! ANTHROPOLOGY ! OF THE ! ENVIRONMENT ! IN

LATIN AMERICA

! INSTRUCTOR Prof. Fisher ! CRN ANTH 6702 ! TIME R 7:00pm-9:00pm LOCATION HAH 202 ! OFFICE HOURS MW 11:00AM - 12:00PM ! CONTACT fi[email protected] ! 2114 G St NW, Room 201 ! ! ! ! COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is an exploration of the interdisciplinary field of political ecology within the anthropology of Latin America. In the spirit of political ecology, we will tackle issues such as environmental conservation, development, struggles over landscape and livelihood, and environmental change. However, in the spirit of anthropology, we will also seek to understand how conceptions of nature, or more accurately the material world, are materially and discursively bound up with notions of culture, identity, economy, politics, and cosmology. The course is certainly not a comprehensive survey of the literature. Rather, it is a critical exploration of theories and themes that drive at the relationship between society and environment. In the first half of the course, we will build a conceptual foundation of political ecology, drawing on key theoretical texts as well as case studies. In the second half of the course, we will examine the critiques of political ecology that are currently coming from fields such as postcolonial studies (or the “decoloniality” project), the World Anthropologies Network (WAN), feminist theory, as well as what has been termed the “ontological turn” in anthropological theory. Our end goal is to move from a simplistic nature/culture dichotomy, often laden with presumptions of homeostasis, to a more complex, inclusive, and dynamic account of the unpredictable interplay between the self-generating material world and the constructed world of knowledge, belief, practice, and culture.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES After taking this course, the student should be able to: 1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subfield of political ecology, its theory, its methodologies, and its epistemologies 2. Critically analyze case studies using the framework of political ecology. 3. Describe the limitations of political ecology, drawing on the critiques of Latin American scholars. 4. Articulate a conceptual position regarding the role of political ecology within anthropological thought, such as ! what has been termed “a political ecology of difference.” ! REQUIRED TEXTS Paul Robbins, Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004) David Carruthers, Environmental Justice in Latin America: Problems, Promise, and Practice (MIT Press, 2008) Javier Auyero and Débora Alejandra Swistun, Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown (Oxford University Press, 2009) Philippe Descola, The Ecology of Others: Anthropology and the Question of Nature (Prickly Paradigm Press, 2013) Bruno Latour, How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2009) Mario Blaser, Storytelling Globalization from the Chaco and Beyond (Duke University Press, 2010) Eduardo Kohn, How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human (University of California Press, 2013) Arturo Escobar, Territories of Difference: Place, movements, life, redes (Duke University Press, 2008) !All other readings (indicated on the syllabus as Bb) will be accessible through Blackboard. GRADING CRITERIA Minimum Classroom Requirements ……………………….…….. 20 % Discussion Leadership ……………………………………………… 15 % Short Response Paper(s).…………………………………………… 15 % Final Presentation …………………………………………………… 10 % Final Research Paper ………………………………………………… 40 %

Minimum Classroom Requirements (20% of total). This category is the easiest in which to earn full credit because it represents the minimum requirements of any college-level course. At a minimum, the following is expected of you: • Physical presence (attendance, part one). In other words, be in class when it begins; bring your cerebellum with you; and stay awake. • Mental presence (attendance, part two). Bring your neocortex, too. Do the reading before class, pay attention, and answer my questions or those of your classmates when they are posed. Don’t be distracted by your computer or phone, and don’t distract your classmates. You will lose points for all mental or physical absence, lack of participation, or unpreparedness in which you are not excused by your professor. Please notify me within the first week or two if you will be absent on a certain day for religious observance. Lastly, I am willing to grant that one may be mentally present without being physically present, such as in a Zoroastral projection, but I will need a note. Discussion Leadership (15% of total). You will be responsible for leading discussion (along with your professor) on two separate weeks. That means you should prepare and distribute discussion questions in advance of the class and be prepared to direct the classroom discussion. Your professor is available to help you prepare to function in this leadership capacity. Short Response Paper(s) (15% each). You will write two short response papers regarding in-class readings. These papers should summarize and critique pieces of particular interest to you (and hopefully of interest for your final paper). Final Presentation (10% of total). You will give a 20 minute presentation at the end of the term regarding a research project (to be determined and approved by your professor) of specific interest to you. Final Research Paper (40% of total). Your final research paper (20-30 pages) will tackle a research question or literature review of specific interest to you (and approved by your professor). This task comes in several stages: (1) a written proposal, (2) a proposed bibliography of resources, (3) peer review edits, and (4) a final paper, which integrates this research/review into themes ! developed in class. ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION Classroom Etiquette: Respect for the classroom, Your Fellow Students, and Your Professor. The classroom should be treated as a sanctuary, and for the sake of your own education, the learning experiences of your fellow students, and the work of your professor. Class time should be valued as a time for better understanding readings or questions posed in class as well as for articulating difficult concepts, with the guidance of your professor, in your own terms. It is crucial that you respect that space and its purpose and that you engage your fellow classmates (and your professor) with respect at all times.

Laptop and Cell Phone Policy. Laptops and cell phones generally diminish the classroom experience not only for you (they are easy distractions) but also for your classmates and your professor. Please be mindful and disciplined about your computer usage. As for phones, if you waiting for an important call, by all means step out of the class room and take it. However, do not text in class. Don’t even try. I have the eye of Mordor and can see everything you are doing.

Electronic Communications. Email now constitutes the bulk of communication between the student and professor. Be mindful that your professor may receive an average of 200 emails per day—from students, other professors, colleagues, editors, etc.—many of which are important and some of which are inconsequential. Therefore, if you choose to write an email to your professor, please be mindful of some basic guidelines for electronic communication. • If possible, ask in person (class or office hours). Especially if your question is excessively conceptual in nature, such that it would need an essay in response. • Don’t write emails that pertain to information you already have on this syllabus or that I already announced in class. If you missed class, ask a classmate. Above all, don’t write to say that you are sorry for missing class and “Did I miss anything important?” Yes, you missed something incredibly important, a moment of sheer insight that can’t possibly be recreated. If you had a family emergency or had something dramatic happen to you, it’s probably best to save that for a one-on-one talk. • Don’t write to ask for your grades. According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), I can’t discuss those with your parents, your friends, or anyone but you in a private, one-on-one conversation. Email is not considered private. • Please observe professional etiquette: (1) a subject line, (2) a reminder of what class you are in, (3) a salutation like Dr. or Professor, and (4) a signoff. Jokes are appreciated but not required. I will do my best to respond within 24 hours during normal work hours, but sometimes it takes longer. Please feel free to write again or approach me in class. Final Grade Calculation. While I know grades are important to you, they are not a reflection of you as a person. They represent my assessment of your work in this class. Thus, an A is reserved for work that is markedly superior and excellent in quality. Bs are reserved for work that is above average standards. C is for satisfactory work. Ds and Fs are for unsatisfactory work that does not reflect the minimal learning outcomes of the class. I will calculate your final grade using the following system: A ………………… 92.5-100 % A - ………………. 90.0-92.49 % B + ……………… 87.5-89.99 % B ……………...… 82.5-87.49 % B - …………….… 80.0-82.49 % C + ……………… 77.5-79.99 % C ………………… 72.5-77.49 % C - …………….… 70.0-72.49 % D ………………… 60.0-69.99 % F ………………… 0-59.99 %

OTHER INFORMATION How to Read in College. There’s no getting around it. Reading is essential to understanding new material. You will have to do a lot of reading in this class. However, there are some tips of the trade that may be helpful for getting through all that new material. Prof. Tim Burke of Swarthmore College has some tips. I invite you to heed his advice!

Support for Students Outside the Classroom. • Disability Support Services (DSS). Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability should contact Disability Support Services at 202-994-8250 or go to Marvin Center, Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information, please refer to

• University Counseling Center (UCC). The University Counseling Center (UCC) offers 24/7 assistance and referral to address students’ personal, social, career, and study skills problems. Services include crisis and emergency mental health consultations as well as confidential assessment counseling (individual and small group), and referrals

COURSE AGENDA AND SCHEDULE UNIT I — STARTING POINTS: POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY

❖ WEEK ONE ❖ JAN 13-17 ❖ INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE R - INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE ❖ WEEK TWO ❖ JAN 20-24 ❖ POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN THEORY R - POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND ETHNOECOLOGY

• READING — Paul Robbins, Parts I and II in Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction • READING — William Cronon (1996) “Introduction: in search of nature” and “The trouble with wilderness; or, getting back to the wrong nature” in Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (Bb) • READING — Virginia Nazarea, “A View from a Point: Ethnoecology as Situated Knowledge,” pp. 34-39 in The Environment in Anthropology (Bb)

❖ WEEK THREE ❖ JAN 27-31 ❖ A POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE R - ENVIRONMENTALISM OF THE POOR

• READING — Paul Robbins, Parts III and IV in Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction

• READING — Joan Martinez-Alier (1991, “Ecology and the Poor: A Neglected Dimension of Latin American History” in Journal of Latin American Studies 23(3):621-639 • READING — Michael Watts and Richard Peet (2004) “Liberating political ecology,” pp. 3-44 in Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements (Second Edition) • READING — Susanna Hecht (2004) “Invisible forests: the political ecology of forest resurgence in El Salvador,” pp. 64-97 in Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements (Second Edition)

❖ WEEK FOUR ❖ FEB 3-7 ❖ A POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE R - GOVERNANCE, CAPITAL, CONFLICTS

• READING — James Scott (1998) “Nature and Space,” pp. 11-52 in Seeing Like a State

• READING — Mike Davis, “Slum Ecology” (pp. 121-150), “SAPing the Third World” (pp. 151-173), “A Surplus Humanity?” (pp. 174-198) in Planet of Slums • READING — Arturo Escobar (1999) “After Nature: Steps to an antiessentialist political ecology,” Current Anthropology 40(1) • READING — Timothy Luke, “On Environmentality: Geo-Power and Eco-Knowledge in the Discourses of Contemporary Environmentalism,” pp. 243-245 in The Environment in Anthropology • READING — Anthony Bebbington (2004) “Movements, Modernization, and Markets: Indigenous Organizations and Agrarian Strategies in Ecuador,” pp. 86-109 in Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements (Second Edition)

❖ WEEK FIVE ❖ FEB 10-14 ❖ A POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE R - FRAMING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• READING — David Carruthers, “Introduction: Popular Environmentalism and Social Justice in Latin America,” pp. 1-18 in Environmental Justice in Latin America • READING — Juanita Sundberg, “Tracing Race; Mapping Environmental Formations in Environmental Justice Research in Latin America” pp. 25-49 in Environmental Justice in Latin America • READING — Henri Ascelrad, “Grassroots Reframing of Environmental Struggles in Brazil,” pp. 75-100 in Environmental Justice in Latin America • READING — Carlos Reboratti, “Environmental Conflicts and Environmental Justice in Argentina,” pp. 101-119 in Environmental Justice in Latin America • READING — David Carruthers, “Where Local Meets Global: Environmental Justice on the US-Mexico Border,” pp. 137-160 in Environmental Justice in Latin America UNIT II — TOWARD A GLOBAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY

❖ WEEK SIX ❖ FEB 17-21 ❖ PUTTING WASTE IN FOCUS R - ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND WASTE POLITICS

• READING — Sarah Moore, “Waste Practices and Politics: The Case of Oaxaca, Mexico,” pp. 119-136 in Environmental Justice in Latin America • READING — Sarah Moore, “Global Garbage: Waste, Trash Trading, and Local Garbage Politics,” pp. 133-144 in Global Political Ecology (Bb)

• READING — César Rodriguez-Garavito, “Solidarity Economy and the Struggle for Social Citizenship in Times of Globalization: A Study of the Cooperatives of Information Garbage Pickers in Colombia,” pp. 43-69 in Another Production is Possible (Bb) • READING — María José Zapata Campos and Patrik Zapata, “Switching Managua on! Connecting informal settlements to the formal city through household waste collection,” Environment and Urbanization 25:225-242 (Bb) • READING — María José Zapata Campos and Patrik Zapata, “Changing La Chureca: Organizing City Resilience Through Action Nets,” Journal of Change Management 12(3):323-337 (Bb)

• READING — Adam Nading, “Foundry Values: Arisanal Aluminum Recyclers, Economic Involution, and Skill in Periurban Managua, Nicaragua” (Bb)

❖ WEEK SEVEN ❖ FEB 24-28 ❖ CASE STUDY: FLAMMABLE R - ENVIRONMENTAL SUFFERING IN ARGENTINA

• READING — Javier Auyero, Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown UNIT III — TOWARD A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE

❖ WEEK EIGHT ❖ MAR 3-7 ❖ THE ONTOLOGICAL TURN R - PERSPECTIVISM AND COSMOLOGICAL DEIXIS

• READING — Philippe Descola, The Ecology of Others

• READING — Eduardo Vivieros de Castro, “Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4:69-88 • READING — Hopefully something by Kim Fortun (yet to be published!)

❖ SPRING BREAK ❖ NO CLASSES

❖ WEEK NINE ❖ MAR 17-21 ❖ THE ONTOLOGICAL TURN R - THE ONTOLOGICAL TURN IN POLITICAL ECOLOGY

• READING — Bruno Latour, Politics of Nature

• FOR YOUR REFERENCE — “Modes of Existence”

❖ WEEK TEN ❖ MAR 24-28 ❖ THE PLURIVERSE R - POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN THE PLURIVERSE

• READING — Mario Blaser, Storytelling Globalization from the Chaco and Beyond

❖ WEEK ELEVEN ❖ MAR 31- APR 4 ❖ POST- HUMANISM? R - BEYOND A HUMAN- CENTERED POLITICAL ECOLOGY

• READING — Eduardo Kohn, How Forests Think

❖ WEEK TWELVE ❖ APR 7 - 11 ❖ A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE R - TOWARD A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE

• READING — Arturo Escobar, Territories of Difference

• FOR YOUR REFERENCE — Manuel De Landa lectures on Deleuze

❖ WEEK THIRTEEN ❖ APR 14- 18 ❖ A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE R - TOWARD A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE

• READING — Arturo Escobar, finish Territories of Difference

• IN- CLASS — Begin in-class presentations

❖ WEEK FOURTEEN ❖ APR 21- 25 ❖ IN- CLASS PRESENTATIONS

• IN- CLASS — Finish in-class presentations ! ! ! ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR YOUR REFERENCE RECOMMENDED READINGS ON CULTURAL ECOLOGY

• RECOMMENDED —Ecological Anthropology

• RECOMMENDED — Sutton and Anderson (2010) “Cultural Ecology,” pp. 91-132 in Introduction to Cultural Ecology

• RECOMMENDED — Julian Steward, “The Concept and Method of Cultural Ecology,” pp. 5-10 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Robert Netting, “Smallholders, Householders,” pp. 10-15 in The Environment in Anthropology

• RECOMMENDED — Emilio Moran, “Ecosystem Ecology in Biology and Anthropology,” pp. 15-26 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Conrad Kottak, “The New Ecological Anthropology,” pp. 40-52 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Sutton and Anderson (2010) “Case Study: The Maya Agricultural System,” pp. 294-314 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Larry Grossman, “Man-Environment Relationships in Anthropology and Geography,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers (Bb) RECOMMENDED READINGS ON POLITICAL ECOLOGY

• RECOMMENDED — “Political Ecology Working Group,”

• RECOMMENDED — R.P. Neumann (2009) “Political Ecology,” in International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, eds. K. Rob and T. Nigel • RECOMMENDED — L. Jarosz (2001) “Feminist political ecology,” in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, eds. J.S. Neil and B.B. Paul • RECOMMENDED — A.P Vayda and B. Walters (1999) “Against political ecology,” Human Ecology 27(1):167-179 • RECOMMENDED — P. Blaikie (2008) “Towards a future of political ecology that works,” Geoforum 39(2):765-772 • RECOMMENDED — D.E. Rocheleau (2008) “Political ecology in the key of policy: From chains of explanation to webs of relation,” Geoforum 39(2):716;727 RECOMMENDED READINGS ON POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT

• RECOMMENDED — Karl Zimmerer (2004) “Environmental discourses on soil degradation in Bolivia: sustainability and the search for socioenvironmental ‘middle ground’” pp. 107-120 in Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements (Second Edition) • RECOMMENDED — Wainwright and Mercer, “Transnational transgenes: the political ecology of maize in Mexico,” pp. 412-430 in Global Political Ecology • RECOMMENDED — H.J. Geist and E.F. Lambin (2002) “Proximate causes and underlying driving forces of tropical deforestation,” Bioscience 52(2):143-150 • RECOMMENDED — Susanna Hecht (1985) “Environment, Development and Politics: Capital Accumulation and the Livestock Sector in Eastern Amazonia,” World Development 13(6):663-684 • RECOMMENDED — D. Klooster (2006) “Environmental certification of forests in Mexico: the political ecology of a nongovernmental market intervention,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 96(3):541-565 • RECOMMENDED — H. Eakin (2005) “Institutional change, climate risk, and rural vulnerability: Cases from Central Mexico,” World Development 33(11):1923-1938 • RECOMMENDED — Michael Goodman (2004) “Reading fair trade: Political ecological imaginary and the moral economy of fair trade goods,” Political Geography 23(7):891-915 RECOMMENDED READINGS ON NATURE, CAPITAL, AND THE STATE

• RECOMMENDED — Karl Marx 1967 [1867], Part VIII (“The so-called primitive accumulation”) in Capital, Vol. 1

• RECOMMENDED — Karl Polanyi (1944), The Great Transformation

• RECOMMENDED — John Bellamy Foster (2000) Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature

• RECOMMENDED — Elmar Altvater (1990), “The foundations of life (nature) and the maintenance of life (work): the relations between ecology and economics in crisis,” International Journal of Political Economy 20:10-34 • RECOMMENDED — Ted Benton (1996), “Marxism and natural limits: an ecological critique and reconstruction,” pp. 157-183 in The Greening of Marxism, ed. T. Bendon • RECOMMENDED — James O’Connor (1996), “The second contradiction of capital,” pp. 197-221 in The Greening of Marxism, ed. T. Bendon • RECOMMENDED — David Harvey (2003), Chapter 4 (“Accumulation by dispossession”) in The New Imperialism

• RECOMMENDED — E. Young (2001) “State intervention and abuse of the commons: Fisheries development in Baja California Sur, Mexico,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91(2):283:306 • RECOMMENDED — Scott Prudman (2005) Knock on Wood: Nature as Commodity in Douglas-Fir Country

• RECOMMENDED — A.G. Bumpus and D.M. Liverman (2008) “Accumulation by decarbonization and the governance of carbon offsets,” Economic Geography 84(2):127-155 • RECOMMENDED — Karl Zimmerer and Thomas Bassett (2003), Chapters 6 and 8 in Political Ecology: An Integrative Approach to Geography and Environment-Development Studies RECOMMENDED READINGS ON NEOLIBERALIZING NATURE

• RECOMMENDED — David Harvey (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism

• RECOMMENDED — David Sonnenfeld and Arthur Mol (2002) “Globalization and the transformation of environmental governance,” American Behavioral Scientist 45(9):1318-1339 • RECOMMENDED — Diana Liverman (2004) “Who governs, at what scale and at what price? Geography, environmental governance and the commodification of nature,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 94(4):734-738 • RECOMMENDED — James McCarthy and Scott Prudham (2004) “Neoliberal nature and the nature of neoliberalism” Geoforum 25:275-283 • RECOMMENDED — James McCarthy (2004) “Privatizing conditions of production: Trade agreements as neoliberal environmental governance” Geoforum 35:327-341 • RECOMMENDED — Becky Mansfield (2004) “Neoliberalism in the oceans: ‘Rationalization,’ property rights, and the commons question,” Geoforum 35:313-326 • RECOMMENDED — Noel Castree (2006) “Commentary: From neoliberalism to neoliberalisation: Consolations, confusions, and necessary illusions,” Environment and Planning A 38:1-6 • RECOMMENDED — Susan Stonich and Billie DeWalt, “The Political Ecology of Deforestation in Honduras,” pp. 284-301 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Thomas Perreault (2005), “State restructuring ad the scale politics of rural water in Bolivia,” Environment and Planning A 37:263-284 • RECOMMENDED — Susan Paulson, Liza Gezon, and Michael Watts (2003) “Locating the political in political ecology: an introduction,” Human Organization 62(3):205-217 • RECOMMENDED — James McCarthy (2005) “Scale, sovereignty, and strategy in environmental governance,” Antipode 37(4):731-753 • RECOMMENDED — Karen Bakker (2002) “From state to market? Water mercantilización in Spain,” Environment and Planning A 34:767-790 RECOMMENDED READINGS ON NATURE AND INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS

• RECOMMENDED — Kay Milton, “Cultural Theory and Environmentalism,” pp. 351-355 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Suzana Sawyer, “Indigenous Initiatives and Petroleum Politics in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” pp. 361–366 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — J. Peter Brosius, “Endangered Forest, Endangered People: Environmentalist Representations of Indigenous Knowledge,” pp. 367-385 in The Environment in Anthropology • RECOMMENDED — Thomas Perreault (2005) “Why chacras (swidden gardens) persist: Agrobiodiversity, food security, and cultural identity in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” Human Organization 64(4):327-339 • RECOMMENDED — Nora Haenn, “The Power of Environmental Knowledge: Ethnoecology and Environmental Conflicts in Mexican Conservation,” pp. 226-236 in The Environment in Anthropology