Socio-environmental conflicts and just transitions in the 21st century

RESEARCH CALL FOR TEAMS

Platform “Environment, climate change and social development”

Registration closes: February 27, 2024

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The geographical, ecological, and geological conditions of Latin America and the Caribbean make the region an area of ​​geopolitical and economic interest within the context of global power flows and hegemonic disputes. Thus, the subcontinent has played a role as a supplier of raw materials to meet global demands over the last few centuries. Currently, it is emerging as a supplier of both the metallic and non-metallic minerals required for the digital and energy transition, the land for the installation of massive "renewable" energy projects, and other relatively scarce and highly valued goods in the contemporary world. This dynamic reflects the functioning of the capitalist social metabolism, anchored in the notion of growth and extractive development, and in the hegemonies (and their privileged groups) that seek to maintain their power.

These processes permeate Latin American and Caribbean societies, increasing the privileges of the wealthiest segments of society, sustained by greater social injustice, deepening inequalities, and violating the human and collective rights of the poorest segments. Social inequality is inseparable from other injustices from an intersectional perspective: gender, ethnic-racial, rural, territorial, generational, and, moreover, the ongoing violation of the rights of nature.

To counteract the processes described, it is necessary to implement clear and effective policies, defined in a participatory manner and based on the needs and aspirations of the majority of society, not on the pressures and extortion of powerful groups, mostly transnational corporations. Likewise, it is essential to listen attentively to the proposals emerging from the Peoples of the Earth for building alternatives to the environmental crisis, which is, ultimately, a crisis of civilization. To achieve this, the active participation of social movements and organizations, academia, policymakers, and decision-makers is needed, from a multidimensional, multi-actor, and multi-level perspective.

The global ecological collapse has been named in various ways, depending on the epistemic origin of the label: Anthropocene, Technocene, Capitalocene, or Chthulucene. It has also been described in terms of 10 macro-processes that have exceeded planetary boundaries and that, together, constitute what is known as global change. These macro-processes are climate change, ocean acidification, disruption of the phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, aerosol loading in the atmosphere, freshwater use, land-use change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion, synthetic chemicals, including plastics, and chemical pollution.

All eyes have been on global warming, making it the most prominent media event; global warming and climate change are seen as concurrent processes. However, other conflicts are gaining similar importance, both for nature and Mother Earth, and for society. In this context, the most urgent issues for Latin America and the Caribbean could be the sixth mass extinction of species (loss of biodiversity or ecocide), land-use change, the depletion of drinking water sources and the contamination of soils and biomes; and the environmental and climate injustice that accompanies these processes.

Within this framework, CLACSO promotes the development of Platforms for Social Dialogue (PDS), conceived as spaces for work, exchange, and multi-stakeholder and multidimensional proposals. Likewise, the CLACSO network has fostered spaces and initiatives for the participatory and collaborative production of knowledge on these topics, whether through previous research calls, working groups, training programs, or publications.

Based on the analysis carried out, CLACSO launches the Research Call for teams “ Socio-environmental conflicts and just transitions in the 21st century ”, which is part of the PDS Environment, climate change and social development and promotes the application of research teams made up of academics from diverse disciplines, trajectories and experiences, together with activists and leaders of social movements (especially linked to socio-environmental, ecological and climate issues), public policy decision-makers and people with work and activities related to the topic.

The objective of this Call is to investigate how, by whom and for what purpose to think about transitions, the actors in dispute, the socio-environmental conflict generated by extractivism associated with hegemonic transition models, and the proposals and possibilities of just transitions, with the horizon of building a situated ecological and energy transition process - Latin American and Caribbean - where members of academia, social movements and public policy decision-makers converge, and where dignified and ecologically situated life ( Good Living , Living well, Communality ), and social justice are the central elements to guarantee the rights of nature and people.

In other words, the approach envisions just transitions based on integral human development, which has little to do with the dominant, corporate green approach . Because integral human development must be articulated as a transformative societal project encompassing ecofeminism, anti-colonialism, buen vivir (living well), the foundations of an ecosocial pact, and even what is known as environmental developmentalism.

As specific objectives, we are interested in promoting research in:

• Institutional alternatives, from social movements or civil society, that help to convert extractive income into sustainable revenue to contribute to the energy and productive transition.
• The role of political ecology in the analysis of income and technology for the Latin American and Caribbean energy and productive transition and social justice
• The role of the democratization of science, technology and knowledge for the energy and productive transition in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
• The role of politics in issues related to the energy and production transition to overcome what is described as a conflict between sustainability, development and well-being.
• The role or place of social metabolism (including the use of energy and materials) as tools for social or institutional decision-making within the framework of the social redistribution of wealth.
• Production or energy models based on knowledge production, or on the collective management of common goods.
• Experiences in managing non-renewable common goods that allow us to go beyond the hegemony of the State and the market.
• Situated readings that identify the languages ​​of valuation or the rationalities on which indigenous, peasant or local women rely in the processes of defense or resistance to extractivist expansion in their territories or defense of Nature.
• The theoretical framework or approach of cognitive systems or emergent logics that help to think about other forms of organization and productive rationality that contribute to the development of ways of life such as Sumak kawsay, Good living and the Live savory.
• The ways in which social actors (including social movements and civil society) and economic actors limit or enhance the internationalization of Sumak kawsay, Good living and the Live savory in public policy.
• Territories, ecological sustainability, water disputes and food sovereignty.
• Common goods, extractivism, development and socio-ecological conflicts.
• Energy inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to socio-ecological and democratic energy transitions.
• Local metabolism and socio-environmental justice
• Community projects for energy and socio-ecological transition.

We seek to support research, case studies, and theoretical explorations of the ontology of energy and production transition processes in Latin America and the Caribbean, including their limitations and opportunities. We are interested in situating the ecological transition within the framework of social and distributive justice and human rights. We encourage research that integrates territorial, gender, and local community perspectives.

CONTEST RULES

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Registration closes: February 27, 2024
Winners will be announced in March 2024.
Project implementation: April 2024 to February 2025
Presentation of the final report: February 28, 2025

The results will be published on the CLACSO website. The winners will be contacted by email.
Queries: [email protected]
Bases and forms in this link.

OPINION – Socio-environmental conflicts and just transitions in the 21st century

The geographical, ecological, and geological conditions of Latin America and the
The Caribbean has become a region of geopolitical and economic interest within the context of global power flows and hegemonic disputes. Thus, the subcontinent has played a role as a supplier of raw materials to meet global demands over the last few centuries. Currently, it is emerging as a supplier of both the metallic and non-metallic minerals required for the digital and energy transition, the land for massive renewable energy projects, and other relatively scarce and highly valued goods in the contemporary world. This dynamic reflects the functioning of the capitalist social metabolism, anchored in the notion of growth and extractive development, and in the hegemonies (and their privileged groups) that seek to maintain their power.

The objective of this Call is to investigate how, by whom, and for what purpose we think about transitions, the actors in dispute, the socio-environmental conflict generated by extractivism associated with hegemonic transition models, and the proposals and possibilities of just transitions, with the horizon of building a situated ecological and energy transition process – Latin American and Caribbean – where members of academia, social movements, and public policy decision-makers converge, and where dignified and ecologically situated life (Buen Vivir, Vivir Sabroso, Communality), and social justice are the central elements to guarantee the rights of
nature and people.

They were opened 258 forms and were finally received 97 applications
complete, which after the technical and formal review, were in a condition to be qualitatively evaluated by the International Committee to consider the quality, relevance and coherence of the proposals according to the Call.

The evaluation process was carried out by an International Committee composed of 18 experts from 11 countries: Jacqueline Laguardia Martinez (Cuba), Grettel Navas Obando (Chile), Felipe Milanez (Brazil), Hugo Pereira (Paraguay), Francisca Fernández Droguett (Chile), Maydi Estrada Bayona (Cuba), Salvador Schavelzon (Brazil), Raquel Neyra Soupplet (Peru), Gabriela Wyczykier (Argentina), Antonio De Lisio (Venezuela), Lucrecia Wagner (Argentina), Carlos Alberto Alvarado Hernandez (Honduras), Tamara Artacker (Ecuador), Milson Betancourt (Colombia), Elizabeth Bravo (Ecuador), Daniel Sandoval Cervantes (Mexico), Eliud Torres (Mexico), Gabriela Merlinsky (Argentina).

Following the evaluation, which recognized the excellent quality, relevance and rigor of most of the applications, 6 proposals were selected.

The list of proposals selected in this Call for Proposals is as follows:

This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.

Buenos Aires, April 30, 2024