Political ecology of memory: Memories of violence and socio-environmental struggles (I)
Tracks
HC2
| Wednesday, June 28, 2023 |
| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM |
Speaker
Dr Esther Marijnen
Assistant Professor
Wageningen University and Research
Political ecology of memory: Memories of violence and socio-environmental struggles (I)
Session Abstract
This panel explores connections between political ecology and memory studies. Osterhoudt (2018) defined a "political ecology of memory" approach to history as, “examining how memories of extra-local political histories become embodied and articulated through personal stories of local ecologies” (2018). By doing so Osterhoudt integrated political ecology and environmental anthropology to study the political ecology of memory, we aim to further this line of inquiry by integrating methodologies, theories and concepts from another discipline; memory studies.
Traditionally memory studies has focused extensively on World War I and II yet with the transcultural debate research on the politics of memory increasingly looks beyond the ‘Global north’, and beyond ‘the nation-state as the main agent of memory’, recognizing that memory is dynamic, multidirectional and is not site-bound. As such there is an increasing body of literature focussing on the politics of memory in post-genocide and post-conflict societies globally. Focusing on what is remembered and/or forgotten in these memory processes, and how they shape societies in aftermath of violence. Debates have also explored relationships between both official and unofficial means of remembering; and interdisciplinary connections with forced displacement.
In this panel we aim to bring political ecology research in closer connection with memory studies, by not only asking how the politics of memory shape societies in the aftermath of violence, but also how they shape socio-environmental relations, struggles and landscapes in conjunction with each other.
Traditionally memory studies has focused extensively on World War I and II yet with the transcultural debate research on the politics of memory increasingly looks beyond the ‘Global north’, and beyond ‘the nation-state as the main agent of memory’, recognizing that memory is dynamic, multidirectional and is not site-bound. As such there is an increasing body of literature focussing on the politics of memory in post-genocide and post-conflict societies globally. Focusing on what is remembered and/or forgotten in these memory processes, and how they shape societies in aftermath of violence. Debates have also explored relationships between both official and unofficial means of remembering; and interdisciplinary connections with forced displacement.
In this panel we aim to bring political ecology research in closer connection with memory studies, by not only asking how the politics of memory shape societies in the aftermath of violence, but also how they shape socio-environmental relations, struggles and landscapes in conjunction with each other.
Presentation 1 Abstract
The political ecology of memories of dispossession: Understanding pastoralist resistance in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Colonial conservation policies and practices are recognised for their dispossession and displacement of local people to create wild places free of human influence. Political ecologists linked conservation conflicts to the continuities and legacies of colonial conservation policies that have been sustained by post-independent states in different forms but based on the same blueprint. In this paper I discuss the colonial strategies of ‘accumulation by dispossession’ in the creation of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda and how these events are remembered by local pastoralists. Additionally, I explore how these processes and events gave birth to the “fishing enclave problem”. These fishing villages later became spaces of resistances and the last stronghold that have been used by Basongora pastoralists to invoke their ancestral rights to QENP. Using archival data and historical ethnography I examine the political ecology of memory of how the Basongora mobilise intergenerational memory in contemporary contestations with the state and conservation authorities in QENP. As Roderique Neumann has argued, historical analysis are important to understand the contemporary issues in conservation, this paper further argues that this should include the social memory of local people and how they use it to legitimise their claims. In such power-laden situations where of one actor, the state has at its disposal resources to subjugate the subordinate group, pastoralists. In hindsight, memory becomes an important form of moral authority through which the pastoralists contest the hegemonic dominance of conservation authorities.
Key words: Memory, pastoralists, conservation
Colonial conservation policies and practices are recognised for their dispossession and displacement of local people to create wild places free of human influence. Political ecologists linked conservation conflicts to the continuities and legacies of colonial conservation policies that have been sustained by post-independent states in different forms but based on the same blueprint. In this paper I discuss the colonial strategies of ‘accumulation by dispossession’ in the creation of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda and how these events are remembered by local pastoralists. Additionally, I explore how these processes and events gave birth to the “fishing enclave problem”. These fishing villages later became spaces of resistances and the last stronghold that have been used by Basongora pastoralists to invoke their ancestral rights to QENP. Using archival data and historical ethnography I examine the political ecology of memory of how the Basongora mobilise intergenerational memory in contemporary contestations with the state and conservation authorities in QENP. As Roderique Neumann has argued, historical analysis are important to understand the contemporary issues in conservation, this paper further argues that this should include the social memory of local people and how they use it to legitimise their claims. In such power-laden situations where of one actor, the state has at its disposal resources to subjugate the subordinate group, pastoralists. In hindsight, memory becomes an important form of moral authority through which the pastoralists contest the hegemonic dominance of conservation authorities.
Key words: Memory, pastoralists, conservation
Dr Esther Marijnen
Assistant Professor
Wageningen University and Research
Political ecology of memory: Memories of violence and socio-environmental struggles (II)
Session Abstract
This panel explores connections between political ecology and memory studies. Osterhoudt (2018) defined a "political ecology of memory" approach to history as, “examining how memories of extra-local political histories become embodied and articulated through personal stories of local ecologies” (2018). By doing so Osterhoudt integrated political ecology and environmental anthropology to study the political ecology of memory, we aim to further this line of inquiry by integrating methodologies, theories and concepts from another discipline; memory studies.
Traditionally memory studies has focused extensively on World War I and II yet with the transcultural debate research on the politics of memory increasingly looks beyond the ‘Global north’, and beyond ‘the nation-state as the main agent of memory’, recognizing that memory is dynamic, multidirectional and is not site-bound. As such there is an increasing body of literature focussing on the politics of memory in post-genocide and post-conflict societies globally. Focusing on what is remembered and/or forgotten in these memory processes, and how they shape societies in aftermath of violence. Debates have also explored relationships between both official and unofficial means of remembering; and interdisciplinary connections with forced displacement.
In this panel we aim to bring political ecology research in closer connection with memory studies, by not only asking how the politics of memory shape societies in the aftermath of violence, but also how they shape socio-environmental relations, struggles and landscapes in conjunction with each other.
Traditionally memory studies has focused extensively on World War I and II yet with the transcultural debate research on the politics of memory increasingly looks beyond the ‘Global north’, and beyond ‘the nation-state as the main agent of memory’, recognizing that memory is dynamic, multidirectional and is not site-bound. As such there is an increasing body of literature focussing on the politics of memory in post-genocide and post-conflict societies globally. Focusing on what is remembered and/or forgotten in these memory processes, and how they shape societies in aftermath of violence. Debates have also explored relationships between both official and unofficial means of remembering; and interdisciplinary connections with forced displacement.
In this panel we aim to bring political ecology research in closer connection with memory studies, by not only asking how the politics of memory shape societies in the aftermath of violence, but also how they shape socio-environmental relations, struggles and landscapes in conjunction with each other.
Presentation 1 Abstract
From Political Ecology to Data Science of Memory: Towards a Socialist Strategy
Abstract
This article discusses how Political Ecology orientation towards transcending the simple nature/society dichotomy and its exploration of their structural cou- pling and co-constitution provides a fertile ground to connect the contemporary debate of Chilean historians with the modern developments in Political Economy and Marxist scholarship. Relying on a Territory-Place-Scale-Network framework (Jessop, Brenner, Jones, 2008), this article explores the political ecology of mem- ory in the Atacama Desert under the context of revolutionary technological changes of global capitalism and the struggles for memory in post-dictatorial Chile. Arguing that these changes are ”data-driven” and identifying how the eurocentric character of knowledge production under capitalist development expresses itself in the At- acama Desert at different scales, the article proposes to operationalize Jessop & Sum (2001) Cultural Political Economy as an emergent research field and public policy agenda for the Chilean context labeled ”Data Science of Memory” (DSM). Later, the article identifies how the neoliberal state in Chile has already developed the basis for a DSM with the ”Young Programmers” initiative of the BiblioRedes program of the National Cultural Heritage Service. Finally, the article identifies a broader set of research avenues and policy initiatives, arguing that a DSM frame- work can integrate critical social theory within a unified theoretical framework and deploy policy initiatives articulated in a socialist strategy.
Key Words: Atacama Desert, Memory Struggles, Data Science
Abstract
This article discusses how Political Ecology orientation towards transcending the simple nature/society dichotomy and its exploration of their structural cou- pling and co-constitution provides a fertile ground to connect the contemporary debate of Chilean historians with the modern developments in Political Economy and Marxist scholarship. Relying on a Territory-Place-Scale-Network framework (Jessop, Brenner, Jones, 2008), this article explores the political ecology of mem- ory in the Atacama Desert under the context of revolutionary technological changes of global capitalism and the struggles for memory in post-dictatorial Chile. Arguing that these changes are ”data-driven” and identifying how the eurocentric character of knowledge production under capitalist development expresses itself in the At- acama Desert at different scales, the article proposes to operationalize Jessop & Sum (2001) Cultural Political Economy as an emergent research field and public policy agenda for the Chilean context labeled ”Data Science of Memory” (DSM). Later, the article identifies how the neoliberal state in Chile has already developed the basis for a DSM with the ”Young Programmers” initiative of the BiblioRedes program of the National Cultural Heritage Service. Finally, the article identifies a broader set of research avenues and policy initiatives, arguing that a DSM frame- work can integrate critical social theory within a unified theoretical framework and deploy policy initiatives articulated in a socialist strategy.
Key Words: Atacama Desert, Memory Struggles, Data Science
Mr Francisco Venes
PhD candidate
Centre for Social Studies
Different Life Experiences, A Common Goal: Women’s Motivations To Mobilise Against A Mining Project In Northern Portugal
Session Abstract
Individual Presentation Submission
Presentation 1 Abstract
TITLE: Different life experiences, a common goal: women’s motivations to mobilise against a mining project in northern Portugal
ABSTRACT: The European Union energy transition policies have sparked interest in Portuguese lithium deposits. The Barroso mine project, promoted by Savannah Resources in the village of Covas do Barroso (northern Portugal), is the front-line project of the country’s lithium strategy. Since prospecting started four years ago, the local population actively mobilised to oppose it, pointing the contradictions of policies that promote new extractive frontiers and sacrifice a region renowned for its important biodiversity, water abundance and cultural heritage.
Women have been the key organizers of resistance in Covas do Barroso, an aspect scholars acknowledge for other grassroots movements for Environmental Justice. Existing studies on Feminist Political Ecology have either focused on the specific impacts of mining on women, often associated with their role as care providers, the entrenchment of patriarchal dynamics in mining territories, and the occurrence of gendered strategies of resistance.
Focusing on the Covas do Barroso case, I propose to look at women’s motivations to oppose Savannah’s lithium project by asking how their activism appears in their life trajectories and how it relates to their daily practices. I have carried ethnographic research locally for a year through participant observation and biographical interviews with six key informants. In POLLEN 2022, I expect to present the main results of this research, namely by highlighting the nexus between women’s motivations to mobilise and past and present aspects of their lives, as well as the differentiated material and emotional relationships each has established with the territory now threatened by mining.
KEYWORDS: Women; lithium mining; resistance
ABSTRACT: The European Union energy transition policies have sparked interest in Portuguese lithium deposits. The Barroso mine project, promoted by Savannah Resources in the village of Covas do Barroso (northern Portugal), is the front-line project of the country’s lithium strategy. Since prospecting started four years ago, the local population actively mobilised to oppose it, pointing the contradictions of policies that promote new extractive frontiers and sacrifice a region renowned for its important biodiversity, water abundance and cultural heritage.
Women have been the key organizers of resistance in Covas do Barroso, an aspect scholars acknowledge for other grassroots movements for Environmental Justice. Existing studies on Feminist Political Ecology have either focused on the specific impacts of mining on women, often associated with their role as care providers, the entrenchment of patriarchal dynamics in mining territories, and the occurrence of gendered strategies of resistance.
Focusing on the Covas do Barroso case, I propose to look at women’s motivations to oppose Savannah’s lithium project by asking how their activism appears in their life trajectories and how it relates to their daily practices. I have carried ethnographic research locally for a year through participant observation and biographical interviews with six key informants. In POLLEN 2022, I expect to present the main results of this research, namely by highlighting the nexus between women’s motivations to mobilise and past and present aspects of their lives, as well as the differentiated material and emotional relationships each has established with the territory now threatened by mining.
KEYWORDS: Women; lithium mining; resistance
