FlyBal · The flying timber: A glocal political ethnography of balsa extractivism and its implications for its main region of supply: the Ecuadorian Amazonia.

The flying timber: A glocal political ethnography of balsa extractivism and its implications for its main region of supply: the Ecuadorian Amazonia.

Balsa (ochroma pyramidale), is a type of timber that is mostly produced in Ecuadorian Amazonia. In fact, Ecuador is the world’s largest balsa producer 1 and it has been so for decades2. Balsa is not the world’s lightest wood, yet it is the most resistant among the light, and it is used in aero-modelism. Airplanes’ wings usually have a skeleton made of balsa. Yet, that’s not the only enterprise in which it is used, nor is aero-modelling what inspirred this research project. In fact, this project started with an ethnographic observation: when leaving the Amazonian Kichwa community in which I have been conducting research over the past two years, I found out that some of the fluvial and terrestrial passages from and to the Amazonia were blocked by local communities with the aim of not permitting the entry to balsa “mafias”. I was intrigued and did some research: apparently the demand for balsa has skyrocketed over the past few years, and illegal balsa trade is -indirectly - responsible for some of the Amazon’s illegal deforestation3. The – unlikely – reason is green energy: balsa is the core material used in the construction of wind turbin-blades, and since wind-farms have multiplied impressively all over the globe in the quest for green energy solutions, so has the demand for balsa, which is -ironically – bringing about deforestation in the Amazonia. In fact the deforestation is indirect: balsa itself is not an endangered type of timber right now, but since logging in the Amazonia is generally non regulated, other types of trees are also being logged together with balsa in an uncontrolled manner. In addition, since the price of balsa has already reached unprecedented levels, we may reach a point in which balsa can also potentially face the threat of extinction. Of course, extractivism is not a new phenomenon in the Ecuadorian Amazonia. Ever since the Conquest, the region has been the source of imaginary or non-imaginary precious resources for western capitalist exploitation: from the utopian gold of El Dorado, to the rubber boom, the oil boom, and later the timber, soya, and agribusiness boom4. Empires and, later, nation-states and multinationals have always been competing for access to those precious resources. As they gradually become extinct the extractive frontier5 has been moving closer and closer to the “refuge regions” of the Amazonia’s indigenous populations, which become the theatre of competition over land and resources. Today it is the turn of balsa to become the “brown gold” of Amazonia’s eternal El Dorado in order to produce the West’s green energy. At the same time, local communities all over the globe also increasingly oppose the installation of wind-farms, the “final product” of the global balsa supply chain. How are these seemingly distant regions connected through the extraction and final processing of balsa? Why is green energy as it is being industrially installed opposed by local communities at both ends of the supply chain that would – in theory, according to the orthodox economic logic – benefit from it? And how does the circulation of a new “new commodity” that is not fuel, that is not under threat of extinction and is also renewable in a way, provoke so much opposition against it in so different world regions? Finally, can these two opposing worlds, the wold of the need for if-not-green-at-least-sustainable energy and that of resistance to industrial green energy projects be reconciled? Through the combination of desk-research on the political economy of global balsa commodity circulation, and ethnographic fieldwork in Ecuador, the “other” side of green energy commodity chain- and focusing on balsa extraction processes and the effects it has on local communities’ livelihoods and well being, this project intends to connect the dots, and tell “the big story” through “the small one.” It is planning to explore the relationship between the global quest for green energy and its local counter-effects, through the case of balsa commodification and commercialization at its main region of supply, Pastaza region of the Ecuadorian Amazonia, following the journey of the raw material until it becomes windturbin blades at the other end of the Pacific, in China and Europe. What are the effects of balsa extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazonia both for the local communities and for their natural environment? Are all local communities of the region opposing balsa extraction? Are some of them benefiting from it? What is their relationship with the actors in the following stages of the supply chain (intermediaries, exporters, lead firms)? What kind of a socio-ambiental environment is balsa extractivism creating in its region of supply? By bringing together insights from political ethnography, political economy, and economic anthropology, this project intends to provide a unique, thick, empirical perspective on green wind energy, exploring a wide scope of its supply chain:from the extraction of the raw materials (balsa) used for the construction of wind-turbin blades, to the middlemen involved in balsa’s extraction and exportation, the lead firms that are in charge of its processing, and of course the installation of wind-farms at the region(s) of their final destintination. State of the art.This research project lies at the crossroads of political sociology, political economy, and political and economic anthropology. It situates itself in the tradition of Eric Wolf’s and Immanuel Wallerstein’s inception of the world as a system, instead of a sum of self-contained societies and cultures1. It also situates itself in the tradition of Anna Tsing’s “salvage accumulation2” a process through which capitalism translates human and nonhuman precapitalist activities into value for salvage accumulation, while it has played no role in the conditions under which the raw materials it used have been produced. In this sense, I focus on how a series of political, environmental, and economic causations and consequences encompass two continents and bring together the “Old” world and the “New” around the commodity chain of balsa wood, and the quest for “green” energy. While there has been a great deal of work on extractivism3 or neo-extractivism, especially in Latin America, and what it means for the nation-states within which it takes place this work normally has either a macro political-economic perspective, or a very locally4 focused micro-perspective and it normally focuses either on non-renewable resources (fossil fuels). “Neo-extractivism” refers to a development model based on the extraction and export of natural resources just like “classic” extractivism but -unlike classic extractivist models- with an advanced role played by the state which charges more royalties to the private companies that are contracted for the job. The state then (again unlike “classic” extractivism)- redistributes those royalties in the form of social development policies for the common good5. Svampa6 considers this process a continuation of the “commodity consensus” that appeared in Latin America in the past fifteen years or so. The idea is that raw materials such as soy, timber, hydrocarbons,minerals can be cheaply acquired in Latin America and then exported abroad, taking advantage of the high demand (and increased prices) especially in emerging economic giants like China. With the revenues generated from this process, the neo-extractivist state becomes a “compensating state”1 that can then justify its environmental destruction with its social investments. Ecuador is one of the “compensating states” to which Gudynas is referring. Both in the past but also more recently, it has been proposed that the state itself industrialize and export its own natural resources, without the participation of private investment. This process of actual nationalization of natural resources is called by Riofrancos and others 2 “radical resource nationalism.” My research project, is taking a glocal3 perspective trying to combine a macro and a micro look towards the issue, focusing on a -theoretically – renewable raw material (balsa) that is not fuel. I am planning to follow its global commodity chain starting from its region of supply (Ecuadorian Amazonia) all the way to its region of demand (China and Europe), passing through its intermediary stopovers (and middlemen) in Guayaquil, the main commercial port of Ecuador. This way it is planning to widen the scope of the researcher’s perspective, offering us a thorough look on how the different actors and processes involved in the global balsa supply chain affect the local socio-ambiental conditions at its region of supply and vice versa. At the same time, while there has been a great deal of work on wind farms and their political, economic, and environmental implications on the local communities which eventually host them4, it is mostly focusing on the final product and destination of wind energy projects, viewing it as a NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) issue5, and is ignoring the previous phases of the supply chain of the raw materials used for the construction of eolian farms. Therefore we know very little about how this interplay of actors and economic relations affects the socio-ambiental processes that take place in the region of supply, the Amazonia of Ecuador, and vice versa. This is exactly the gap that my proposed research aspires to fill. By adopting a glocal perspective, I am planning to focus on the previous phases and the raw materials used for the production of wind-turbin blades before they become wind farms, before they become a NIMBY issue, directing our attention to the whole supply chain of balsa extraction and processing, viewing it both as a global and a local issue at the same time. This is an innovative way of exploring the issue, both thematically and methodologically which reveals the dilemmas and interactions that shape wind energy all the way from extraction of the raw materials used for its production at their region of supply to their circulation and processing , and of course to the issues raised around their installation at their final destination. Objectives and overview of the action.This project intends to follow balsa extraction through all the phases of its supply chain in a global ethnography manner, trying to examine how the interactions between the actors involved in all the phases of the supply chain influence the socio-ambiental conditions at balsa’s region of supply: the Ecuadorian Amazonia. It consists of three major, closely interrelated research foci and objectives and intends to: O1- Contribute to our theoretical knowledge on how resource extractivism affects its region of supply economically and socially. O2- Analyze local indigenous communities’ attitudes towards balsa extractivism, trying to find out whether they are uniformal; and if there are variations, trying to explore what explains possible variations. O3- Offer a wide scope around the extraction and circulation of raw materials, exploring how the interactions amongst the main actors involved in all phases of the supply chain affecting the political economy of resource extractivism both at home and abroad. I do have research experience on anti-extractivist local communities in the past, I spent 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Ecuador and 8 months in Halkidiki between 2018 and 2020 as part of my Marie Curie COFUND JRF fellowship at Durham University’s Anthropology Department and I am now planning to follow-up on my previous research, exploring the relationship between green energy, raw material extraction, and local communities, through the case of balsa. The objectives will be reached through the triangulation of different qualitative methods, as specified next. Research Methodology and Approach. The project will contribute to the bibliography of both political economy, political economy, and economic anthropology, focusing on green energy resource extractivism. It is a phenomenon which sounds almost out of context, in the times of the anthropocene, and the era of climate change and desperate need for fuel-free energy forms globally, yet it exists and it should urgently be understood and explored. Understanding it is the first step towards easing the tensions it creates, the importance, therefore, of this project is not only scientific, but also -particularly – social and environmental in this sense. The project is supported by my deep knowledge of the political, cultural, and socio-economic contexts of the main fieldwork site, the Ecuadorian Amazonia, where I have already conducted ethnographic research in the past (10 months in total), some results of which have already been published in leading journals (see CV). The research relies on a combination of distinct Qualitative Methodological Approaches (QMA). Thenafter, through triangulation1 validation strategy, it will adopt multiple data sources and collection methods in order to expand both the quality and the quantity of information obtained. The research methods that will be employed are the following: QMA1- Ethnography. I will try to answer part of this project’s research questions through an ethnographic approach2 (in situ fieldwork based on participant observation yet not excluding other methods), in order to tell “the big story” through “the small” one, using ethnography’s “keyhole” narrative capacities. Following an interpretative ethnographic approach which tries to capture and interpret the meaning subjects attach to their actions, and their own understanding of the world they live in 3 I intend to explore how balsa extraction and exporting affects local communities’ social and economic life in the Ecuadorian Amazonia. Having lived and conducted research in the Ecuadorian Amazonia in the past, I have built a wide network of friends and acquaintances both within and outside the community of Sarayaku which will facilitate my return to the region and the community for my future research. Multi-sited ethnography4 will also be used, following balsa all the way through its global supply chain, from the Amazonia, to the port of Guayaquil, and from there all the way to China, where it is primarily exported. QMA2- In-depth interviews and focus groups with key-informants. In order to explore the political economy of balsa wood extraction and windturbin-blade processing, the global character and the circulation of this enterprise, all the way from the region of supply to the region of demand, I will carry out around 30 in-depth interviews with key-informants in the Amazonia, the port of Guayaquil, and China (10 at each stage) . Semi-structured5 interviews will be employed as a research tool, due to their ability to offer unique insights on how the informants perceive theirs and others’ participation and actions on the issue at hand. I am also planning to conduct three focus group interviews6 (1 at each stage of the supply chain), because focus groups are believed to recreate the conditions under which opinions are formed through moderated small group discussions. Both semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be conducted following a previously prepared interview guide. QMA3- Desk research and archival material. To trace balsa’s political economy I will use primary and secondary sources, which include: a) reports and newspaper articles around balsa’s commercialization ; b) documentary material issued by environmental and financial actors involved in balsa’s circulation (e.g. websites, Facebook groups, and leaflets); c) literature on balsa’s global circulation. Documents and transcripts will be analysed with NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software which facilitates such type of coding and the identification of raw data. Originality and In novative Aspects. This is an innovative, cutting-edge research project for various reasons. First of all, theoretically speaking, it critically reviews, systematizes and contributes to the theory of resource extractivism and its socio-economic effects both at its regions of supply and demand, employing a glocal perspective, and exploring all the stages of the global supply chain. From a methodological perspective, it combines insights from political economy, political sociology and economic anthropology, to produce a global ethnography which is interdisciplinary in nature and truly global in perspective. It is not focusing on the region of supply only, nor is it exploring only the region of demand; it is rather following the balsa supply chain through all its stages, employing different methodological tools for each one depending on its particular characteristics. Last but not least, this project offers an innovative new window of viewing green energy and what it involves critically, both socially and economically, both at its regions of demand, but also -and most importantly – at the region of supply of the raw materials necessary for its production. In the age of the anthropocene1, with the urgent need for a turn towards sustainable energy sources globally, it is of utmost importance to thoroughly understand what those involve, if we are to ease the tensions they create. Interdisciplinary and gender aspects. This is project is likely to contribute to disciplines as diverse as anthropology, political sociology, political economy, and geography, as well as latin american studies. Employing a glocal perspective, an innovative methodology, and a cutting edge topic, I believe that this research can have a very serious impact on the theory and practice of both resource extractivism and green energy management globally. Particular attention will be paid to gender equality, giving voice to female actors in the whole scope of the supply chain, especially in the Amazonia where indigenous women are very active and vocal when it comes to issues affecting their well-being and that of their communities.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union