Institutional Collaboration:  Institute of Latin American Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London/ CIESAS, Mexico

Participants: Ainhoa Montoya (Principal Researcher) Rachel Sieder (Co-Researcher), María Teresa Sierra (Researcher), Yacotzin Bravo (Post-Doctoral Fellow)

Funded by: British Academy, Sustainability Development Program

Dates: September 2018 – September 2021

During the last decade, violent conflicts over natural resources have escalated and profoundly constrained opportunities for developing sustainable livelihoods. The overarching aim of this project is to assess the opportunities and limitations of legal mechanisms to channel and resolve resource conflicts. The geographical focus of the project is Central America (Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador) and the state of Guerrero (Mexico) —amongst the world’s most violent regions, where violent conflicts over mining and water sources have proliferated. Through ethnographic research on the legal actions undertaken by a range of actors over a few selected mining sites, the project will seek to understand the meanings that these actors ascribe to legal mechanisms, and the potential of the jural to provide a peaceful avenue for conflict and to promote sustainable development.