Reviews

Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador by Thea Riofrancos

daytonm's review against another edition

4.0

I read this over several weeks as part of a book club through the DSA eco-socialism working group, which was a great experience. The book is both a compelling story about mining conflicts in Ecuador--with great material on the specific historical events, intellectual developments, and popular discourses that flowed within the pro-extraction state and the anti-extraction indigenous communities-- and implicitly a call to action for the global left and environmental movement to start paying more attention to all forms of extraction. There will be (and in many places already are) very thorny questions over where whether and how to pursue resource extraction (including, for instance, metal for solar panels) that we have to start confronting now. This case study of Ecuador is an invaluable tool to help think through some of these issues.

shealeib's review against another edition

5.0

This book vividly pulled apart a critical tension within the Left regarding the question of extraction (and, subsequently, sovereignty, governance, economic dependency, etc.) within the context of Ecuador under Correa. This book deepened not only my understanding of the 2007-2017 conflicts between the "Left in power vs. Left in resistance" in Ecuador regarding resource extraction, but also deepened my understandings of the complexity, tensions, and possibilities of building a socialist state and/or future when considering natural resource extraction. Very rewarding read!!