How Activist Claims Can Help Explain Intensity of Violence in Environmental Conflicts : Evidence from Colombia

Abstract: Why do activists in some environmental incompatibilities experience a high intensity of violence, while protesters in other environmental conflicts do not? To answer the query, this thesis presents a novel theoretical argument where it is stated that the type of legal claim posed by activists impacts the intensity of violence that they receive. Due to a ‘relational citizenship’-mechanism, activist claims that are similar to secessionist demands are suggested to negatively provoke state elites’ security provision, with the consequence of a higher intensity of violence, ceteris paribus. From the theoretical argument, a hypothesis is derived, predicting that higher intensity of violence is expected for environmental mobilisations that pose identity-territory rights claims, than environmental mobilisations that pose universal rights claims. The hypothesis is tested on two local-level gold mining conflicts in the Colombian departments Tolima and Cauca between 2009-2014. The cases are selected with a most similar case design and are analysed with a structured focus comparison methodology. The analysis of the cases lends tentative support for the prediction that environmental movements that pose identity-territory rights claims experience a higher intensity of violence than environmental movements that instead apply universal rights claims.