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Academics and authors write to President Rafael Correa from Ecuador

Dear Mr. President:

As concerned academics and authors from many countries, we are writing in support of Ecuador’s
initiative to refrain from exploitation of the heavy crude oil of Yasuní-ITT.

Along with thousands of other world citizens, we look to the Yasuní-ITT initiative as a pioneering step
in the international struggle for a post-fossil-fuel civilization. We have been inspired by the
determination of the Ecuadorian public to rejuvenate the initiative following your government’s recent
decision to abandon it.

Accordingly, we are extremely concerned at reports that your government is attempting to repress the
voices of the majority of Ecuadorians who continue to support the Yasuni proposal. We understand that
efforts are under way to block a public referendum on the question, that press freedom is being
curtailed, and that students exercising their right of dissent are being threatened with expulsion from
their schools.

We will continue to follow the debate in Ecuador in hopes that a democratic solution to the question
can be found, and that the proposal to leave petroleum in the ground in ITT, and to continue to respect
the rights of the indigenous peoples who live there, does not die.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Vandana Shiva
Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology
Author, Soil not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis
INDIA

Naomi Klein
Author, The Shock Doctrine
CANADA

Dr. James Hansen
Author, Storms of My Grandchildren
US

Andres Barreda
Professor of Political Economy
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
MEXICO

Boaventura de Sousa Santos
Professor
University of Coimbra
Author, La Refundacion del Estado en America Latina
PORTUGAL

Elmar Altvater
Professor Emeritus
Free University of Berlin
GERMANY

Joan Martinez-Alier
Former President
International Society for Ecological Economics
SPAIN

Dr. Godwin Ojo
Author, Envisioning a Post-Petroleum Economy
NIGERIA

Susanna B. Hecht
Professor of Regional Development and Environmental Analysis
University of California, Los Angeles
Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Author, The Scramble for the Amazon and the “Lost Paradise” of Euclides da Cunha
US

Alf Hornborg
Professor
Human Ecology Division
Lund University
Author, Global Ecology and Unequal Exchange
SWEDEN

Timothy Mitchell
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies
Columbia University
Author, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil
US

Erik Swyngedouw
Professor of Geography
Manchester University
Author, Social Power and the Urbanization of Water
UK

Nancy Fraser
Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics
New School for Social Research
Author, Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World
US

Ulrich Brand
Professor of International Politics
University of Vienna
Author, Beautiful Green World: On the Myths of a Green Economy
AUSTRIA

Arturo Escobar
Professor of Anthropology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Author, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World
US

Chanthana Banpasirichote
Center for Peace and Conflict Studies
Chulalongkorn University
THAILAND

Donald MacKenzie
Fellow of the British Academy
Author, Material Markets
UK

Raj Patel
University of California, Berkeley
Author, The Value of Nothing
US

Prof. Dr. Norman Paech
Professor of Law
University of Hamburg
GERMANY

Patrick Bond
Senior Professor
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Author, Politics of Climate Justice
SOUTH AFRICA

Harriet Friedmann
Professor Emerita of Sociology
University of Toronto
Author, Food Regimes: International Political Economy of Food
CANADA

David M. Driesen
University Professor of Law
Syracuse University
Author, The Economic Dynamics of Environmental Law
US

Dr. Eko Teguh Paripurno
Editor, Datang Gali dan Pergi: Potret Penutupan Tambang di Indonesia
INDONESIA

Barbara Harriss-White
Senior Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Development Studies
Oxford University
UK

Philip McMichael
Professor of Development Sociology
Cornell University
US

Christoph Goerg
Professor of Environmental Governance
University of Kassel
GERMANY

Stephen Gudeman
Professor of Anthropology
University of Minnesota
Author, Conversations in Colombia: The Domestic Economy in Life and Text
US

Dr. Ulrich Duchrow
Professor of Systematic Theology
University of Heidelberg
GERMANY

Rev. Daniel Dale
President
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
US

Noel Castree
Professor of Geography
Manchester University
UK

Frederique Apffel-Marglin
Visiting Professor, Wesleyan University
Co-Editor, Decolonizing Knowledge: From Development to Dialogue
US

Joel Kovel
Author, The Enemy of Nature
US

David Barkin
Vice Presidente, Sociedad Mesoamericana de Economia Ecologica
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana
MEXICO

George Caffentzis
Author, In Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines and the Crisis of Capitalism
US

Steffen Böhm
Professor
Essex Sustainability Institute
University of Essex
Co-editor, Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets
UK

Judith Carney
Professor of Geography
University of California, Los Angeles
Author, In the Shadow of Slavery
US

Prof. Dr. Helge Peukert
University of Erfurt
GERMANY

Sarah Bracking
Professor of International Development
Manchester University
UK

Robin Broad
Professor
School of International Service
American University
US

Christof Scherrer
Director
International Center for Development and Decent Work
University of Kassel
GERMANY

Louise Fortmann
Professor
University of California, Berkeley
Author, Participatory Research in Conservation and Rural Livelihoods: Doing Science Together
US

Prof. Dr. Birgit Mahnkopf
Berlin School of Economics and Law
GERMANY

Bram Buscher
Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainable Development
Institute of Social Studies
Erasmus University
THE NETHERLANDS

Eduardo Canel
Associate Professor
Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean
York University
Author, Barrio Democracy in Latin America
CANADA

Kathleen McAfee
Associate Professor of International Relations
San Francisco State University
US

Anna Zalik
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
York University
CANADA

Joel Wainwright
Associate Professor of Geography
Ohio State University
Author, Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya
US

Rob Fletcher
Associate Professor of Environment and Development
University for Peace, Ciudad Colon
COSTA RICA

Geoff Mann
Center for Global Political Economy
Graduate Program Chair, Department of Geography
Simon Fraser University
CANADA

Hans G. Ehrbar
Associate Professor of Economics
University of Utah
US

Dr. Rudolf Scheutz
University of Salzburg 1986-2010
AUSTRIA

Salvatore Engel-DiMauro
Associate Professor of Geography
State University of New York, New Paltz
Editor, Capitalism Nature Socialism
US

Dr. David Szablowski
Associate Professor, Law and Society
York University
Author, Transnational Law and Local Struggles: Mining, Communities and the World Bank
CANADA

Dr. Anne Tittor
University of Bielefeld
GERMANY

Dr. Rupert Read
Director
Masters Programme in Environmental Sciences and Humanities
University of East Anglia
UK

Dr. Michael Hauser
Associate Professor
Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics
Vienna University of Economics
AUSTRIA

Les Levidow
Senior Research Fellow
Open University
UK

Lorenzo Pellegrini
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Social Studies
Erasmus University
THE NETHERLANDS

Pat Devine
Honorary Research Fellow
University of Manchester
Author, Democracy and Economic Planning
UK

Dr. Oliver Schweiger
Department of Community Ecology
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Sian Sullivan
Senior Lecturer in Environment and Development
Birkbeck College
University of London
Author, Financialisation, Biodiversity Conservation and Equity: Some Currents and Concerns
UK

Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka
Post-Doctoral Visitor
Faculty of Environmental Studies
York University
CANADA

Dr. Laurence Cox
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Author, Buddhism and Ireland
IRELAND

Michael K. Dorsey
National Advisory Committee
Environmental Protection Agency*
US

Dr. Zeynep Kadirbeyoglu
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science and International Relations
Bogazici University
TURKEY

Gareth Dale
Senior Lecturer in Politics
Brunel University
UK

Christian Scholl
University of Louvain
Author, Two Sides of a Barricade: (Dis)order and Summit Protest in Europe
BELGIUM

PD Dr. Aram Ziai
Heisenberg Fellow in Political Science
University of Kassel
GERMANY

Stefania Barca
Senior Researcher
Center for Social Studies
Author, Enclosing Water: Nature and Political Economy in a Mediterranean Valley
PORTUGAL

Dr. Laura Horn
University of Roskilde
DENMARK

Ezra Halleck
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
City University of New York
US

Silke Heumann
Assistant Professor
Institute of Social Studies
Erasmus University
THE NETHERLANDS

Dr. Wolfgang Neef
Technische Universität Berlin
GERMANY

Dr. Carl Middleton
Faculty of Political Science
Chulalongkorn University
THAILAND

Dr. Matthias Cuntz
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Claudio Cattaneo
Associate Lecturer
Università Carlo Cattaneo
ITALY

Dr. Sandro Puetz
Research Scientist
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Doro Wiese
Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Gender Studies
Utrecht University
THE NETHERLANDS

Martin Wiemers
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Joanna Cabello
Co-author, No REDD: A Reader
PERU

Jutta Kill
Co-author, Trading Carbon: How it Works and Why it is Controversial
GERMANY

Elisabeth Gschaider
Author, Kairo Heute
AUSTRIA

Christian May
Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main
GERMANY

Tamra Gilbertson
Author, Carbon Trading: How it Works and Why it Fails
SPAIN

Benjamin Stephan
Research Fellow
Center for Globalisation and Governance
University of Hamburg
GERMANY

Dr. Ruth Makoff
Honorary Research Fellow in Philosophy
University of East Anglia
UK

Dr. Elke Schuettler
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Nancy Duxbury
Senior Researcher
Center for Social Studies
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL

Christian Moellmann
University of Kassel
GERMANY

Dr. Christian Kerschner
AUSTRIA

José Castro Caldas
Researcher
Center for Social Studies
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL

Rolf Schroeder
Co-Editor, Bibliography of Community Currency Research
GERMANY

Daniel Bendix
Glokal e. V.
GERMANY

Ricardo Coelho
Researcher
Center for Social Studies
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL

Josep de Trincheria
Hamburg University of Technology
GERMANY

Herbert Docena
University of California, Berkeley
US
Bartosz Bartkowski
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Melissa Checker
Associate Professor of Urban Studies
Queens College
City University of New York
US

Karin Walther
Bewegungsakademie
GERMANY

Torsten Krause
Center for Sustainability Studies
Lund University
SWEDEN

Christoph Omann
University of Vienna
AUSTRIA

Nicholas Hildyard
Co-author, The Politics of Industrial Agriculture
UK

Mirko Petersen
University of Bielefeld
GERMANY

Vanessa Redak
Head of Unit
Banking Analysis Department
Oesterreichische Nationalbank
Vienna
AUSTRIA

Jeroen Everaars
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Quincy Saul
Co-Founder, Ecosocialist Horizons
US

Jessica Richter
Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte
University of Vienna
AUSTRIA

Cristian Alarcon Ferrari
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
SWEDEN

Julian Kolm
University of Vienna
AUSTRIA

Miriam Boyer
Columbia University
US

Barbara Stefan
Institute for Advanced Studies
AUSTRIA

Nino David Jordan
University College London
UK

Michaela Szelesy
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Vienna
AUSTRIA

Larry Lohmann
Author, El Mercado de Carbono: La Neoliberalizacion del Clima
US

Janet Riedl
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
GERMANY

Jessica Dempsey
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

University of Victoria
CANADA

Amelie Huber
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Bogazici University, Istanbul
GERMANY

Ali K. Saysel
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Bogazici University
TURKEY

Lauren Gifford
University of Colorado
US

Alina Brad
University of Vienna
AUSTRIA

J. Gray Cox
Professor of Human Ecology
College of the Atlantic
US

Dr. Wolfgang Fellner
Institute for the Environment and Regional Development
Vienna University of Economics and Business
AUSTRIA

David Llistar
ODG
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
SPAIN

Mónica Vargas
ODG
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
SPAIN

Luis González Reyes
Ecologistas en Acción, Madrid
SPAIN

Laura Calvet Mir
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
SPAIN

María Heras López
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
SPAIN

Christian Kerschner
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
SPAIN

Claudio Cattaneo
Research and Degrowth
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
SPAIN

Jaime Paneque Galvez
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambiental
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
SPAIN

Mar Grau Satorras
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
SPAIN

Pere Ariza-Montobbio
ODG
FLACSO
ECUADOR


*for identification purposes only

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