Political Ecology, socio-ecological conflicts and resistance from the South

Seminar 1932

Chair: CLACSO

Coordination: Manuel Bayón Jiménez and Elizabeth Bravo (IEETM, Ecuador)

Teaching team: Manuel Bayón Jiménez, Elizabeth Bravo, Cecilia Chérrez Muirragui, Aurora Donoso Game and Ivonne Yánez (IEETM, Ecuador)

Start: 22/07/2019 | Registration: 04/02/2019 to 19/07/2019

Workload: 12 weeks – 90 hours.

Payment methods
If you have a link with a CLACSO Associated Center:

Paying in one payment: USD 95 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

If you have a link with a Network or Institution Associated with CLACSO:

Paying in one payment: USD 140 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

If you do NOT have a link with a CLACSO Associated Center:

Paying in one payment BEFORE 12/07/2019: USD 150 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).
Paying in one payment: USD 190 (includes issuance and shipping costs of the digital certificate).

Course presentation:

The seminar provides students with conceptual elements of political ecology from the perspective of socio-environmental conflicts faced by communities in Latin America, taking an approach from different Latin American perspectives: rights of nature, ecofeminisms, critical geography or the psychosocial approach.

The epistemological focus is on the construction of knowledge from the perspective of peoples in the Global South. This includes contextualizing and problematizing the various axes of capital accumulation, the main theoretical discussions related to political ecology, the different methodological approaches to addressing it, and socio-environmental conflicts, with an emphasis on the responses that nationalities, peoples, and communities have generated in the face of different forms of extractivism and accumulation based on land rent.

The aim is to build situated knowledge that helps students to look at the reality of their living spaces from new perspectives offered by political ecology and its approach from critical theory through different methodological approaches.

The seminar emphasizes topics that arouse strong interest in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as socio-environmental conflicts, from novel epistemic and methodological approaches.

Contents:

Introduction to Political Ecology and Popular Environmentalism.
Rights of Nature as a new paradigm of Political Ecology.
Yasuní as a civilizational proposal in the face of oil destruction.
Political Ecology of Food Sovereignty.
Political Ecology from the perspective of Water.
Territorial defense and the rights of nature in the face of mega-mining projects: a psychosocial approach.
Urbanization from the perspective of critical ecological geography.
An ecofeminist perspective on women's struggle for territory.
Ecological debt: impacts of external debt on communities and nature.
Repairing environmental destruction from the social fabric: a practical epistemological proposal of Sumak Kawsay.

General Bibliography of the Seminar

Almeida, Alexandra (2010) Oil Monitoring Manual. Quito: Ecological Action.
Ecological Action (2008) The ITT versus the Yasuní. Green Alert No. 155. Quito.
Bayón, Manuel (2016). "Rururban communities of Quito: between entrepreneurship and the right to the city." In ICONOS, Number 56, The city of the 21st century: urban public policies, displacements and contestations. Quito.
Wilson, Japhy and Manuel Bayón (2017) The Manta-Manaus Interoceanic Corridor: Freshwater Pirates. In The Jungle of the White Elephants. Quito: Abya Yala.
Bravo, Elizabeth (comp) (2018). The Guayas River basin, territory of agribusiness. Quito: Acción Ecológica.
McCully, Patrick and Leticia Isaurralde (2004). Silenced Rivers: Ecology and Politics of Large Dams. Buenos Aires: Proteger.
Breihl, Jaime (2013). The social determinants of health as a tool for transformation towards a new public health (collective health). Rev. Fac. Nac. Salud Pública 2013; 31(suppl 1): S13-S27.
Maldonado, Adolfo (2019). A proposal for socio-ecosystemic reparation to the impacts of the metabolism of oil activity for the Ecuadorian Amazon. Quito: UASB.
Collective for Psychosocial Research and Action (2017). The Condor's Open Wound: Violation of rights, socio-ecological impacts and psychosocial effects caused by the Chinese mining company EcuaCorriente SA and the Ecuadorian State in the Mirador Project. Quito: Ecological Action.
Gómez Dupuis, Nieves (2009). Psychosocial expert report for human rights violations. Guatemala: Community Studies and Psychosocial Action Team.
Critical Perspectives on Territory from a Feminist Perspective (2018). (Re)patriarchalization of territories. The struggle of women and extractive megaprojects. In Political Ecology: International Debate Notebooks n. 54.
Segato, Rita (2016). The War Against Women. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños.
Jaime Breilh (2013). Towards a redefinition of agrarian sovereignty. Is food sovereignty possible without civilizational change and biosecurity? In: Francisco Hidalgo, Pierril Lacroix and Paola Román, Editors. Marketing and Food Sovereignty. Quito: SIPAE.
Bravo, Elizabeth (2016). Food Sovereignty as told by its actors. Quito: Salesian Polytechnic University.
Maldonado, Adolfo and Esperanza Martínez (2019). A Decade with Rights of Nature. Quito: Abya-Yala Editions.
Ávila Santamaría, Ramiro (2011). "Rights of Nature: Foundations." In Nature with Rights: From Philosophy to Politics. Quito: Abya-Yala Editions.
Oliveres, Arcadi, Martínez Alier, Joan (2003). Who owes whom? Ecological debt and external debt. Barcelona: ICARIA Publishing House. 2nd edition. Donoso, Aurora, Ecological Action (2009). "Ecological debt: impacts of external debt on communities and nature". Quito: Ecological Action.
Svampa, Maristella (2012). "Thinking about development from Latin America", in Renouncing the common good: extractivism and (post)development in Latin America. Buenos Aires: Mardulce, ISBN 978-987-26965-8-0. - 2012, p. 17-58.
Alimonda, Héctor (comp) (2006) The torments of matter. Contributions to a Latin American political ecology. Buenos Aires. CLACSO Publishing House.

FAQ

What do I need to take a CLACSO virtual seminar?

The basic requirements for taking a seminar are:

Availability of at least 4 hours per week to dedicate to the seminar course.
Internet access.
Reasonable handling of communication and computer tools.
Language proficiency in the language in which the course will be taught. The official languages are Spanish and Portuguese.

What is the length of a CLACSO virtual seminar? What is the total number of hours?

The seminars last 12 weeks, plus the completion of a final project. A total of 90 hours of dedication will be credited.

What is the work modality and dynamics?

A course consists of twelve classes, each accompanied by required readings, supplementary readings, discussion forums, and learning activities proposed by the teaching team, as well as partial submissions and a final project. The course is delivered online and asynchronously. Some instructors may propose synchronous activities. In these cases, the time and date will be agreed upon in advance between the teaching team and the students to ensure everyone's participation. To pass the seminar, students must participate in at least 80% of the discussion forums and activities proposed by the instructors, complete all scheduled partial submissions, and pass the final project.