UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title From the Law to the Market: the Campaign of the U'wa Indigenous People in Colombia (1995-2010) Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2cx6d6qs Author Rueda, Pablo Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California From the Law to the Global Market: The Campaign of the U'wa Indigenous People in Colombia (1995-2010) By Pablo Rueda A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Calvin Morrill Co-Chair Professor Malcolm M. Feeley Co-Chair Professor Martin M. Shapiro Professor Laura Nader Spring 2012 Abstract From the Law to the Global Market: The Campaign of the U'wa Indigenous People in Colombia (1995-2010) by Pablo Rueda Doctor of Philosophy in Jurisprudence and Social Policy University of California, Berkeley Professors Calvin Morrill Chair and Malcolm M. Feeley, Chairs This dissertation uses the campaign of Colombia’s U’wa indigenous people against oil extraction in their land as a case study to understand the impact of the state, the law and the market over the tactics and scale of social movements. It studies how the campaign shifted away from litigation, expanded its scale transnationally and started using the tools available in the global market economy to prevent oil exploration in the U’wa land. The dissertation suggests the need to understand social movement tactics as a complex, multidimensional phenomenon in order to capture the relation between activism and multiple institutions. Finally, it also provides a framework to understand the relation between different tactics and institutions that helps to explain the roles of economic, political, and legal factors in providing the resources and opportunities for tactical innovation and transnational activism. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Page ii Chapter 1 Introduction Page 1 Chapter 2 Methodology Page 15 Chapter 3 Control and Autonomy: a History of Indigenous Lands in Colombia (1595-1975) Page 20 Chapter 4 Multicultural Governance Page 42 Chapter 5 Oil Power, Violent Spaces, and the Repression of Local Indigenous Mobilization Page 63 Chapter 6 Organizational Resources, Domestic Legal Environments and the Perception of Opportunities for Litigation Page 97 Chapter 7 Neoliberal Multiculturalism and the Closing of Opportunities for Litigation Page 114 Chapter 8 Institutional International Mobilization Page 133 Chapter 9 The Shift toward Market Oriented Tactics Page 158 Chapter 10 Conclusions Page 178 References Page 181 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people participated in one form or another in the making of this dissertation. I will mention only some of them, as it is impossible to thank them all in such a limited space. I hope that those people that contributed to the writing of this dissertation but whom I do not mention explicitly understand that this was due to the restrictions in space and not to my lack of gratitude. Some of the people mentioned here contributed by reading the drafts, providing information, or insight. Their contributions greatly improved this work, and as usual, its shortcomings are only mine. However, other people contributed in less palpable yet equally significant ways by sustaining long conversations with me. Sometimes, when I was most lucky, they even engaged with me in heated discussions about the ideas underlying this dissertation. Finally, others contributed by just being there, maybe sharing time cooking, attending a wine tasting event, and perhaps engaging in casual conversations on politics, art, food, or any other topic far removed from my dissertation. Their memorable company, the leisure time that they provided, and the laughs we had helped me continue with this lonely and somewhat egoistic process of writing a doctoral dissertation. First, and foremost, I wish to thank the U’wa people, for they were the inspiration for this intellectual endeavor. Hopefully, they will inspire more people and groups, not just to think or theorize about the nature and purpose of collective action, but to organize and act collectively to protect what is sacred about their lands. Among the U’wa that I met, I have a special debt with Berito Cobaria for his generosity. Berito showed me that you do not need to know how to read and write to have clear, profound ideas, and that you can be wise and politically savvy at the same time. I also want to thank Berua Tegria and Juan Pablo Villamizar, with whom I walked long distances and hiked through the steep slopes of the Colombian Andes, crossing some of the most beautiful places in the world. I wish to thank Gilberto Cobaria, the president of Asou’wa and a talented leader of his people, and Jose Cobaria, a strong and disciplined, yet kind teacher of the future U’wa generations. I would also like to thank Sirakubo Tegria, Luz Helena Aguablanca, and Roberto Perez. However, my debt toward indigenous people extends beyond the U’wa. National indigenous leaders also provided me with great information and insight for this project. I appreciate the help of Gabriel Muyuy, with whom I shared some time and talked for long hours in the Orinoco grasslands. I also wish to thank Luis Evelis Andrade, Ana Manuela Ochoa, Luis Fernando Arias and Javier Sanchez from the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) for all their help. Various people in Colombia and in the United States have dedicated their whole lives to the improvement of the living conditions of indigenous people. I want to extend special thanks to two people who have been committed to the advancement of the claims of indigenous people in various capacities, some of which have forced them to confront complex ethical dilemmas. I want to thank Esther Sanchez, who has worked for many, many years in the interstices of law and anthropology. Her generosity, and our long conversations bout indigenous people, food, and old family memories, were a breath of fresh air! Juan Mayr, is also someone who has worked for many years for the Kogi and their land, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Mara, who shared memories of both good times and difficult ones, and opened his personal archives, and his office for me ii during weeks. Martin von Hildebrand for his generosity, and for all that he has done on behalf of the Amazon and its people. Andrew Miller in D.C. has been a great friend. Without him, this dissertation would not have been possible. Angela Santamaria and Bastien Bosa are an intellectual power couple who combine rigorous academic endeavors with activism on behalf of indigenous people in different parts of the world! Their friendship has been a delight and an inspiration. And last, but not least, I want to thank my “brotha” Roderick Brett, aka “the Brit,” who fell in love with Colombia and then fell in love in it. I also want to thank the people in the Colombian constitutional court for all their help. I want to extend special thanks to Rodrigo Escobar, Manuel Jose Cepeda, Carlos Gaviria, Eduardo Cifuentes, Cristina Pardo, and Jose Antonio Cepeda. I also wanted to extend thanks to Virginie Laurent in the University of Los Andes, Jose Gregorio Mesa in the National University of Colombia, and Carolina Laserna and Hermann Ruiz in El Rosario University. At the University of California, Berkeley, I want to thank the Center for the Study of Law and Society and its Berkeley Empirical Studies program (BELS) for providing some of the funds for my research. I want to give special thanks too to my advisers Malcolm Feeley and Cal Morrill, as well as Martin Shapiro for all their help in making this dissertation possible. I owe them more than I can ever repay! Beyond the members of my dissertation committee I wanted to thank Michael Watts, David Collier, Bob Kagan and David Lieberman who read parts of my work and were always supportive and engaged. I also wanted to thank Laurie Edelman, with whom I had the pleasure to work during the last year of my dissertation. My peers at JSP were also instrumental in the development of the ideas who finally led me to write this dissertation. I want to thank Gwyn Leachman, Mike Gilbert, Keith Hyatt, Brian Broughman, Brent Nakamura, Hadar Aviram, and last but not least, the generous and always enthusiastic Tamara “Tamarinda” Lave. Margo Rodriguez, who in many ways is a true pillar of JSP, was not only incredibly helpful to me, but generous, kind and wise in her advice. Finally, I wish to thank Laura Nader for her help, guidance and friendship. Her directness and political engagement have been an inspiration for me and made me feel at home. Having good friends is absolutely indispensable to complete a doctoral degree successfully. I had the great fortune of building long lasting friendships throughout my Ph.D., and I want to thank some of those who gave me their friendship during this time. Alejandro Guarin is one of the most generous human beings I know, and someone who has the rare combination of talent and depth of thought. He read several versions of my research proposal, and as any good Marxist would do, heatedly discussed with me about the political implications of methodological choices until three or four in the morning. Alexandra Huneeus gave me her friendship, help and support from the day I entered JSP, provided me with stimulating conversations, and believed in my scholarly capacity throughout my whole Ph.D. Felipe Rojas is a magnanimous host with a fascinating conversation, who can interest people in the subtleties of Avestan grammar, charm them with stories of the magical solitude of archaeological research in Sardis, or convince them that world politics should have an impact on our team preferences in the world cup (I am talking about football, of course).