Critical Ecologies

Irish horticulture is heavily reliant on seasonal migrant workers, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. With PhD researcher Rebecca Vining, this podcast uses the case study of Romanian-Irish labour migration to identify how this exploitation has been built into the global agri-food system. By applying a "world-ecology" approach, it is possible to link land grabbing in Romania to exploitation in Ireland, and to identify new pathways for solidarity and resistance.

Fast fashion illustrates the social and environmental disasters that lie in the wake of capitalism’s ever-increasing hunger for profits. Everything in the path to profit is devalued and made disposable: environment, place, and people. The experiences of secondhand clothes traders in Ghana and Kenya are the lived reality of this devaluation in practice, where they are sold, for profit, Global North textile waste deliberately disguised as commodities. The outcome of this unequal ‘trade’ sees the pollution of their homes and their bodies, and the destruction of the web of life within which they survive. Degrowth, in its call to reduce consumption and replace GDP based economic growth with the growth of human and environmental wellbeing, offers a different path. However, degrowth approaches must democratize themselves by also becoming decolonial. Those who experience the greatest cost of fast fashion must be the people to decide how the future is to be shaped, lest capitalism’s disasters be reproduced anew.

Immerse yourself in the shadowy world of environmental injustice and the terrifying reality of "slow violence". Together with Master's student in Environmental Psychology, Elena Jordan, we explore how overlooked forms of harm, such as those caused by environmental change, gradually unfold over time and escape immediate notice. Elena sheds light on the Bhopal disaster and illustrates how corporations can evade responsibility in the midst of long-term suffering. With a critical look at Rob Nixon's concept of slow violence and a compelling narrative of the events surrounding the Bhopal Disaster, this interview challenges us to rethink the impact of slow violence because "even though we may not be able to see it right now, it is happening.". 

In a country viewed as full of greenery, folklore, and warm hospitality, join us in this podcast as we explore the overlooked experience of environmental racism faced by the Irish Traveller community. This podcast delves into how members of the Traveller community, a racialised group, experience dual challenges of climate change and societal discrimination and institutional barriers, affecting their wellbeing and quality of life. Emma Brady draws on her background in Social Care, experience in homeless services, and health services, along with her current Environmental Psychology Master’s degree to highlight inequality and unequal distribution of environmental harm experienced by Irish Travellers and offers strategies to support the marginalised Indigenous community of Irish Travellers and promote social equity.  

Some of the currently most pressing global challenges center around climate change, biodiversity loss and habitat destruction. To address these, most nations have adopted strategies for nature conservation and management that are seemingly pro-environmental - "green". This podcast draws attention to the fact that these practices are a continuation of colonial thought and practice. Using the development of Australian conservation policies, disaster management and the eco-tourism industry the concept of Green Colonialism is elucidated. Despite recent progress regarding the recognition of aboriginal people, the government fails to acknowledge the practical implications coming with traditional custodianship and largely excludes Aboriginal People's knowledge, as well as historical reparation responsibility.

This episode discusses the concept of slow violence and the differential impact it has on women and girls when we talk about the environment and climate change. MA student Jenifer Sánchez helps us think about and consider the concept of intersectional ecology to understand that slow environmental violence is not only crossed by the category of class, but by gender, race and even cultural and religious aspects. Such an analysis allows us to carry out a deeper project of critique and transformation, and places environmental concerns at the centre of any progressive social struggle.

In this episode, MA student Rodrigo Silva delves into the history and contemporary dynamics of the Haliti-Paresi Indigenous group in Mato Grosso, Brazil, amidst continuous capitalist incursions into the region. The historical analysis observes the material exploitation and discursive practices being employed by colonial powers since the eighteenth century towards these peoples. It culminates with the current enrolment of Indigenous leaders in projects of agribusiness, the still dominant elites of the country. The (still tentative) analysis seeks to understand the complications offered by this current scenario, with its juridical as well as cosmopolitical implications, to our current understanding of the climate crisis, through a historical materialist standpoint. The podcast interview touches on some important points to reflect about this topic in relation to the advancements of capitalism as well its contemporary political developments, with devastating impacts to ecologies and livelihoods.

Urban centres are places of ‘parasitic’ consumption and are highly developed, whereas rural areas are left far behind. Although cities are not particularly involved in food production, they do provide higher food safety than rural areas. We talk about how these inequalities between rural and urban spaces are developed in the context of the Irish food regime through the lens of the metabolic rift and ask whether it is possible to lower these disparities. Cuba is an exciting case study of how to overcome the urban-rural gap regarding the food regime by means of urban agroecology. Can Cuba be a blueprint for mitigating Ireland’s metabolic rift?

Kilraneghlan Hill looks over the rural village of Kiltegan in West Wicklow. The hill is home to a graveyard, flora and fauna, and many historical sites.  In 2021, residents were informed of plans for the hill to become a wind farm development site, with planning permission requested for 5 wind turbines to be installed on the hill. Using the concepts of NIMBYism and place attachment, MA student Lucy Dunne helps us to gain a better understanding of why the residents in this area fought so hard to get the planning permission turned down. Furthermore, exploring Irelands over reliance on fossil fuels as the main energy source throughout the country and engage with the possibility of wind energy as the new provider of energy in Ireland.  The impact wind farms are having on biodiversity in rural Ireland is a key debate in Ireland and one which is discussed in this podcast. Finally, a discussion is also had on the role that planners within the County Councils in Ireland are having on the development of wind farm development projects.

[Apologies for poor sound quality] 

Join us for an interesting and enlightening podcast delving into the connections between capitalism, environmental change and education. Our guest Stephen Coady, a postgraduate diploma student in geography pursuing a career in teaching, discusses the Anthropocene and Capitalocene. He highlights the implications of the two concepts for understanding climate and ecological crises. We explore the deep roots that capitalism has with fossil fuel extraction, while honing in on two specific samples - the Athabasca Tar Sands and Appalachian coal mines. Find out how these insights can be brought into the world of second level education and can possibly influence future generations to think about current world problems such as environmental justice or climate change.