What does this research mean for the field?

Indigenous activists strategically use mediated acts of ontological translation, such as counter-mapping and testimonies, in legal proceedings to make their relational understandings of territory legible to the state, thereby turning courts into sites of partial onto-epistemic opening for decolonial environmental justice. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

Examine how Waorani activists deploy ontological translation in litigation to challenge state-run oil block auctions and redefine territorial consultation beyond conventional legal frameworks.

September 8, 2026Environment and Planning E Nature and SpaceOpen Access

Making space for Wao Öme in court: Contesting prior consultation and translating Indigenous territory in Pastaza, Ecuador

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MSMargherita Scazza

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Overview

Ethnographic case study reveals how ontological translation contests extractive oil concessions in Ecuador, highlighting courts as strategic arenas for decolonial environmental justice.

Key Points

Examine how Waorani activists deploy ontological translation in litigation to challenge state-run oil block auctions and redefine territorial consultation beyond conventional legal frameworks.
Conducted an ethnographic case study examining the legal struggle in Waorani of Pastaza v. Ecuadorian state.
Analyzed court records, activist strategies, and institutional consultation procedures surrounding an Amazonian oil block auction.
Documented how activists combined counter-mapping, oral testimonies, chants, and anthropological expert accounts to make Waorani territory (wao öme) legible in judicial proceedings without conforming entirely to state property norms.
Demonstrated that courts can function as venues for negotiated onto-epistemic openings, enabling Indigenous groups to advance decolonial environmental justice against state extractivist development.

Cite This Study

Margherita Scazza (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd77658e84d0ff5b461d2 https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486261485452

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September 8, 2026Environment and Planning E Nature and SpaceOpen Access

Making space for Wao Öme in court: Contesting prior consultation and translating Indigenous territory in Pastaza, Ecuador

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

MSMargherita Scazza

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Ethnographic case study reveals how ontological translation contests extractive oil concessions in Ecuador, highlighting courts as strategic arenas for decolonial environmental justice.

Key Points

Examine how Waorani activists deploy ontological translation in litigation to challenge state-run oil block auctions and redefine territorial consultation beyond conventional legal frameworks.
Conducted an ethnographic case study examining the legal struggle in Waorani of Pastaza v. Ecuadorian state.
Analyzed court records, activist strategies, and institutional consultation procedures surrounding an Amazonian oil block auction.
Documented how activists combined counter-mapping, oral testimonies, chants, and anthropological expert accounts to make Waorani territory (wao öme) legible in judicial proceedings without conforming entirely to state property norms.
Demonstrated that courts can function as venues for negotiated onto-epistemic openings, enabling Indigenous groups to advance decolonial environmental justice against state extractivist development.

Cite This Study

Margherita Scazza (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd77658e84d0ff5b461d2 https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486261485452

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark