Accumulation by dispossession in coastal Ecuador: Shrimp farming, local resistance and the gender structure of mobilizations Sandra Veuthey a, *, Julien-Franc ¸ois Gerber b a Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain b Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA 1. Introduction Shrimp is now the most important internationally traded fishery commodity in money terms (Gillett, 2008). The global production of farm-raised shrimps has increased over the last two decades at a faster rate than any other aquacultural products. By 2009, it represented about one third of the amount of shrimps consumed worldwide (Fishstat, 2011). Because of its high economic return, shrimp farming has been encouraged to boost the economy of tropical developing countries. Promoters believe that it can contribute to the world’s food supply by compensating for decline in capture fisheries and generate significant foreign exchange earnings. However, there is growing concern both locally and worldwide for the recognition of the finite and fragile nature of the coastal ecosystems – the mangrove forests – in which this industry often takes place. Therefore, the explosive growth of shrimp farming has generated mounting criticism of its socio-environmental con- sequences, including the conversion and expropriation of mangroves; the decline in food security; the marginalization of coastal communities; and their migration to urban centres. This situation has resulted in many conflicts worldwide (Primavera, 1997; Stonich and Bailey, 2000). In addition, while shrimp farming benefits many entrepreneurs and tradesmen, its positive effects on rural employments have been very limited (UNRISD, 1997). Global Environmental Change 22 (2012) 611–622 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 25 May 2011 Received in revised form 26 October 2011 Accepted 30 October 2011 Available online 5 December 2011 Keywords: Environmental justice Feminist political ecology Shrimp farming Mangroves Enclosure Ecuador A B S T R A C T Over the last two decades, the global production of farm-raised shrimps has increased at a faster rate than any other aquacultural product, leading to massive socio-ecological damages in the mangrove areas where shrimp farming often takes place. Consequently, an increasing number of conflicts pitting coastal populations against shrimp farmers has been reported although very few conflicts have been studied in detail. This article contributes to fill this research gap by analyzing the causes, development and consequences of one such conflict in the Ecuadorian canton of Muisne (province of Esmeraldas). This conflict is one of the world’s earliest and most important protest movements for the defence of mangroves and against the shrimp industry. Within a political ecology perspective, we connect three key dimensions of the conflict: (1) the socioeconomic metabolism of shrimp farming locally and internationally, (2) the institutions – formal and informal – that regulate the access to mangroves, and (3) the development of the mobilization itself, with special reference to the role of local women. The study is based on six-month fieldwork and combines data from 52 in-depth interviews of a wide range of actors, various documentation, and direct and participant observation. We find that the development of shrimp farming can be understood as a modern case of enclosure movement whereby customary community mangroves are privatized for the building of shrimp ponds. As a result, local mangrove- dependant populations – especially women – mobilized with the support of a grassroots Environmental Justice Organization. The protest was targeted at a form of ecologically unequal exchange where sectors of the global North shift socio-ecological costs onto poor sectors of the producing regions of the global South. In agreement with feminist political ecology, local women were particularly resistant to this process of ‘accumulation by dispossession’. While only some mangroves could be saved or reforested as a result of the movement, women’s mobilization has had the unexpected effect of challenging gender relations in their communities. This research articulates dimensions of a given conflict that are too often considered separately, namely social-metabolic issues, institutional change, and gender issues. This allows a more comprehensive view of a complex power struggle. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Permanent address: 62 rue Liotard, 1203 Gene ` ve, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 22 700 97 72. E-mail addresses: Sandra.Veuthey@uab.es, sandra_veuthey@hotmail.com (S. Veuthey). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Global Environmental Change jo ur n al h o mep ag e: www .elsevier .co m /loc ate/g lo envc h a 0959-3780/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.010