Our Students
Pablo Rueda
Year: Advanced to Candidacy (ABD) - JSP
Email: prueda@berkeley.edu
Phone: +57(315)-513-78-80
Education:LL.B. Los Andes University, Bogota, Colombia (1998), M.A. U.C. Berkeley -JSP-(2006)
Concentrations:Comparative Politics (Latin America), State-Society Relations (Social Movements), Political Jurisprudence
Awards:Dean's Normative Time Fellowship 2008-2009 (U.C. Berkeley)
Mellon-Sawyer Fellow 2007-2008 (U.C. Berkeley)
Ford Foundation-LASA Special Grant Awardee 2006 (with Alexandra Huneeus and Javier Couso)
Low Murtra Scholar 2004-2008 (single awardee, multi-year scholarship provided by the Colombian Central Bank)
Graduate Student Instructor for:
Law, Politics & Society -taught by Malcolm Feeley (Summer, Fall 2007)
Comparative Constitutional Law -taught by Martin Shapiro (Spring 2007)
International Law & International Relations -taught by Andrew Guzman (Summer 2006)
Punishment, Culture & Society -taught by Jonathan Simon (Spring 2005)
Assistant Professor, El Rosario University (Political Science), Bogota, Colombia (2004-)
Law Clerk to Chief Justice Rodrigo Escobar, Colombian Constitutional Court 1999-2003
Dissertation Abstract:My dissertation explains why the U’wa indigenous people in Colombia deviated from the law as a social movement tactic despite having various legal tools available. In 1995 the U’wa initiated a campaign against oil exploration in their land. They radically opposed oil extraction claiming that in their cosmology oil is the blood of the earth, which is a living being, and the collective purpose of the U’wa is to maintain the earth alive. Although the U’wa initially relied heavily on legal tools to make their claims, they soon changed their form of mobilization and legal tools became marginal in their campaign. Instead of using legal institutions the U’wa forged alliances with organizations abroad. This allowed them to create a transnational network of supporters to confront the oil companies directly by using tools of economic pressure in the U.S. and Europe, where these companies had their headquarters. Moreover, despite enhancing the scope of their network internationally, and shifting to economic tactics, the U’wa maintained their initial claims radically opposing oil extraction throughout the process. I claim that the U’wa deviated from their law-centered strategy because the arrival of transnational oil corporations into indigenous territories increased conflicts and aggravated power asymmetries. However, indigenous groups could not use legal tools to resolve these conflicts due to the deregulation of the oil industry and paradoxically because multiculturalism imposed constraints on state intervention that drastically restricted the role of courts in conflict resolution. In turn, the U’wa shifted their strategy toward market tools, enhanced their network transnationally and maintained their initial claims, because the framing of the conflict in terms of particular ecological aspects of their cosmogony resonated with the values of environmental and religious organizations abroad, helping them garner transnational support for their cause.
