“The oil in the soil and the gas under the grass” Social movements and the politics of ideas in Ecuador and the Netherlands

Around the world, fossil fuels extraction is a source of social contestation because of the negative consequences for the communities and the environment at the extraction frontlines, and its contribution to climate change. Simultaneously, it is an important source of income for the producer countries, with deep political, social, and cultural implications. “The Oil in the Soil and the Gas under the Grass” – Social Movements and the Politics of Ideas in Ecuador and the Netherlands explores how social movements in the Global South and the Global North weave ideas and strategies to contest the fossil fuels industry. The book combines insights from the case of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the case of gas extraction in Groningen in the Netherlands to understand how social movements mobilize people and ideas in the politics of “leaving fossil fuels underground.”
The author shows how a country’s historical, geographical, political and cultural characteristics influence the strategies of social movements and communities that contest the fossil fuel industry. From a perspective of the politics of ideas, this study unravels case-specific as well as common elements of power and knowledge and highlights shared experiences of geographical inequalities inherent in fossil fuel extractivism. Lessons drawn from the cases underscore the need for nuanced analysis, recognizing the diversity of motivations within social mobilizations, the creative processes and evolution of ideas in the face of ongoing challenges, but also the interconnectedness of local struggles with global dynamics.