The “Amazonian Trial of the Century”: Indigenous Identities,Transnational Networks,and Petroleum in Ecuador

This examination of the work of three organizations in the northeastern Ecuadoran Amazon, FEINCE, OISE, and FOISE, explores how they engage and produce representations of indigeneity in relation to an on-going lawsuit against Chevron Texaco. Each of these organizations has used distinct network associations and performances based on their particular histories in relation to petroleum in order to mediate cultural, political, and economic possibilities for their constituencies. As these organizations mobilize support for local causes through specific network connections, they produce and articulate distinct meanings of indigeneity, with distinct consequences for the future of their constituencies. I argue that an analysis of how collective indigenous identity, localities, and social networks shape and are shaped by representative organizations can help productively explore the social relations through which knowledge about Ecuadoran Amazon peoples and places is produced.