Beyond postdevelopment

Civic responses to regional integration in the Amazon

Bibliographic Data

ID7428540
AuthorsSonja K Pieck (Bates College, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume28
Issue1
Pages179-202
Publication date2011-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0887-3631 • E-ISSN: 1940-6320
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08873631.2011.548497
OpenAlexW2073630562
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited54

Postdevelopment theorists often try to read "alternatives to development" in the actions of local social movements or non-governmental organizations. More recent studies of development, however, emphasize the imbrication of state agendas with those of civil society. In the context of a major regional integration initiative in South America, this essay argues for the need to move beyond postdevelopment. Launched in 2000, IIRSA, the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America, calls for a massive expansion of the continent's transport, energy and telecommunications networks and as such has the potential to redefine both the ecological and political-economic landscapes of South America. In particular, IIRSA's Amazonian mega-projects have prompted outcries from environmentalists and indigenous peoples. In examining some of the salient methods activists are using to challenge IIRSA, this paper takes issue with postdevelopment and argues that activists are not rejecting elite projects, but instead are engaging them. Activists generate this space of engagement by invoking and problematizing the idea of active citizenship. The essay ends by exploring the implications of such a strategy, emphasizing an awareness of the entanglements between civil society and dominant institutions through a consideration of development, environment and citizenship

Civil society · Elite · Regional Integration · International Development and Aid · Politics and Society in Latin America · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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