B4. Radical Ecology

What does the term "stewardship" mean to you? We discussed that during our recent general meeting, and here are a few things folks said:

• A sacred task in the Biblical tradition, including care of the Earth.
• Encompassing, long-term, sustainable care, so that something doesn't disappear and can thrive to its fullest.
• Making sure you take care of resources sustainably and ethically.

In contrast, Vanguard's definition of stewardship is very narrow. Its continued investment in industries that are already destabilizing our climate--and therefore threatening our whole economy--show a real lack of long-term thinking. Its narrow focus only on the value of its shareholders' investments will ultimately hurt, not only the portfolios of those investors, but the web of life on which all of us depend.

A hybrid seminar co-organised by Undisciplined Environments will bring together scholars and activists to discuss alternatives to dominant energy "transition" plans.

The post Seminar: “Energy Transitions from Below: From Climate Colonialism to Energy Sovereignty”, 15 June first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

By Gemma Gasseau.
The book “Public Water and Covid-19: Dark Clouds and Silver Linings”, discusses how the Covid19 outbreak has underlined once again the importance of water and other basic services for human life, and re-opened the debate on the role of the state in managing such services.

The post Public Water Services in times of emergency: the case of the Covid19 outbreak first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

EXALT hosts a one-day webinar conference “Green Extractivism & Violent Conflict” on June 17, 2022. This conference organized by EXALT (The Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative) will explore the multifaceted connections between ‘green extractivism’ and violent conflicts. The speakers will offer fresh empirical and theoretical insights into the ways ‘decarbonization’, ‘green growth’ and climate change mitigation policies shape and are shaped by dynamics of conflict and violence. Starting at 8.45am CEST, it features three plenaries and 16 papers across 4 panels. The full program is […]

The post EXALT Webinar Conference “Green Extractivism & Violent Conflict” on June 17 first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

By Lucia Alexandra Popartan and Camil Ungureanu.
As part of the current global trend towards the “museification” of water and processes of re-municipalization, the politics of memory of hydraulic infrastructures and water resources has become a key battleground between corporations and transformative socio-political movements. These struggles in cities such as Barcelona show the relevance of complementing the spatial turn in political ecology and urban geography with a temporal turn.

The post Conflicts over the memorialization of water in Barcelona: A temporal turn in political ecology first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

Over the course of the five days and forty miles of the Vanguard's Big Climate Problem walk, we were joined by 300 people. In the month since, we've all been integrating what we learned on the walk and using our time together to energize us for the next chapter of the Vanguard S.O.S. campaign. We're happy to share the reflections of two of our walk participants, Marcelle and JJ, below.

The Vanguard’s Big Climate Problem Walk may be over, but getting Vanguard to solve its climate problem will be a marathon, not a sprint. That’s why we’ve been strategizing next steps, even as we rest and recover from the five-day walk. We are excited to share two upcoming opportunities to engage–a party and an action!

The 2021-2022 lecture series “Environment/Sustainability, Science, Technology”, organized by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), will host a series of scholars working on a range of political ecology issues, from austerity, low-carbon transitions and climate engineering, to urban infrastructure and waste.  SPRING SEMESTER 2021-2022 PROGRAM Day/Time: Mondays, 18:00 – 20:00 (EEST) Webex: https://uoa.webex.com/meet/gvelegrakis Date / Lecturer / Title: 09.05.2022 / Dr. Rita Calvário, Maria Zambrano’s Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) / The political ecology of […]

The post Environmental Humanities 2021-2022 Lecture Series at NKUA first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

The Vanguard’s Big Climate Problem Walk ended on Earth Day with a crowd of 150 people singing, “We are young and old together,” as 16 risked arrest to challenge Vanguard’s inaction on climate change. Some wore life preservers to symbolize the fact that some people have more protection than others from the effects of rising seas. Others prayerfully read about places where people are especially vulnerable to climate chaos. They highlighted places where people are fighting back against companies that Vanguard invests in: Chevron in the Amazon Rainforest, Exxon and Formosa in Louisiana, Enbridge in Ojibwe territory, to name just a few.

By Irina Velicu.
There are more and more people who have lived in a catastrophe all their lives. The promise of a transition to a “green” world may seem like an escapist drug to them, but the hangover is unavoidable and what we are left with is nothing other than to set collective healing processes in motion.

The post Transition into a “Green” World? Necro-Industry, Climate Trauma, and Radical Healing first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

The Vanguard’s Big Climate Problem Walk began yesterday morning at the Covanta plant in Chester, where Chester residents spoke powerfully about the impact of Vanguard investments on their community. Speakers from Chester and from EQAT affirmed the connections between us and our campaigns and set off together with a song. It was a beautiful beginning with much more ahead. If you are able to make it to the final action in Malvern this Friday, we hope you will register here to get the details, including about the training Thursday night if you are considering risking arrest.

By Haley Parzonko Cairo  is an example of the trend of megacities with rapid growth in size and environmental inequality, marked by a dual reality between informal areas with high congestion and pollution levels and lack of green space, and exclusive new high-end desert cities with ample spacing and private access to nature.  This trend is facilitated by state deregulation, privatization and commodification of urban space. Urbanization across the Global South is occurring rapidly. One urban trend in this process are megacities, defined not only […]

The post Environmental Inequalities in Cairo’s Urban Housing Sector first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

Perhaps like you, I’ve been reading about the recent IPCC climate change report. Some news stories have emphasized encouraging signs, like the decreasing cost of clean energy. Others stress how much suffering will occur if we don’t change more dramatically and quickly. “Stopping Climate Change is Doable, but Time is Short,” concluded one New York Times headline. My reaction to this news? Gratitude that I have a five-day walk to help organize.

By Austin Miles.
The movement to conserve half of the Earth’s land and waters is gaining momentum. What kind of world would result if it succeeds?

The post Colonial Ecologies of the Half Earth first appeared on Undisciplined Environments.

Over the years, I encountered so many positive references to INVESTING in our communities, in our infrastructure, in our future, in research, in our children, etc. that I developed a vague, unreflective feeling of trust in the corporations that handle investments in our economy.  Then EQAT organized a "points of destruction" tour of some of the local investments of one of the biggest investors of all -- the Vanguard Group, which has invested some $8 trillion on behalf of the owners of its mutual funds.

By David Amado-Blanco González Residents of the Cañada Real settlement are deprived of access to electricity and basic services because of their homes’ irregular status and the stigma against them. A tale of socio-ecological discrimination.  In January 2021, Madrid had its biggest snowstorm since the 1970s, with up to 50 centimeters of snow and sub-zero temperatures. The airport and roads were closed and moving around the city was impossible. I stayed home, turning the heating up. But for thousands of residents of the Cañada Real […]

By ephemera, ACME, Chto Delat, degrowth.info, Ecologia Politica Network, Journal of Peer Production, Radical Housing Journal, Undisciplined Environments, and Uneven Earth. In a forum for the 20th anniversary issue of the journal ephemera on “Pasts, presents and futures of critical publishing”, eight independent collectives discuss ways in which they challenge the status quo of knowledge creation within and beyond academia.

By Soledad Castillero Quesada. The voices of workers in the production of red fruits in the province of Huelva (Andalusia), make visible the social costs of the prioritization of agriculture as a global commercial product and workers as exploitable bodies.