Critical Ecologies

In the southernmost region of Mexico, indigenous people have been resisting dual colonial and capitalist oppression for at least 500 years, and they have also been selling coffee beans through a global market. Is this an attempt to tap into circuits of economic development or a trade-off between indigenous autonomy and profits? MA student Polina Volkova, argues that it is neither and explains that cultivating fair-trade coffee is but one of the many practices of everyday Indigenous resistance. Fair-trade exchanges help sustain Indigenous knowledges, support cultural continuity, protect native species of corn, and pursue the life as imagined by Indigenous people. Talking about the dominant image of the ‘capitalist world’ as a legacy of colonialism, we discuss the imperative to decolonize development and recognize diverse practices through which Indigenous people build sustainable livelihoods and resist oppression.

Ireland’s bogs are an interesting space to explore competing agendas of the Green Transition, sustainable development and environmental justice. In this podcast, PhD researcher Criostóir King discusses the various visions of development that have historically been associated with turf cutting, how this is changing within the context of the Green Transition, and what potential alternatives might be.

This podcast discusses the links between environmental injustice and climate injustice. Diploma student Sarah Morrissey, begins by introducing both the concepts and introduces the links between the two concepts, the major one being the shared roots which both concepts share mainly due to colonial projects which increased environmental impacts and produced a racial hierarchy. The podcast introduces the film Environmental Racism in Death Valley which explores the convergence of environmental degradation, racism and historical legacies in the US state of Louisiana, where residents of this predominantly black area are suffering the deathly consequences of living in a place with these industrialized petrochemical facilities such as cancer and other health issues. The podcast then deep dives into the reasons why it is vital to address climate change alongside racial justice and explains further why equitable policies as well as community engagement are necessary tools for persistence. The podcast finishes by discussing the power of indigenous voices and talks through why it is

In this podcast episode, we go into the heart of North Mara, Tanzania, where the Kuria community faces the harsh realities of extractivism. With gold being one of the sources of revenue in the country, powerful corporations and state authorities play significant roles in shaping the lives within the community. As extractivism threatens their lands and livelihoods, Elina Musa examines the innovative ways the community fights back, from international legal battles to social media activism, revealing the determination of a community fighting for justice.

In this podcast, Aoife Murphy discusses the issue of housing and some of the movements and campaigns that have developed within the past couple of years. Housing is such a large and topical issue at the moment, and many different people within Ireland are affected. In recent years the government has begun to introduce new policies and schemes to try and help make this process easier on everyone involved, but this still isn’t enough. The movements that have developed like CATU and Raise the Roof, show people that they are not alone and create a space where people can share their issues and worries while trying to make a change.

In this podcast, Emilie Jessen discusses the concept of agro-ecology and how the movement emerged and have evolved as a wide concept today. Starting with a discussion on why agro-ecology emerged as a counter response to The Green Revolution in the 1960’s and the dominant agro-food system, we discuss why the movement met resistance in the beginning, and how agro-ecological farming is different from conventional agri-cultural farming. The podcast then goes on to discuss how agro-ecology is strongly related to the concept of ‘spatial justice’, and how grassroot organizations such as the Irish farming group Talamh Beo are doing an important work fighting for food sovereignty and restoring local wildlife habitats. To finish, we discuss some of the challenges that the agroecological movement face today and thoughts on what could be done on a national or international level to support small scale farmers and the transition to a more sustainable and resilient global food system through transitioning to agro-ecological farming. 

Historically in Ireland, bogs have been exploited for their resources by colonial powers, governments and semi-state bodies. This has resulted in extensive loss of peatlands in Ireland and this has had negative impacts on the communities and wildlife that rely on these spaces. In this podcast the concepts of spatial justice and multispecies justice are discussed in relation to the loss of peatlands in Ireland and are used to understand what this means for locals and wildlife who rely on these spaces. As society today moves towards reaching climate targets in a bid to reduce harmful emissions this podcast also examines the methods and aims of the Irish government around the “Just Transition” and how moves to cease turf extraction are affecting the communities who relied so heavily on this system for employment and resources for centuries.

Why in Ireland is just 8% of agricultural land used for crops, while the rest is devoted to animal production? This podcast with Shane Hanly delves into some of the reasons why the Irish agricultural system has become specialised with animal production. Factors such as membership of the European Union and globalisation of agri-food systems are discussed. A number of spatial justice implications, both in Ireland and abroad, that this dominant agricultural system brings about are highlighted. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, with resistance and alternative systems proposed by groups such as Talamh Beo emerging. 

In this episode MSc Environmental Psychology student, Róisín Reddy, discusses spatial and environmental justice in the context of Ireland. We explore how these concepts intersect and how both contribute to the critical analysis of perceptions of space and the role they play in unequal distributional patterns. Using the example of County Leitrim, Róisín highlights some of the main challenges being faced there in recent years, how the communities have responded and asks the question, why Leitrim? In light of this topic, we go on to discuss environmentalism in Ireland using Hilary Tovey’s (1993) work to explore how it relates to present environmental activist movements occurring in ‘rural’ Ireland.

In this podcast with Melanie Johnson, we go back to the 1300s to explore the origins of capitalism as we know it today and talk about the importance of space in its inception. The vital role of common space in human independence is discussed, and enclosure, privatization, and commodification are shown to be its violent antagonists. De-enclosure is a target to be achieved through a process called Degrowth, an intentionally subversive term meant to be understood as the opposite of what in this podcast is referred to as "the growth imperative." Degrowth is a counter-extractivist initiative that can only take place on a localized, grassroots level. We talk about the localization of economies and the integral role of ecology in carrying out such a goal, how small-scale subsistence is the counteraction to large-scale dominance, and how some communities in Ireland are already showing us how to carry out Degrowth by living amongst themselves and for each other.