University of Groningen
Land grabbing and its environmental justice implications
Busscher, Nienke Annemarie
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2018
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Busscher, N. A. (2018). Land grabbing and its environmental justice implications. Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen.
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Land grabbing and its
environmental justice implications
Printing of this thesis made possible by SASA BV, Thesinge, the Netherlands. Paranymphs: Lidewij van der Ploeg
Jing Wu
Cover design: Anouk Marein Dijkstra
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Printed by: Gildeprint Drukkerij Enschede, www.gildeprint.nl ISBN: 978-94-034-1160-6
© Nienke Busscher, 2018
All rights are reserved. No parts of this thesis may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the permission of the author.
Land grabbing and its
environmental justice implications
PhD thesis
to obtain the degree of PhD of the University of Groningen
on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. E. Sterken
and in accordance with the decision by the College of Deans.
and
to obtain the degree of Doctor of Science: Geography (PhD) of the Faculty of Science, KU Leuven
on the authority of the Rector Prof. L. Sels and in accordance with
the decision by the Examination Committee and the Arenberg Doctoral School. Double PhD degree
This thesis will be defended in public on Thursday 29 November 2018 at 11.00 hours
by
Nienke Annemarie Busscher
born on May 21 1986 in Groningen
Supervisors
Prof. F.M.D. Vanclay (University of Groningen) Prof. Dr. C.A. Parra Novoa (KU Leuven)
Assessment Committee
Prof. B.B. Hogenboom Prof. L.G. Horlings Prof. C. Kesteloot Prof. L.E. Sánchez
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction to land grabbing
1.2 Overall aim and main research questions of this thesis 1.3 Theoretical framework and key concepts
1.4 The contribution of this research 1.5 Research approach and methodology 1.6 Positionality
1.7 Outline of the thesis References
Chapter 2. Analysing the governance of land grabbing from a combined political ecology and environmental justice perspective
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The drivers and implications of land grabbing governance
2.3 The contribution of Political Ecology and Environmental Justice in the context of Land Grabbing
2.4 Connecting Land Grabbing, Political Ecology and Environmental Justice 2.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3. Land grabbing within a protected area: The experience of local communities with conservation and forestry activities in Los Esteros del Iberá, Argentina
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Land grabbing and its characteristics
3.3 The governance dynamics of land grabbing in protected areas 3.4 Methodology for the case studies
3.5 Background information about land governance and extractivism in Iberá 3.6 Land grabs in Iberá: Harvard Management Company’s tree plantations 3.7 Land grabs in Iberá: the conservation projects of Douglas Tompkins 3.8 Governance dynamics in Los Esteros del Iberá
3.9 Conclusion: land grabbing and governance changes within protected areas References 13 14 16 18 22 23 30 32 35 39 41 42 46 49 53 54 59 61 63 64 66 68 71 74 75 80 83
Chapter 4. Environmental justice implications of land grabbing for industrial agriculture and forestry in Argentina
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Environmental injustice, resistance, protest and social transformative action 4.3 Quick overview of the field of environmental justice studies
4.4 Land grabbing as environmental injustice 4.5 The violence inherent within land grabbing 4.6 Land grabbing in Argentina
4.7 Methodology
4.8 Description of the two case studies
4.9 Environmental and social injustice from land grabbing: findings from the field 4.10 Strategies and social transformative actions used by rural communities to cope with land grabbing
4.11 Conclusion References
Chapter 5. State-civil society collaborations in the context of land grabbing in Argentina
5.1 Introduction
5.2 A critical analysis of state-civil society collaborations
5.3 State-civil society collaborations in Latin America and Argentina 5.4 Methodology
5.5 Background to land grabbing in Argentina
5.6 Land grabbing and land use change in Santiago del Estero 5.7 State-civil society collaborations in the face of land grabbing 5.8 Potential limitations to collaboration
5.9 Conclusion References
Chapter 6. Conclusion 6.1 Introduction
6.2 The social, political and environmental dynamics underlying the contemporary governance of land grabbing
6.3 The implications of land grabbing in terms of environmental justice 6.4 Reflection on the theoretical approaches used in this thesis
6.5 Comments regarding industrial tree plantations, nature conservation and agricultural expansion
6.6 The outlook for land grabbing and environmental justice in Argentina
91 93 95 97 99 99 100 102 105 106 110 111 114 121 123 125 128 129 131 133 135 139 142 144 149 150 151 152 153 156 158
and beyond 6.7 Recommendations
6.8 Final remarks and future research directions References
Addendum
English summary - Land grabbing and its environmental justice implications
Nederlandse samenvatting – Landroof en de consequenties voor de lokale gemeenschap About the author
Acknowledgements
Appendix I - Interview guide (Example) Appendix II – Consent form
160 162 164 169 170 178 186 188 192 196
Overview of the papers produced as part of this PhD research Chapter 2 was published as:
Busscher, N., Krueger, R., Parra, C., 2019. Analysing the governance of land grabbing from a com-bined political ecology and environmental justice perspective. In: Broeck, van den P., Sadiq, A., Verschure, H., Moulaert, F., Quintana, M. (eds.). Communities, land and social innovation. Land
taking and Land making in rapidly urbanising areas. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishers, in
press.
Chapter 3 was published as:
Busscher, N., Parra, C., Vanclay, F., 2018. Land grabbing within a protected area: The experience of local communities with conservation and forestry activities in Los Esteros del Iberá, Argenti-na. Land Use Policy 78, 572-582.
Chapter 4 is under review with an international peer-reviewed journal:
Busscher, N., Parra, C., Vanclay, F. Environmental justice implications of land grabbing for indus-trial agriculture and forestry in Argentina.
Chapter 5 is under review with an international peer-reviewed journal:
Busscher, N., Vanclay, F., Parra, C. State-civil society collaborations in the context of land grab-bing in Argentina.
