Resistance of the Civil Society Against Mining Projects

Abstract

A very high proportion of concessions for open-pit mining projects overlap with Protected Natural Areas. Unfortunately, the lax environmental legislation favors this type of companies above the interest of local and regional communities to preserve their environment and health. Thus the reason why local communities, faced with the onslaught of the capital of these predatory companies, have organized themselves to challenge these social and ecological tragedies. This chapter analyzes the main methods of resistance used by local communities. Resistance to mining has evolved throughout history, mining conflicts have been originally dominated by strikes, protests, and demands, but in the last two decades, communities living in the areas surrounding mining projects oppose environmental issues and object to their lack of representation and participation in the decisions concerning its development. Its result a combination of local narratives, rights (clean water, human, indigenous) and environmental justice. This evolution have made it possible to make alliances among local groups and organizations, which has succeeded in increasing knowledge about these projects and giving them visibility by contributing to new strategies of social resistance, such as legal judgments, scientific collaborations, and public consultations to reject mining projects.