Lineamientos para la Transferencia del Mando

I analysed my data using content analysis, narrative analysis, conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis and visual interpretations. Content analysis allows for exploring large amounts of textual information systematically in order to identify the patterns of the words used, the way they are regularly used, their relationships and their internal structures (Grbich, 2007). Specifically, I used pattern codes, a type of data reduction that groups the selected information into specific topics (Sarantakos, 2005), in order to find emergent issues and explanations regarding my research. Thus, I found that Awajun people were more concerned with the word ‘extractivism’ than

‘neoliberalism’, that they emphasised the word ‘territory’ more than ‘land’ and that for state functionaries the word ‘interculturalidad’ was more important than

‘multiculturalidad’ or ‘pluriculturalidad’.

Then, I integrated and connected the different aspects of the research in order to present a detailed and coherent view of the problem. For this purpose, I used the software N-Vivo, which was very useful for organising and systematising the data according to codes.

In order to analyse the transcripts of the most important in-depth interviews I used

‘narrative analysis’, an approach that focuses on stories told by participants. This

111 approach sometimes focuses on the internal structures of language or on a socio-cultural dimension beyond language structures in order to grasp broader interpretative frameworks that people use to explain their daily life (Grbich, 2007). This last trend has been especially relevant to analyse the narratives of resistance in the context of socio-environmental conflicts.

I analysed the unstructured interviews by using conversation analysis, where the central goal was the exploration of the procedures used by the speakers to express themselves in different socially mediated situations (Grbich, 2007). The analysis focused on the natural communicative process in different settings.

I analysed the political declarations and, in general, transcript interviews with critical discourse analysis. This is a method directed to develop a detailed explanation and critique of the ways dominant discourses influence the knowledge, attitudes and ideologies in society (Dijk, 1993; Weiss and Wodak, 2003). This method of data analysis helped to explain how specific discursive structures determine mental processes, or facilitates the formation of social representations. Thus, the use of rhetorical figures can influence the formation of opinion and social models, such as the metaphor of ‘the dog in the manger’, used by the ex-president Alan Garcia to refer to indigenous peoples and socio-environmental activists (see section 6.2).

The process of data analysis

The interview data and the secondary material were ordered, aggregated and transformed in three substantive case study chapters through a process of reflection of my fieldwork experience and my own background as legal professional and Peruvian mestizo. Thus, the case study chapters were not a collection of “findings” from the interviews, but an organised theoretical account constructed on the basis of the voices of the actors involved in socio-environmental conflicts (indigenous peoples, state officials and company representatives), and historical academic literature, political declarations, laws, policies and my own experience, what helped me to construct the main arguments of the thesis.

When I analysed the interviews with indigenous peoples I put special attention to the assertions that revealed the tensions inside the communities and those that expressed the claims of self-determination and territoriality in order to have a balanced account of the conflicts. Then, I decided to quote those interviews that more clearly expressed these ideas and claims. The interviews not chosen, however, were not neglected. On the contrary, these interviews were accurately analysed for the general understanding of the indigenous movement. When I analysed the interviews with state officials and company representatives I put special attention to those interviews that expressed the way in which they relate to indigenous peoples and how they understand the idea of development and indigenous rights. Then, I decided to quote those interviews that clearly expressed the interests, views and arguments of these actors in order to provide a detailed description of the state and company position in relation to indigenous peoples.

In addition to the interviews, I elaborated the case study chapters with the help of specialised academic literature. The analysis of this literature was crucial to provide historical soundness and social context to the argument developed in these chapters. In

112 specific I used historical literature of the first decades of the last century to explain the evolution of indigenism, the debates around the elimination of peasant and native communities, and how indigenous peoples were portrayed by state officials, politicians and Peruvian intellectuals. The specialised literature was also important to discuss further the meaning of Amazonian indigenous ontologies and the emergence of the Amazonian indigenous movement and in this way, it provided meaning and context to analyse the interviews with indigenous people. In sum, I chose the literature that better explain the reality of indigeneity in Peru in historical perspective.

The laws and policies analysed in the case study chapters were selected because of their importance to explain the evolution and permanence of coloniality in juridical and political terms and in different historical periods. These legal devices were also important to understand the political context in which indigenous claims emerged and the rationale of indigenous protests. In specific, I decided to quote the norms that constituted milestones for recognising or denying indigenous rights.

The political declarations of Peruvian politicians and indigenous political organisations (in media articles and videos) were also very rich data that helped to construct the case study chapters. In specific, I chose those declarations that clearly explained political aims in relation to the political economy, extractive industries and indigenous rights, and political articulations amongst social actors. These and other declarations were relevant to understand the contentious context in which the research was undertook.

Part of the organisation, systematization and analysis of the data was made during the fieldwork in Peru. This was an advantage because during this process I maintained contact with the people I interviewed (state officials, indigenous peoples and company representatives), which was important to elucidate any doubts and complexity of the declarations and claims. In addition, the writing process of the case study chapters was made in Lima Peru, what allowed me to be close to the tensions and conflicts, as well as to better contextualise the priorities and the aspirations of the indigenous movement. It also allowed me to identify key issues and write and re-write the chapters in a process of constant reflection. It is in this context of closeness to the indigenous movement claims and to the responses of policy makers and the business sector that I decided to develop the arguments of self-determination and indigenous territorial rights. I noticed that what was at the basis of the tensions, discussions and divergences was the recognition of the politics and legality of indigenous self-determination, although this issue was not always explicitly recognised by some participants.

It is important to mention that the arguments developed in the case study chapters were elaborated also because of my own background and experience as Peruvian lawyer with Andean familial roots. My professional background allowed me to better understand the processes of policy-making and the use of the legality for different political purposes.

My personal background was relevant to understand the feeling of structural discrimination in Peru and the disrespect of indigenous culture in the state and the society. My own background also allowed me to construct relationships of trust and empathy with the participants during and after the fieldwork. Thus, during the process of data analysis and writing, I had the opportunity to discuss further with some participants ideas and notions relevant for the research, such as indigeneity and territoriality.

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