More Shamans, less intolerance! An Indigenous Manifesto at Berlin Film Festival

by Felipe Milanez The premier of the movie Ex-Shaman by Luiz Bolognesi at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival becomes the occasion for spreading a manifesto by Indigenous People of Brazil denouncing racism, violence and the loss of traditional knowledge: Shamans must exist and be respected, before it is too late, the world is devoid …

Trespass. An environmental history of modern migrations

by Marco Armiero In a new book, Marco Armiero and Richard Tucker have edited together important contributions to the emerging field of the environmental history of modern migrations. Three main 'styles' of research delineate the contours of a timely research effort. Histories in the Present Tense We are in the midst of a massive migration …

Negotiating longing and despair as frontier citizens of the Indian State

By Mabel Gergan * Mabel Gergan reflects on the shifting relationship between the Indian State and its North-Eastern and Himalayan frontier, exploring the colonial roots of racial discrimination in Indian cities and activist critiques of ongoing development interventions in the region. “The subject of the state is caught and impaled between the longing for justice …

El trabajo (barato) migrante en la agricultura neoliberal

Por Yoan Molinero Gerbeau * y Gennaro Avallone ** Los trabajadores migrantes son cada vez más esenciales para el mantenimiento de la agricultura global, un pilar fundamental del sistema capitalista. Desde el último cuarto del siglo pasado hasta la actualidad, el uso de mano de obra migrante para trabajar la agricultura del centro global –o …

Protecting nature in an unequal world

By Prakash Kashwan* Democracies can do better than to give into the mirage of "Wilsonian Enclosures", which envision half of the planet or more in nature reserves. The excessive focus on such areas detracts attention from developing alternative conservation strategies. Renowned biologist E.O. Wilson advocates setting aside “half the planet in reserve, or more” exclusively …

Struggles over urban greenspace in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Reconnecting ecology and democracy

The story of how a small group of neighbors in the suburbs of San Juan, Puerto Rico, came together to beautify their neighbourhood and restore a small remnant of forest by planting trees; and how in the process of their struggle, they become ‘politicized’ and integrated into a larger movement challenging the political economy of urban …

International call for struggle and solidarity with Puerto Rico

"We are asking the international community and the Puerto Ricans of the diaspora to show solidarity with the situation that our country is now experiencing"  Puerto Rico, a colony of the United States since 1898, currently faces an economic-financial and socio-political crisis with an economy that has contracted for 10 years, record-level outmigration and unemployment, and a massive debt …

Going beyond the “ecological turn” in the humanities

By Aaron Vansintjan.* Talk about the Anthropocene often has a tendency to rely on apolitical and colonialist assumptions. But the turn to ecology in the humanities will require acknowledging—and, more importantly, supporting—those peoples who have never turned their back on 'ecology' in the first place. There’s a story about the time when Michel Foucault was …

‘Friendly colonialism’ and the contradictions of our progressive governments

by Eduardo Gudynas* Gudynas answers and reflects on the debate his arguments raised about colonialism and extractivism in Latin America. Weeks ago I shared some reflections on how some governments and progressive intellectuals who take ideas from the Global left, and use their limitations or deform them. It is a "friendly colonialism" because it allows them …

Gudynas and Harvey

Following the commentary of Eduardo Gudynas, on the careless reproduction of concepts from Western scholars to explicate environmental conflict situations in the global South, scholars from CENEDET (Centro Nacional de Estrategia para el Derecho al Territorio) in Ecuador -a center where David Harvey is the director- gave a heated response. Joan Martinez Alier now gives his own opinion on this debate and on the usefulness of “extractivism” and “accumulation by dispossession” concepts for Latin America.