Environmental Racism in Colonial Continuity: Extractivism, Socioecological Crisis and the Mapuche Struggle in Southern Chile

Abstract

In recent decades, extractivist industries in Chile have expanded significantly. One of these activities is industrial forestry, which is oriented towards the export of large quantities of pulp and is now one of the country’s most important economic sectors. However, its extremely extensive monocultures of pine and eucalyptus plantations in the central south of Chile are associated with widespread social exclusion and ecological destruction. But forestry is not the only source of conflict. In recent decades, Indigenous territory has been revalued for its potential to produce non-conventional renewable energies, which has meant the deployment of numerous hydroelectric, wind and photovoltaic projects that have opened up a new field of conflict. This is especially true in the former territory of the indigenous Mapuche. Their mode of production and living is particularly affected by the destruction of the ecosystems by forest plantations and energy projects. Our contribution shows, first, that especially in the context of progressive climate change, these industrial activities in the central south of Chile lead to considerable ecological destruction and social exclusion. Second, we demonstrate how this primarily affects the indigenous Mapuche and, third, how this can be understood as “environmental racism in colonial continuity”. Finally, our contribution will deal with the question of how the situation in Chile is currently being managed politically and how this is to be assessed.