Slow environmental justice
The Cuninico oil spill and the legal struggle against oil pollution in Peruvian Amazonia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4969823 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hernán Manrique López (0000-0003-1039-7518, KU Leuven, corresponding author), José Carlos Orihuela (0000-0002-2999-5561, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1041-1064 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-4016 • E-ISSN: 1743-8934 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09644016.2024.2322382 |
| OpenAlex | W4392594709 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 49 |
This paper analyzes a case of environmental activism after one of the largest oil spills in Peruvian Amazonia, the 2014 Cuninico oil spill. A relatively more independent judiciary, environmental legislation, and weak though autonomous regulatory agencies led to a shift in institutional opportunity structure over the previous 20 years. The embryonic environmental state produced evidence of environmental harm and sanctioned state-owned oil enterprise Petroperú. However, that was not enough to produce timely measures to protect the affected communities. Indigenous peoples affected by the spill worked with human rights lawyers and civil society coalitions to bring the company to court. Almost a decade of high court activism has meant a burdensome process of ‘lawfare’ with important legal triumphs for plaintiffs. In 2020, a historic ruling mandated financial compensation for affected communities. Despite these triumphs, the long wait for the restitution of justice hints at an uncertain future
Amazon rainforest · Climate change · Climate justice · Economic Justice · Economics · Environmental justice · Environmental protection · Geography · Natural resource economics · Oil pollution · Oil spill · Political science · Environmental law and policy · Environmental Science · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography · Pollution
Resource Booms and Institutional Pathways
Green States and Social Movements
Greening Brazil
Practical Authority
Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon
Dynamics of Contention
Social Movements and Organization Theory
A Theory of Gradual Institutional Change
Green Lawfare
Social Movements and Institutional Analysis
Environmental Justice in Latin America
The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Justice
Power in Movement
Mapping ecological distribution conflicts
The environmentalization of mining in Colombia, Chile, and Peru
Unpacking the extractivist state
The politics of extractive governance
Protracted lawfare
Indigenous Struggles, Environmental Justice, and Community Capabilities
Embedded Countermovements
Beyond Oil Spill Cleanup, Abandoned Infrastructures Affect the Environment Too – A case study of the Lived Experiences of the Niger Delta People
The Political Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy
From paper institutions to bureaucratic autonomy
Contesting the hydrocarbon frontiers
Re-politicizing participation or reframing environmental governance? Beyond indigenous’ prior consultation and citizen participation
Unfulfilled promises of the consultation approach
The cynical state
Slow justice
Movimentos sociais na teoria e na prática
Like harvesting tarulla
Taking Bourdieu to the Shantytown
Greening Leviathan
Theorising environmental justice
Considering strategic litigation as an advocacy tool
Toxic Space and Time
Determinants of Judicial Independence
Mobilizing the State
Tinkering Care, State Responsibility, and Abandonment
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |