Rising from the Ashes: Remaking Community Around Conflict and Coal
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Rising from the Ashes: Remaking Community Around Conflict and Coal By Emma Banks Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Anthropology May 8, 2020 Nashville, TN Approved: Lesley Gill, Ph.D. Carwil Bjork-James, Ph.D. Aviva Chomsky, Ph.D. Marshall Eakin, Ph.D. Dedication To Dad. Because you would have been so proud. ii Acknowledgements I am forever indebted to the people from La Guajira who shared their stories, meals, and homes with me. I hope my dissertation helps make your struggles a little more visible. There are many people who helped me along the way, but I want to give a special thank you to Angélica Ortiz, Jazmin Romero, Samuel Arregocés, Rogelio Ustate, Pacho Tovar, Yoe Arregocés, and Jairo Fuentes. I have worked with all of you in solidarity over the last years and am ever in admiration of your leadership, bravery, and commitment. I could not have done this dissertation without the support of my advisor Lesley Gill. Lesley, thank you for always pushing me to improve my thinking and writing. I know I am a better scholar because of you. Thank you to Avi Chomsky for introducing me to La Guajira and being part of my committee. I am so glad we can keep working on these projects together. I cannot forget Steve Striffler who is an excellent delegation companion, editor, and idea bouncer offer. Thank you to Carwil Bjork-James for your comments, and steadfast support. It’s wonderful to have a committee member who is also a close friend. Thank you to Marshall Eakin for being part of my committee and offering insightful comments throughout. I want to take a moment to remember John Janusek who was a wonderful mentor and committee member. I want to thank my colleagues in Colombia. From INDEPAZ Golda Fuentes, Benedict Weiss, and Leonardo Gonzalez. Huge thanks to everyone at the “3 Cs” as well, the folks at CENSAT, CAJAR, and CINEP. Thanks to my academic colleagues Monica Hurtado, Diana Ojeda, Ernell Villa, Davier Pinto, Etna Bayona, and Andrea Cardoso. It is a privilege to be part of your circle. I have many friends to thank as well. I am probably going to forget someone, but I wanted to thank in particular my fellow grad students Gabriela Ore, Carla Hernández, Scotti Norman, Emily Beugelmans, Keitlyn Alcantara, Gloria Pérez, Fernanda Bretones, Viviana Quintero, Monte Talley, Dan O’Maley, Tristan Call, Aileen Teague, and Terren Proctor. Also big thanks to my amazing Querelle de Femmes writing crew: Iyaxel Cojti Ren, Lauren Mitchell, Katie McKenna, Amaryah Armstrong, Sarah Gorman, and Kadiri Vaquer. I guess you can say my time in grad school was defined by amazing women. Thank you to my husband Christopher Stowe for helping me through the emotional ride of writing a dissertation. You made me take breaks to enjoy the outdoors and poured me wine when I was working late. Thanks to my friends Caitlin Kelly, Stacy Endriss, and Rebecca Green for your tireless support and love as I pushed through. I received financial support that made this dissertation possible. Vanderbilt’s Center for Latin American Studies and Arts and Sciences funded my preliminary fieldwork. The National Science Foundation provided me with funding for my long-term fieldwork as well as one return trip in 2018. The Robert Penn Warren Center gave me one year of blissful writing time. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vii Chapter I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Research questions and summary ..................................................................................................1 Key terms ......................................................................................................................................2 Dispossession, enclosure, displacement, and the precariat ............................................................................... 2 Identity and solidarity ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Resettlement and Corporate Social Responsibility .............................................................................................. 7 Political violence ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Demographics of La Guajira .......................................................................................................... 10 Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Outline of chapters ...................................................................................................................... 15 II. Community and Land Organizations before Mining ............................................................. 17 The people of the central and southern Guajira ............................................................................ 18 The Wayúu .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Afro-descendants................................................................................................................................................ 20 Community politics and social organizations ................................................................................. 22 Clans and kinship ................................................................................................................................................ 22 Authorities .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 Living off the land ........................................................................................................................ 27 Settling the southern Guajira ............................................................................................................................. 27 Land ownership .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 32 III. Enclosure and Displacement ............................................................................................... 33 Buying up coal concessions .......................................................................................................... 35 Enclosure ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Community reorganization under the 1991 Constitution ............................................................... 43 Organizing under pressure ........................................................................................................... 48 Organizing with new rights ........................................................................................................... 51 Displacement ............................................................................................................................... 54 Caracolí ............................................................................................................................................................... 55 Nuevo Espinal ..................................................................................................................................................... 56 iv Oreganal ............................................................................................................................................................. 58 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 62 IV. Before and After Tabaco ..................................................................................................... 64 The neoliberalization of Colombian coal ....................................................................................... 65 Mobilizing identity and allies in Tabaco ........................................................................................ 67 International allies ....................................................................................................................... 71 The neighbors mobilize ................................................................................................................ 74 Division ....................................................................................................................................... 78 The Red Tabaco .................................................................................................................................................