“We are not environmentalists, we are the people”: environmental conflicts in Mendoza, Argentina

In the context of the global advance of commodity frontiers linked to the growing emergence of environmental conflicts in reaction to this advance, it is essential to pay attention to the features of environmental mobilisations that allow them to “succeed” in their struggles. This paper adopts a grounded, exploratory approach to investigate the dynamics of environmental conflicts, through the main issues that explain both the magnitude of mobilisations and why the rejection of mega-mining in Mendoza, Argentina, has maintained its effectiveness until now. Through the case of Mendoza, the combination of strategies, both institutional action and social mobilisation, is shown as a key to achieve their goals in environmental struggles against mining. The paper highlights the relevance of developing both strategies for maintaining any obtained results. Another key was the relevance of water protection as a central argument in the attempted actions against mining. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this exploratory case study for critical approaches regarding extractive activities and their territorial consequences.