“This is not a river anymore” Rights of nature and life in ruins along El Río Monjas

Abstract

My main findings revolve around the impact of granting legal personhood to El Río Monjas - a polluted river - on the residents of La Esperanza in Quito, Ecuador. Existing research in the rights of nature discourse has primarily centered around marginalized groups' resistance for nature's rights, with limited exploration of the consequences and implications of realizing these rights for daily life. This study fills this gap by examining how the realization of these rights shapes the lives of La Esperanza's residents. The relationship between the residents, the river, and the municipality has undergone significant changes. Processes of truth-production and problematization (Foucault 1980; Li 2007) have turned the river into a legal political tool, shaping the perception of the river's contamination, creating misconceptions about the residents. Different stakeholders exploit the river for their own purposes, leaving those without resources voiceless. For the residents, El Río Monjas its vibrant materiality (Bennett 2010) has changed from a source of life into a monster, a ruinous vibrancy (Wilhelm-Solomon 2017). The river symbolizing ruination (Stoler 2008) caused by the government's lack of support. The art of unnoticing (Lou 2022) and salvage rhythms allow the residents to survive amidst the ruins (Tsing 2010) of La Esperanza.