A Conflict of Intent? Protective Agency Surrounding the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)

Abstract: In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the role of change agency and reproductive agency in the literature on evolutionary economic geography (EEG). Using these two concepts as a basis, this thesis introduces the concept of protective agency. Protective agency refers to the process by which agentic behaviour attempts to exert exogenous pressure in order to protect nature, the environment, and/or people. Though, as a consequence, protective agency can simultaneously disturb path creation and can also pose challenges to economic activity where change or reproductive agency prevails. Based on an empirical study of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), this thesis identifies protective agency as an agentic element that interferes with oil-related path creation in East Africa. Studying the concept of protective agency will contribute to the development of the hitherto change-oriented and reproductive-oriented agency literature in EEG.