A latin americanist, proto-environmentalist master frame in the current cycle of environmental protest in Latin America

The sociology of social movements has neglected for some time the cultural aspects involved in these processes. Lately, however, the study of these aspects has attracted the attention of scholars. My work is connected to his trend. I intend to analyze a master frame—that is, a recurrent framing—on natural resources that has re-emerged in the current cycle of environmental protest in Latin America. I traced the origin of this master frame to the early decades of the XXth century, in journalistic and literary pieces written by intellectuals loosely linked to leftist networks. I called it “neocolonial counter-discourse on natural resources”. It has a narrative matrix with four crucial elements: a natural resource; an exploited local group related to this resource; a foreign, imperialist actor; a local accomplice. The story that links these elements is one of extreme exploitation: key words recurrently used are “saqueo” (sacking), “depredación” (depredation), “expolio” (pillaging). It is an injustice framing which may be considered proto-environmentalist, and became a master frame widely used in Latin America in subsequent cycles of protests. It is also Latin Americanist and anti-imperialist.

I will explore the presence of this master frame in current environmental protests in Latin America, particular against mining (open pit, uranium, lithium), GM crops, and forestry and the pulp and paper industry. I am particularly interested in two aspects: its use in processes of frame alignment between social movements in different Latin American countries, facilitating the construction of regional and transnational advocacy networks and coalitions; and its function in helping in the construction of political opportunities on international and transnational levels.