The Role of Ecuadorian Working-Class Environmentalism in Promoting Environmental Justice: An Overview of the Hydrocarbon and Agricultural Sectors

This chapter analyses the environmental politics of labour organisations in the agricultural and oil sectors in Ecuador. Specifically, it examines how several organisations and actors in both sectors understand both their goals for social justice and how they incorporate an environmental agenda. It shows that among the social groups belonging to the category of working-class environmentalism, indigenous and peasant organisations are the ones leading the struggles for environmental justice. In turn, union organisations are playing a more modest role. In both cases, the internalisation of explicit environmental priorities since the 1990s by labour organisations has been interlinked with the recognition of demands for cultural diversity and autonomy. Furthermore, international alliances with other labour organisations and advocacy groups have been fundamental.