Politics permeates every aspect of our public and increasingly, of our private lives too! Neither science nor academic work are an exception. During this seminar, PhD Maria Paula Escobar stands as a Colombian academic trained in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, funded by UK institutions yet working in Colombia and other locations in South America, studying problems where she takes a political view. In doing so, she is aware of all the Colonialisms at play. She introduces de notion of political ecology and in an attempt to be consequent with her de-colonial approach, she draws from Colombian and Latin American authors, particularly Arturo Escobar, Patricia Vargas and Eduardo Restrepo, whose work focuses on the Pacific region and her own work in the Andean and Amazonian regions to identify common national features in Colombia’s approach to environmental problems as well as features that are particular to the Pacific region, where music plays a prominent role.

These national features are not unique to Colombia: a technocratic understanding of the problems, a limited understanding of “the social” in environmental policies and a complex display of neoliberalism’s material and discursive traits. What is specific to Colombia is its particular use of the notion of the territorial, in fact enshrined as a pivotal premise in the Peace Agreement of 2016. After a review of the multiple ways in which the armed conflict interacts with the environment, she ends with an amateurish exploration of how the notion of the territory is articulated and mobilized by social movements in the Pacific region and how, in contrast to other regions, they enroll music as part of that mobilization.

After the conference, please join us for drinks and Latin American music as part of the event!

Tuesday 31st of May 2022

7:00 PM

Latin American House 10 Kingsgate Place, London NW6 4TA, United Kingdom

FREE

*Please note that this event will the place in the second floor and that the only access is through stairs. We apologize for not counting with disabled access at the moment.

ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKER

With a multi-disciplinary background that includes Political Science and History in her native Colombia, an MA in Environment, Politics and Globalisation and PhD in Human Geography from King’s College London in the UK, María Paula’s work as a cultural and environmental geographer explores the often challenging and always complex intersection of rural livelihoods and environmental problems. Her research topics include conservation, reforestation, sustainability, antimicrobial resistance, livestock farming and water, and span across multiple locations including Colombia, Argentina and the UK. Her academic work is in conversation with regulation studies, more-than-human geographies, political ecology and the politics of matter. María Paula has a strong record of leading interdisciplinary teams and an expertise in communicating with a variety of audiences including grassroot communities, academics and policymakers. Her approach to research is committed, situated, critical and unorthodox: based at Bristol’s Veterinary School, she questions how social sciences are (mis)understood in academic and public policy environments and interrogates the practice of interdisciplinarity. From the beginning of her academic career, she has explored the limits of textual narratives and pursued an interest in visual alternatives that include photography, animation and video. Her recent projects can be found here:

https://research.reading.ac.uk/biosmartamazonia/

https://porelparamo.org/en/home/

https://paraguas.ceh.ac.uk

ABOUT CIMARRON FESTIVAL

Cimarron Festival created in London in 2008, is a multidisciplinary Afro-Latin event that celebrates the African cultural legacy in Latin America, aiming to bring to bring together the diverse Latin diasporas in the UK and beyond.

ABOUT LATIN AMERICAN HOUSE

Latin American House was born in 1983 as the Latin America Association. Since then, it has served as a community centre for both Latin Americans in London and for the local people of Kilburn. Nowadays, though our ties to our local community remain strong, we aim to be a source of support and information for the Latin American population throughout the UK.

We are a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, and we house one of the oldest Spanish-speaking nurseries in London. We offer legal and social advice in relation to benefits, housing, and employment law, as well as opportunities to acquire life-long skills and a place to meet people, share ideas and enjoy the rich culture of Latin America.