Upfront Difference and Conflict in the Struggle Over Natural Resources: A political ecology framework ARTURO ESCOBAR ABSTRACT Arturo Escobar examines the increasing number of conflicts over natural resources around the world in response to neo-liberal globalization. He argues that such escalating environmental conflicts can be conceptually understood through three inter-related rubrics: economic, ecological, and cultural. His interest is in the relationship between difference and equality of access in economic, ecological, and cultural distribution conflicts in order to set out a political ecology framework. He asks that we treat economic, ecological, and cultural distribution as equally important. If we are to live in a peaceful, just and balanced modern social world we can no longer deny people their rights to their own cultures, ecologies, and economies. KEYWORDS economics; culture; subalterns; modernity; globalization; equality; politics of place Introduction Environmental struggles rage all over the world.This has been the case for a long time ^ at least since the nineteenth century ^ although it would seem that they are becoming more ubiquitous year after year in so many corners of our shared planet. It is as if the only way to face the declaration of war on nature and humanity by neo-liberal globali- zation is by conflict and struggle. The dominant models of development and the econo- my are making inroads into urban and rural landscapes, the body, and even the molecular fabric of life (for instance, as inthe case of transgenic crops and nanotechnol- ogy).They introduce environmentallydestructivepracticesthat leavelandscapes of eco- logical destruction, sometimes veritable devastation, along the way. It is no wonder that communities worldwide are increasingly steadfast, adamant and articulate about the defense of their places, environments, and ecosystems. Long gone are the days when one could count, on one hand, the environmental movements in the Third World that achieved visibility in the West (the most famous of which being the valiant defense of Himalayan forests by women, known in the1970s and1980s as the Chipko movement). Today the number of environmental conflicts and mobilization that receive, or at least merit, worldwide attention has skyrocketed. Tropical forests, biodiversity, water, seeds, energy technologies, food, rivers, and seas, contamination caused by extractive industries such as oil and mining, transboundary pollution, fishing rights, urban Development, 2006, 49(3), (6–13) r 2006 Society for International Development 1011-6370/06 www.sidint.org/development Development (2006) 49(3), 6–13. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100267