Mariana Walter

Between science and activism: learning and teaching ecological economics with environmental justice organisations

Activists are motivated by interests and values, making use only of the evidence that supports their arguments. They are not dispassionate as scientists are supposed to be. There is therefore something antithetical between science and activism. Nevertheless, environmental justice organisations (EJOs) have accumulated stocks of activist knowledge of great value to the field of ecological economics, which sometimes becomes available to academics and influences public policies. Vice versa, some concepts and methods from ecological economics are useful in practice to EJOs. In this paper, we use the knowledge built through the European Commission-funded projects Civil Society Engagement with Ecological Economics and Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade to understand the relations between academic theories such as ecological economics and political ecology and activist practice in EJOs. Some work by researchers in ecological economics and political ecology can be understood as activism-led science, while EJOs sometimes carry out science-led activism. A dialectic and dynamic relation drives the interactions between academics and practitioners focused on ecological distribution conflicts. An interactive process exists between knowledge production and knowledge use, in which one furthers the other thanks to the relations built over time between scholars and practitioners.

How to Be Heard When Nobody Wants to Listen: Community Action against Mining in Argentina

Abstract Since 2002, Argentina has witnessed a growing number of mining conflicts. While national and provincial governments promote mining as a basis for development, local communities have opposed and acted to prevent it. Between 2003 and 2008, 7 out of 23 provinces banned open-pit metal mining, thus challenging the institutional framework that promotes it. These challenges, moreover, began during a period of high unemployment. Why are communities opposed to an activity that could benefit local development? This article argues that these communities are demanding recognition for local visions of development that are not compatible with mining—and that cannot be adequately accommodated by current decision-making processes.

The Biophysical Performance of Argentina (1970–2009)

The biophysical features of the Argentinean economy are examined using a social metabolism approach. A material flow analysis (MFA) for this economy was conducted for the period 1970–2009. Results show that Argentina follows a resource‐intensive and export‐oriented development model with a persistent physical trade deficit. Also, Argentinas terms of trade (the average weight in tonnes of imports that can be purchased through the sale of 1 tonne of exports) show a declining trend in the period of study. Argentinas economy shows a pattern typical of countries whose economies are based primarily on exports. Comparisons between Argentinas metabolic profile and the metabolic profile of other countries in Latin America and of Australia and Spain show that the Argentinean economy presents the same pattern as other Latin American exporting economies, and its terms of trade are opposite to those of industrialized economies.

Social Metabolism and Conflicts over Extractivism

The natural resource conflict dimension of environmental governance is usually centred on the social and political aspects of production systems and has hardly addressed the biophysical features of the natural resources themselves. Here we aim to address renewable and non-renewable resource-extraction conflicts in Latin America in the context of a changing global social metabolism and increasing demands for environmental justice (M’Gonigle, 1999; Sneddon, Howarth and Norgaard, 2006; Gerber, Veuthey and Martinez-Alier, 2009; Martinez-Alier et al., 2010). “Social metabolism” refers to the manner in which human societies organize their growing exchanges of energy and materials with the environment (Fischer-Kowalski, 1997; Martinez-Alier, 2009). In this chapter we use a sociometabolic approach to examine the material flows (extraction, exports, imports) of Latin American economies and furthermore look into the socioenvironmental pressures and conflicts that they cause. Sociometabolic trends can be appraised using different and complementary indicators. For instance, the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) measures to what extent human activities appropriate the biomass available each year for ecosystems (Haberl et al., 2007). Other examples are indicators that study virtual water flows, the energy return on investment (EROI) or a product life cycle.

A perspective on radical transformations to sustainability: resistances, movements and alternatives

A transformation to sustainability calls for radical and systemic societal shifts. Yet what this entails in practice and who the agents of this radical transformation are require further elaboration. This article recenters the role of environmental justice movements in transformations, arguing that the systemic, multi-dimensional and intersectional approach inherent in EJ activism is uniquely placed to contribute to the realization of equitable sustainable futures. Based on a perspective of conflict as productive, and a “conflict transformation” approach that can address the root issues of ecological conflicts and promote the emergence of alternatives, we lay out a conceptual framework for understanding transformations through a power analysis that aims to confront and subvert hegemonic power relations; that is, multi-dimensional and intersectional; balancing ecological concerns with social, economic, cultural and democratic spheres; and is multi-scalar, and mindful of impacts across place and space. Such a framework can help analyze and recognize the contribution of grassroots EJ movements to societal transformations to sustainability and support and aid radical transformation processes. While transitions literature tends to focus on artifacts and technologies, we suggest that a resistance-centred perspective focuses on the creation of new subjectivities, power relations, values and institutions. This recenters the agency of those who are engaged in the creation and recuperation of ecological and new ways of being in the world in the needed transformation.

Community Consultations: Local Responses to Large-Scale Mining in Latin America

This chapter studies the emergence and spread of community consultations in large-scale metal mining projects in Latin America. These consultations are different from the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)-related consultations, or consulta previa, that are fostered by national governments. From Tambogrande (Peru) in June 2002 to Mataquescuintla (Guatemala) in November 2012, 68 consultations/referenda have been conducted in Peru, Argentina, Guatemala, Colombia and Peru. In all cases the result has been a large opposition to mining projects. This process is occurring in a context of growing pressures to extract mineral ores in Latin America and an increasing number of related socioenvironmental conflicts (see Chapter 2). The particularity of these consultations is that these are not commissioned by national governments as part of official procedures to consult communities but instead are promoted by environmental justice movements (EJMs), usually with the support of local governments.

The multiple meanings of the Cameraria ohridella biological invasion in Paris's green areas.

Abstract The article presents a study of the various meanings given by different actors to the biological invasion of Cameraria ohridella in Pariss green spaces. This insect of unknown origin has spread throughout Europe, mining the leaves of horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), a tree species widely distributed in European capital cities. The elaboration of a map of actors allowed the identification of the stages in the bioinvasion management. The research shows that: i) despite the existence of specialized regional and international species monitoring organizations, the key alert networks were of an informal nature; ii) Pariss Green Areas Directorate assessed and treated the invasive species with a rationale that did not include other sectors of society; iii) the effectiveness of the adopted measures was undermined by the fact that the Green Areas Directorate does not control all the parks or gardens within the city. Owners/managers acted independently, so allowing the development of new sources of infestation. The article concludes that the invasiveness of an ecosystem is not only shaped by its ecological traits but also by social organizations and policies.

Social Metabolism and Ecological Distribution Conflicts in India and Latin America

This chapter draws on results of the project entitled EJOLT (Environmental Justice Organizations, Liabilities and Trade) focused on the analysis of ecological distribution conflicts across the world. We include comparative data on India and Latin America (and also for some variables on Africa and Europe) exploring the links between increases in the social metabolism and the appearance of ecological distribution conflicts. We also analyse the successful resistance movements led by environmental justice organizations and the “valuation languages” deployed by them.