This thesis examines the extent to which discourses associated with (a) Commodities Consensus, (b) ecological modernisation, (c) extractivism theory and (c) the Green New Deal are represented in the debate on oil extraction in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. Recognising news media as a central arena of public contestation, the study conducts a content analysis of 60 articles published in El Universo and El Comercio between July 2013 and September 2023, capturing the interplay among competing narratives surrounding Yasuní. The aim is to analyse both change and continuity in narratives of resource governance after the decline of the commodities boom (2003-2014), situating the Yasuní debate within broader Global Political Economy (GPE) discussions about development, extractivism and the contested relationship between society and nature. The analysis finds that El Universo predominantly frames the debate through the lens of Indigenous dispossession, particularly for the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples, consistent with extractivism theory. In contrast, El Comercio places greater emphasis on development and social compensation for local communities, reflecting the Commodities Consensus, though with notable space for critical perspectives. Across both newspapers, ecological modernisation appears as a weak, conditional legitimation strategy, and GND framings are virtually absent, highlighting the lack of mediated debate around systemic decarbonisation or post-extractive transitions. The thesis concludes that without materially credible post-extractive alternatives, critiques of oil dependence risk remaining symbolic rather than transformative.
Ana Gilabert (Wed,) studied this question.