Communities, Mines, and Distributive Politics: Direct Contestation in the Andes

Social movements and interest groups of a variety of types increasingly engage in direct contestation, mobilizing to influence the activities of firms and making unmediated claims for redistribution of the gains from economic activity. Such direct contestation between societal actors and firms unleashes distributive and regulatory politics that shape local development. Why does pressure sometimes result expanded access to essential public goods, services, and economic opportunities and sometimes does not?

This book develops a theory of direct contestation that explains the varying distributive consequences of the conflicts that entangle many firms. The theory is grounded in case studies of mining conflicts in Bolivia and Peru. By tracing the processes that pushed firms to take different types of distributive actions in detail, the book reveals the central roles of social structures and firm strategies in shaping the consequences of direct contestation. This work advances scholarship on social movements and organizations, private politics, distributive politics, as well as studies of mining conflicts in Latin America.

Matthew Amengual, Associate Professor in International Business, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Matthew Amengual is an Associate Professor in International Management at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Before joining Oxford, he was an Associate Professor at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His first book, Politicized Enforcement in Argentina: Labor and Environmental Regulation, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2016. He is an Associate Editor at the Industrial and Labor Relations Review. Matthew Amengual's work explores the political economy of regulating firms in order to support more inclusive and sustainable development.