors”: global impacts of extractivism on human–nature bonds

Abstract

This article analyzes the global impacts of extractivism on human–nature bonds. To do so, we rely on socio-ecological conflict data from the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice. Over 1800 cases involving resistance to the destruction of nature, cultures, cosmologies, worldviews, ancestral origins, and sacred places are analyzed using log-linear regression compared to 1600 cases that do not report such loss. The impact is especially visible when mineral ores, plantation products, and crude oil are extracted. The results indicate that affected groups are Indigenous peoples, farmers, peasants, pastoralists, and religious groups. In conflict outcomes, 79% of cases with refusal of compensation indicate impacts on human–nature bonds. Furthermore, in those cases where assassinations of activists occurred, 68% have observed impacts on human–nature bonds. Protecting human–nature bonds is a critical component for achieving social, economic, and environmental sustainability and justice against extractivism embedded in colonial relations playing against such bonds and environmental protectors.