ABSTRACT
Prior consultation obliges governments to consult indigenous peoples about administrative or legal measures that might affect them—including resource extraction projects—and has been a central institutional innovation during the recent resource boom and post-boom. Legally, the right to prior consultation was first adopted in 1989 by ILO Convention 169. Since then, several Andean countries have implemented consultations, with Peru’s national framework law (2011) being a legal forerunner. Indigenous organizations played a crucial role in pushing for consultation rights. However, more recently, they have turned away from pursuing state-led consultations, while governments and companies changed their initial opposition to approval. This chapter takes a closer look at this reversal and argues that the recent opposition of indigenous peoples to state consultations does not signify a withdrawal from initial demands but rather exposes a widespread disappointment with the implementation processes so far. This insight is presented as a striking parallel between the Andean countries. The chapter shows that the formal institutionalization of prior consultation is not per se a guarantee for indigenous peoples’ rights; instead, its effects are ambiguous. Paradoxically, the informal politics of extractive industries enables communities to be more successful in vetoing extractive endeavors if they refuse consultation rights. Using an analytical lens that combines international relations research on norms with postcolonial approaches, the chapter explores prior consultation in the resource governance of the Andean countries by drawing on first-hand material from an in-depth study about prior consultation in Peru (2012–2018) and an extensive review of secondary literature.
