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Oil, exploitation, and multinational corporations: A comparative study of oil multinational corporations as perpetrators of structural and slow violence in the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon

Andersson, Tilda LU (2022) FKVK02 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Oil companies are powerful global actors and are repeatedly accused of violence. Previous research on this topic is limited, however, and the thesis therefore set out to investigate the following question: What role do oil multinational corporations (MNCs) play as perpetrators of structural and slow violence in the areas where they operate? A comparative small-N design was applied, and two cases were compared: Shell in the Niger Delta and Texaco/Chevron in Ecuador. The cases were analyzed based on a theoretical framework combining coloniality and extractivism. The comparison revealed that Shell and Texaco had caused massive environmental degradation (slow violence) which in turn caused loss of livelihood, poverty, food insecurity, and... (More)
Oil companies are powerful global actors and are repeatedly accused of violence. Previous research on this topic is limited, however, and the thesis therefore set out to investigate the following question: What role do oil multinational corporations (MNCs) play as perpetrators of structural and slow violence in the areas where they operate? A comparative small-N design was applied, and two cases were compared: Shell in the Niger Delta and Texaco/Chevron in Ecuador. The cases were analyzed based on a theoretical framework combining coloniality and extractivism. The comparison revealed that Shell and Texaco had caused massive environmental degradation (slow violence) which in turn caused loss of livelihood, poverty, food insecurity, and various health-related problems such as skin rashes, respiratory problems, and cancer (structural violence). The slow and structural violence was enabled by weak regulatory systems and extractivist and colonial ambitions of the state. The thesis concluded that the structural and slow violence of oil MNCs should be viewed as related to historical continuities of colonial and extractivist appropriation of the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Andersson, Tilda LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
oil, multinational corporations, structural violence, slow violence, coloniality, extractivism, Nigeria, Ecuador
language
English
id
9081290
date added to LUP
2022-07-03 09:06:48
date last changed
2022-07-03 09:06:48
@misc{9081290,
  abstract     = {{Oil companies are powerful global actors and are repeatedly accused of violence. Previous research on this topic is limited, however, and the thesis therefore set out to investigate the following question: What role do oil multinational corporations (MNCs) play as perpetrators of structural and slow violence in the areas where they operate? A comparative small-N design was applied, and two cases were compared: Shell in the Niger Delta and Texaco/Chevron in Ecuador. The cases were analyzed based on a theoretical framework combining coloniality and extractivism. The comparison revealed that Shell and Texaco had caused massive environmental degradation (slow violence) which in turn caused loss of livelihood, poverty, food insecurity, and various health-related problems such as skin rashes, respiratory problems, and cancer (structural violence). The slow and structural violence was enabled by weak regulatory systems and extractivist and colonial ambitions of the state. The thesis concluded that the structural and slow violence of oil MNCs should be viewed as related to historical continuities of colonial and extractivist appropriation of the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Tilda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Oil, exploitation, and multinational corporations: A comparative study of oil multinational corporations as perpetrators of structural and slow violence in the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}