Indigenous politics, the state, and oil development in the Peruvian Amazon.

This paper is mainly an empirical look at a current political and environmental conflict between the state and indigenous peoples in the Amazon region of Peru. Drawing from research carried out in the Peruvian Amazon in January of 2008, I describe the basic political positions of both indigenous peoples and the Peruvian state in this conflict. However, the paper, more concretely, looks at how indigenous people are reacting to what can only be described as an intensive governmental campaign to exploit the Amazon region for the purposes of modern development. As such, I will examine state discourse and practices to oil development, especially in terms of indigenous opposition. Discussing more closely the discursive content of state policy and indigenous politics, I will offer a theoretical gesture as⎯perhaps⎯a better way to understand indigenous/state relations in Peru. Given that this paper is part of an ongoing PhD dissertation project, my hope is that this theoretical gesture will generate discussion, debate and direction as I work through this project. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]