Political Ecologies of Waste: Salvaged Livelihoods and Infra-structural Labour

by Benjamin Irvine Solid waste is often seen as an environmental problem to be solved through change of behaviour and recycling. Political ecology can sharpen our analysis of the politics involved in the way materials move through the economy. Prospects for reducing the amount of solid waste generated and ambitions for a “circular economy” will …

The big picture – a political ecology comic essay

by Zully Rosadio When looking at a picture, asking "What does it NOT show?" is as important as observing what it shows. Complex realities, such as those of Samburu people, their livestock and wildlife in Kenya, appear by posing the key question 'Why?' Zully Rosadio holds a bachelor degree in Biology as well as in …

Resisting Development: The politics of the zad and NoTav

Alexander Dunlap reviews the book The ZAD and NoTAV: Territorial Struggles and the Making of a New Political Intelligence, by the Mauvaise Troupe Collective.

Two tales of terrorism from the Tía María conflict, Peru

By Alexander Dunlap. The Peruvian state is laying military siege to enforce extraction operations; ironically, land defenders are the ones branded as terrorists.

Relatos del Encuentro “¡Berta Vive! COPINH Sigue”

Por Jessica Fernandez y Lúcia de Oliveira Fernandes* El día 3 de marzo del 2017 se realizó el Encuentro "¡Berta Vive! COPINH Sigue", en el Centro de Estudios Sociales-CES de la Universidad de Coimbra, Portugal. Este es un resumen de las presentaciones y debates habidos en este espacio. Organizado por la Oficina Ecología y Sociedad …

Renewing cooperation on water: what hope for the two-state solution?

By Jan Selby* A new agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority gives Israel carte blanche to expand water provision for illegal settlements. 15 January, on the very same day that diplomats from 70 countries were meeting in Paris to reaffirm their support for the two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian officials announced that they were …

Who can say? Reflections on the unknown in Valle de Cauca, Colombia

By Emma Lord* On December 1st, 2016, headlines marked the formal end of Colombia´s prolonged war. Emma Lord shares some reflections on the contextual complexity of the conflict based on fieldwork in the department of Valle del Cauca in 2015. Sitting in the kitchen of a caleño guitarist –a research informant and friend– we chat …

Tracing narratives and perceptions in the political ecologies of health and disease

In a previous post on ‘Horses, bees and bodies: post-conference accounts from Lexington’, Panagiota Kotsila shared her reflections on the 2015 Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) Conference, where together we organised a panel titled ‘Perceptions of Urban Environmental Health: Narrating Political Ecologies of Disease’. The post promised a forthcoming collection of papers on the topic, …

Ecología política del turismo

La revista Ecología Política acaba de publicar su Número 52, dedicado al turismo. El presente número de la revista Ecología Política está dedicado al turismo, una actividad que ha obtenido menor atención que otros temas de la ecología política. Esta entrega de la revista—editada por Macià Blázquez, Ivan Murray y Grettel Navas—recoge un total de veinticuatro artículos que nos ofrecen …

Opening a crack in history: memory, historical research and activism

Residents of La Barceloneta (Barcelona) integrate historical research in their struggle to reclaim the building of a 100-year-old consumer cooperative back for public use. How can history inspire social transformation? When Aymara people in South-America look ahead they are facing the past. Literally. Researchers who investigated Aymara language and gestures have established that, unlike all …