“Resource Extraction and ‘Development’: According to Whom?”
Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 3pm
Research Unit (Room 121) of the Liu Institute
The working group on Latin American and the Global” invites you to a discussion on “Resource Extraction and ‘Development’: According to whom?”, led by Andrea and Sonia from Stop the Institute.
They’ll be presenting on Stop the Institute’s recent activities and inviting critical dialogue around the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) and its problematic presence on campus, and more broadly discussing neo-colonial involvement abroad, questioning dominant development models and the perspective that resource extraction is the best (or only) route to “development.” They invite you to enter an “unpacking” and “decolonial” frame of mind, reflecting on whether or not Canada has any right to a leading role in global development, and on how the proliferation of extraction industry-based initiatives in academia pose threats to communities, the natural environment, and students.
In preparation for the discussion you should check out the Stop the Institute webpage. Also check CIRDI’s webpage and look specifically at its list of strategic partners.
Andrea and Sonia have recommended some other reading and viewing materials (listed below) that you can check out in preparation for the meeting. We’ve also included their bios below.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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Recommended reading and viewing materials:
- “Brief: The Canadian International Institute for Extractive Industries and Development”, by Mining Watch Canada [short]
- Peru: A Chronicle of Deception”, by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) [long]
- The Real Avatar. Documentary by David Suzuki.
- La Espera: Historia del Baguazo. Documentary by Fernando Vilchez.
- Andreotti, Vanessa, Carl Ahenakew, and Garrick Cooper. “Epistemological pluralism: Ethical and pedagogical challenges in higher education”. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 7.1 (2011): 40-50.
Facilitator bios:
Sonia is a Vancouver-based artivist with deep ties to Latin America who is deeply committed to creative critical education and development projects led by Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and Latin@s around issues of ecological and social justice. As a UBC MA grad student she completed research on a highly controversial anti-racism campaign in Peru and investigated how Afro-descendant activist youth enacted socio-political transformation, forcing state acknowledgement of re-articulations of development towards a radical participatory democracy. Currently, Sonia is involved with collaborative artistic and research work with organizations in Peru, Chile, the US and Canada.
Andrea earned her BSc in Forestry Engineering at Peru’s National Agrarian University La Molina in Peru, and she worked in relation to the socio-environmental aspects of Forestry in Peru and Brazil. As a UBC graduate student, Andrea is investigating in collaboration with Ashéninka and Yine-Yami Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon their system of self-governance. This investigation was co-created from the perspectives of the communities themselves using emancipatory methodologies and theories.