Unfulfilled promises of the consultation approach: the limits to effective indigenous participation in Bolivia's and Peru's extractive industries

• Published in: Third world quarterly Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 172 - 188
• Main Authors: Flemmer, Riccarda, Schilling-Vacaflor, Almut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 02.01.2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Bolivia; Communication; extractive industry; free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); indigenous people; Indigenous populations; Informed consent; Land; Native peoples; Ownership; Participation; participatory development; Peru; Power; Prior consultation; Bolivia; Peru
• ISSN: 0143-6597; 1360-2241
• DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1092867

Indigenous peoples' right to prior consultation and to informed consent represents the basis of the new global model shaping state-indigenous relations. Consultation processes promise to enable indigenous people to determine their own development and are especially promoted when extraction projects with significant socio-environmental impacts are planned on indigenous lands. In this article we draw on debates on participatory development in order to analyse the first state-led consultations in Bolivia's and Peru's hydrocarbon sectors (2007-14). The analysis shows that effective participation has been limited by (1) an absence of indigenous ownership of the processes; (2) indigenous groups' difficulties defending or even articulating their own visions and demands; and (3) limited or very general outcomes. The study identifies real-life challenges, such as power asymmetries, a 'communication hurdle' and appropriate timing - as well as simplistic assumptions underlying the consultation approach - that account for the unfulfilled promises of this new model.