Mining, the Environment, and Indigenous Development Conflicts

Why do American indigenous groups oppose mining agreements in some cases and not in others, when comparative environmental and economic impacts are projected to be similar? Ali (environmental studies, U. of Vermont) presents four case studies of native people in the United States and Canada in order to answer this question, arguing that the issue of sovereignty frequently outweighs questions of economic benefit and environmental impacts. It is in the negotiation process, specifically in the way issues and alliances are linked, that environmental resistance to mining projects will arise. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Saleem H. Ali is an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Vermont and Research Scholar at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.