Emergent Ecologies
Emergent Ecologies:
Living with Environmental Change in Brazil
How do environmental changes affect those living in rural and urban communities in Brazil? How do people living on the low-income outskirts of cities or in traditional communities experience the impacts of climate change in their everyday lives? How are gentrification and land speculation changing vulnerable communities long-standing access to natural resources? How are large infrastructure projects— hydropower plants, mines, and ports– altering landscapes and compounding environmental change? How do issues of race and gender shape environmental justice? What solutions have local communities found to mitigate and resist environmental changes?
"Emergent Ecologies," an initiative of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, adopts ethnography as both a research methodology and a form of engagement that allows us to address issues related to environmental problems in collaboration with communities whose ways of life are undergoing significant transformation. Researchers from various fields of knowledge have shown that climate change has an unequal impact on different social groups. We understand that traditional communities and residents of low-income urban neighborhoods establish particular relationships with the environment, including with animals, water, forest and air. Consequently, these communities have a deep understanding of the patterns, flows, and disruptions that occur in the environments in which they live. On the one hand, these communities are more severely affected by climate change. On the other hand, they are well placed to play a critical and creative role in shaping emerging ecologies. Working equitably with them not only gives us a concrete understanding of the impacts of environmental change, but also elevates awareness of solutions devised by those most directly impacted by environmental change.
Emergent Ecologies Coordination
Erika Robb Larkins
Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University. Her current work focuses on environmental racism in low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, examining how people are impacted by extreme heat, water pollution, changes to oceans and tides, and ongoing land and real estate speculation.
Equipe do Mulheres na Pesca
Iacy Pissolato
Dr. Iacy Pissolato, who received her PhD in Anthropology from the Federal University of Bahia, has developed research on the interface between ecology, health and territoriality through the practices of caring for oneself, the other and the planet in the South Coast region of Bahia. She is currently a researcher at the OBSERVABAIA-UFBA Research Center in Salvador, where she conducts research on quilombola communities, and is a visiting researcher at the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University.
Erika Robb Larkins
Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University.
Equipe do Pescando Plásticos
Camila Pierobon
Research Fellow at Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies (SDSU). She holds a Doctorate in Social Sciences from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She is a member of the research team Casa e ResiduaLab. Her current research focuses on environmental and urban space studies.
Giovanna Monteiro
PhD candidate at the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ). She is a researcher in the CASA group and in BONDE. Her research interests include gender, militarization, infrastructure, and urban mobility.
Federico de Assis
Undergraduate student in Social Sciences at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and researcher at CORRE: Ethnographic Experiments in Urban Territories. Photographer. Interested in culture, religion, race, and the urban peripheries.
Site Designer
Jessica Romero
In addition to her role as the Assistant Director for Program Development & Partnerships, International Affairs at San Diego State University, Romero designs websites for the Center for Brazilian Studies, bringing to life the work of the Center as well as Brazilian researchers, artists and activists.
Support
We gratefully acknowledge Oceana Brasil for support of this project.