Economic nationalism and the public dominion of mineral resources in Ecuador, 1929–1941

•Mining regulations are constructed vis-à-vis concrete socio-spatial struggles.•Corporate-based negotiations mediate the public dominion of natural resources.•Resource nationalism is contingent to hemispheric domination.•Political practice conditions the application of progressive legal concepts.•Nature as an asset of the state and a subject of rights is an inherent contradiction.

This article explores the origins and restructuring of legal frameworks aimed at facilitating the public dominion of mineral resources in Ecuador. The Constitution of 1929 declared mineral grounds to be an inalienable and imprescriptible dominion of the state. This gave rise to a concession regime, restricted foreign investment and re-established royalties and regular works as essential conditions to uphold mining claims. However, recurrent negotiations between the Government of Ecuador and the South American Development Company, an American-owned mining enterprise, limited further regulations. The application of a then progressive legal concept was mediated by the interaction with major corporate powers and hemispheric policies. The case brings into question the effective dominion of the state apparatus over natural resources by shedding light on the contested nature and multi-scalar arrangements of mining regulations. The historical analysis is relevant to understanding contemporary political concerns at a time when the Constitution of 2008 recognizes nature as a subject of rights and, simultaneously, when the extractive industries are expanding their reach within the country.