A Rancierian analysis of anti-mining resistance in Guatemala

Abstract

Indigenous people in Guatemala have protested several mining companies since 2004 and have succeeded in halting operations. Further research is warranted to find theoretical explanations for the decades-long resistance and its progress deterring mining operations. This research contributes to the scholarly literature on equality and resistance by analysing behaviour and communication as factors in determining the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of resistance strategies. The strategies of the indigenous people of Guatemala to resist mining activities are examined through the lens of Jacques Rancière’s theories and concepts about power and inequality, with particular attention paid to his concepts of police and politics. His theory of equality finds that protestors are effective when they cause disruption, gain media attention, create their own platform for protest and have an all-inclusive protest slogan. Rancière’s prescription for resisters to create politics is for them to exercise their own agency. The creation of politics is finding equality, not power. Using Rancière’s concepts, this paper assesses the anti-mining movement’s actions (or inaction) and discerns if the movement has had any sustained impact in achieving politics. These concepts are used as tools to analyse the indigenous people’s mining protests intended to oust mining companies. While not directly prescriptive, this study brings to light alternative approaches in leveraging power to address ways the police order creates and maintains inequality. Rancière argues that resistance of injustice must be based on universal fundamental human equality. By having subjects speak for themselves through interviews and by closely analysing print sources, the intent of this research is to find any indication of the protestors achieving (or failing to achieve) a moment which reveals the false construction of inequality, the unfair nature of subjugation. This methodology follows a decolonial method. Data sources include interviews and content analysis of news media, trade magazines and reports from non-governmental organisations. Findings from the data provide new avenues for research in terms of identifying the tactics of the police order and circumventing and countering those tactics.