Global Environment Essay

The ecosystem must always be protected because it is one of the social determinants of health, according to the World Health Organization. This essay aims to analyze two pieces on environmental pollution and how it affects locals’ quality of life. This article centers on the effects that the oil industry has on the Niger Delta village of Oloma, which primarily depends on fishing for a living. (Fentiman 90). Fentiman presents convincing proof to show how the residents’ source of income has been negatively impacted by the actions of Shell Petroleum Development Company. They include oil spillage, erosion, land filling of creeks and many more (92-95).

Imperialism and Resistance: Canadian Mining Companies in Latin America

The irony of the Canadian mining industry is that it is one of the largest and most powerful in the world yet it is embraced by many poor indigenous workers who struggle to make ends meet (Gordon & Webber 64). The resistance arose due to the accumulation by dispossession in which the Latin America natives were forced to subject themselves to the whims of capital (65).

In summary, the similarity between these two studies is that the respective governments support and defend the actions of the companies as opposed to the cry of the people. Although the lives of innocent people are affected in both instances, the resistance demonstrated in Chile and Colombia make the research more convincing compared to the Fentiman article.

Works Cited

Fentiman, Alicia. “The Anthropology of Oil: The Impact of the Oil Industry on a Fishing Community in the Niger Delta.” Social Justice, vol. 23, no. 4(66), Winter 1996, pp. 87- 99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29766976. Accessed 12 Jan. 2017

Gordon, Todd and Jeffery R. Webber. ”Imperialism and Resistance: Canadian mining companies in Latin America.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1, 2008, pp. 63- 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01436590701726509. Accessed 12 Jan. 2017