The emergence of transnational "natural commons" strategies in Canada and Latin America

This introduction examines the socio-ecological conflicts and global activism generated by the activities of large-scale extractive industries (mining and oil) in Canada and Latin America through the lenses of five authors: Karyn Keenan; Liisa North and Laura Young; Luis angel Saavedra; and Henry Veltmeyer. It argues that although the exploitation of natural resources has been at the heart of the Latin American political economy since the colonial period, this latest chapter of resistance is characterised by the emergence of new rights discourses and transnational strategies which not only reshape the future of Canadian development, but also present a challenge to the current resource regime and its historical dominance in Latin America.