Antropologicheskij forum, 2021, no. 51

A Review of CECILIE VINDAL ØDEGAARD, JUAN JAVIER RIVERA ANDÍA (eds.), INDIGENOUS LIFE PROJECTS AND EXTRACTIVISM: ETHNOGRAPHIES FROM SOUTH AMERICA. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, 282 pp.

Artem Pushin

Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences
32A Leninskiy Av., Moscow, Russia
pushin()iea.ras.ru

Abstract: The reviewed book is one of the few anthropological studies of encounters of indigenous and “Western” ontologies in the resource-dependent economies of South America. Using qualitative methods—primarily field observation—the authors demonstrate the inadequacy of perceiving the interactions between indigenous communities and extractive companies only as a conflict. The review shows how the structural organization of most chapters makes it possible to imagine the relationship between capitalist and indigenous worlds as being much more complex and not corresponding to the romanticized image of an “authentic Indian”. In addition to its academic significance, the reviewer draws attention to a practical aspect: how the problematization of ontological differences contributes to the implementation of industrial and infrastructure projects that can have an impact on indigenous communities. At the same time, the review also demonstrates some inconsistencies that occur either throughout the book or in separate chapters. These include, for example, the isolation of the positions of non-indigenous actors, the unintentional reproduction of stereotypical ideas about indigenous communities, the lack of historical context for the categorization of South American societies on the basis of indigeneity. The authors’ innovative understanding of extractivism as a model of value extraction opens up new possible scenarios for the research of indigenous ontologies in the context of global capitalism.

Keyword: extractivism, indigenous peoples, ontology, extractive companies.

Acknowledgments: The review was prepared with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 20-68-46043 (“Anthropology of Extractivism: Research and Design of Social Changes in the Regions with Resource-Based Economy”).

To cite: Pushin A., ‘A Review of Cecilie Vindal Ødegaard, Juan Javier Rivera Andía (eds.), Indigenous Life Projects and Extractivism: Ethnographies from South America. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, 282 pp.’, Antropologicheskij forum, 2021, no. 51, pp. 201–210.

doi: 10.31250/1815-8870-2021-17-51-201-210

URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/051/pushin.pdf