A Road to Conflict: Stakeholder’s and Social Network Analysis of the Media Portrayals of a Social-Environmental Conflict in Bolivia

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Victoria Reyes-García
  • Oriol Andrés-Conejero
  • Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares
  • Isabel Díaz-Reviriego
  • José Luis Molina

Society’s understanding of a conflict is mediated by information provided in mass media, for which researchers stress the importance of analyzing media portrays of stakeholders in a conflict. We analyze information from the Bolivian press regarding the construction of a road crossing the Isiboro-Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS). Using stakeholder’s and social network analyses, we explore stakeholder’s positions and alliances as represented in the media and contrast it with previous scholarly work. We found that some actors cited as central in scholar analyses of the conflict are largely absent in the media (e.g., private investors, conservationist sector) and that the media tend to present stakeholders as having more homogeneous positions than the academic literature does while also neglecting some important alliances in their account. The media also suggests that Indigenous communities are forging stronger alliances with urban sectors and civil society, alliances not stressed by researchers.

Original languageEnglish
JournalSociety and Natural Resources
Volume32
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)452-472
Number of pages21
ISSN0894-1920
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 03.04.2019
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Indigenous Peoples, Isiboro-Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park, social movements, social network analysis, social-environmental conflict, stakeholder analysis
  • Ecosystems Research