Social mobilisation in Colombia's extractive industries, 2000-2015

This article analyses protests about the extractive industries in Colombia from 2000 to 2015, unveiling seven different “streams of contention” involving different participants, motives and targets. Protest events often reflected underlying socio-environmental conflicts, but others were sparked by frustrations over wages and a lack of economic opportunities for locals. Despite some signs of diffusion and coordination, social mobilisation linked to the extractive industries appeared to be fragmented during this period: protesters often focused on narrow, localised demands and were unlikely to build coalitions. The article draws attention to how using protest events as the unit of observation of social mobilisation can improve our understanding of its actors, motives, and targets.