In the Spirit of Oil: Unintended Flows and Leaky Lives in Northeastern Ecuador

Resumen

Abstract The chapter by Krøijer considers the devastating consequences of the penetration of the extractive frontier into indigenous territories in Ecuador. She examines the strategies followed by the Sieko-pai for dealing with the transformations to their world caused by decades of oil exploitation. Instead of assuming essences, Krøijer pursues the analytical implications of specific ontological enquiries about oil flows, and how indigenous communities make their lives in a world saturated by extractivism. Documenting the Sieko-pai’s similar considerations about the incorrect treatment of both oil and blood as potential disruptions of positive ‘flows’ between their territory‚ body‚ and powerful ‘others,’ she contributes to current debates around the ontological analogy between oil and the so-called blood of subterranean spirits. Krøijer describes how living with oil extraction hinges on and expresses the Sieko-pai’s flexible ability to deal with transformations and the leaky reality of resource enclaves.