Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Fall 2006

Keywords

Environmental injustice

Abstract

Nationally and globally there is a widening disparity between the rich and poor which is reflected at every level of society. Environmental injustice is a term to describe the unjust way that natural resources are allocated, and the very real phenomenon of a disproportionate amount of the negative consequences of environmental degradation being placed on those populations that are poor and underrepresented. This paper will address this situation in Ecuador, and specifically, the connection between the environmental degradation of one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, and the destruction of indigenous and repressed populations who have lived in and with that environment for generations. The modem prioritization of resource acquisition and the profit maximization tactics of institutions in the industrial global economy have driven extinction of these cultures and degradation of their environments. Affluent societies following the paradigm of “manifest destiny” have fallen to trying to tame the wilderness and conquer the “primitive” peoples who call it home in order to bring them in to the “civilized”, modem world, and moreover, exploit their land and its intrinsic values and services for monetary profit.

Department

Environmental Sciences

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Environmental degradation--Ecuador; Deforestation--Ecuador; Indians of South America--Ecuador--Economic conditions; Indigenous peoples--Land tenure--Ecuador; Indigenous peoples--Ecology--Ecuador

Geographic Coverage

Ecuador

Genre/Form

student projects; term papers

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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