Life in Oil: Cofán Survival in the Petroleum Fields of Amazonia - Softcover

Cepek, Michael L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 147731508X ISBN 13: 9781477315088

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2018

Synopsis

Oil is one of the world’s most important commodities, but few people know how its extraction affects the residents of petroleum-producing regions. In the 1960s, the Texaco corporation discovered crude in the territory of Ecuador’s indigenous Cofán nation. Within a decade, Ecuador had become a member of OPEC, and the Cofán watched as their forests fell, their rivers ran black, and their bodies succumbed to new illnesses. In 1993, they became plaintiffs in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that aims to compensate them for the losses they have suffered. Yet even in the midst of a tragic toxic disaster, the Cofán have refused to be destroyed. While seeking reparations for oil’s assault on their lives, they remain committed to the survival of their language, culture, and rainforest homeland.

Life in Oil presents the compelling, nuanced story of how the Cofán manage to endure at the center of Ecuadorian petroleum extraction. Michael L. Cepek has lived and worked with Cofán people for more than twenty years. In this highly accessible book, he goes well beyond popular and academic accounts of their suffering to share the largely unknown stories that Cofán people themselves create—the ones they tell in their own language, in their own communities, and to one another and the few outsiders they know and trust. Their words reveal that life in oil is a form of slow, confusing violence for some of the earth’s most marginalized, yet resilient, inhabitants.

About this title

About the Author

Michael L. Cepek is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a board member of the Cofán Survival Fund, a US nonprofit that supports the Fundación Sobrevivencia Cofán, a Cofán-directed environmental and human rights organization, and the author of A Future for Amazonia: Randy Borman and Cofán Environmental Politics.

Review

"This book is beautifully crafted, and it illustrates so much of what anthropology can do. It describes the politics and ethics of fieldwork. It demythologizes. It weighs in on various aspects of life, from religion to environment to economy. It takes up a ‘modern’ topic for anthropology (oil, court cases, corporations) in a ‘traditional’ context (indigenous people) and does so in ways that are smart and contemporary. It cries out to be paired with a more traditional textbook or set of lectures introducing undergraduates to anthropology. I would assign it in such a class in a heartbeat." (Doug Rogers, author of The Depths of Russia: Oil, Power, and Culture after Socialism)

"This is a delightful read, if I can say that about such a harrowing topic. Cepek is an exceptional writer who provides an intimate and compelling portrait of a people and a situation that is usually portrayed in sensationalist and superficial terms. His deep commitment to, and long-term knowledge of, the social, environmental, and political context is unmistakable." (Mary Weismantel, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University, author of Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes)

"This is one of the most compelling ethnographies I have ever read, honest and insightful from beginning to end, born of long-term observations and deep relationships. I cannot wait to assign it to my undergraduates because of its ability to convey complex concepts without getting bogged down in the intricacies of theoretical debates." (Juliet Erazo, author of Governing Indigenous Territories: Enacting Sovereignty in the Ecuadorian Amazon)

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 147731508X
• ISBN 13: 9781477315088
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 302