Territories in conflict: Mapuche resistance against fracking in Vaca Muerta

Abstract

The text focuses on different aspects of the conflict surrounding the production of unconventional hydrocarbons in Vaca Muerta, Argentina. One of the central disputes has as protagonists the Mapuche community, the provincial and national state, and companies. The work analyzes the resistance developed by the Mapuche community of Campo Maripe, which claims ownership of its ancestral territory located in the heart of the exploitation of unconventional resources, in the Province of Neuquen, distinguishing how the State and businessmen have resorted to judicial and repressive instruments to evict the community from these lands. It will start from the study of the final stretch of the usurpation trial that occurred in the provincial city in 2019, where the accused were the six members of community of Campo Maripe. The trial thus acts as a prism that allows us to appreciate divergent valuations, perceptions and actions that are mobilized between the actors involved in the confrontation with reference to the territory, nature, and the gaze on the other. From a sociologic and qualitative analysis perspective, it contributes to a reflection on the modality adopted by social conflicts around fracking in Vaca Muerta, the reasons for the resistance, and on some of the strategies that capital adopts to continue exploiting the assets of nature at the current stage of energy production.