Environmental history and the political ecology of extractivism in La Guajira, Colombia

这项研究探索了哥伦比亚北部拉瓜希拉省因20世纪70年代安装的露天煤矿而引发的社会生态冲突。这一地区，包括委内瑞拉的一部分，一直是瓦尤人的历史土地，瓦尤人是哥伦比亚人口最多的土著群体。非洲裔人逃离奴隶制和有组织的定居点后在那里定居。在开矿之前，这些农村社区已经在贸易方面建立了牢固的联系，并使他们能够获得水等服务；他们曾经拥有生存的经济(Chomsky，2016)。拉瓜希拉的自然环境是从沙漠到干燥的热带雨林的一系列生态系统，“构成了地方病的重要区域”(UlloaDelgado，2016)。第10页)。该地区历史上也缺乏政府的关注，是哥伦比亚最贫穷的地区之一，婴儿死亡率很高。44.9%的人口是土著居民，14%的非洲人后裔面临污染、缺水和因流离失所和/或搬迁到城市住区而失去生计(Munera Montes等人，2014)。在这种情况下，通过探索La Guajira的“环境历史”(Armiero和Sedrez，2014)，我将分析该矿建立前后社会生态关系的变化，以及“全球城市化”的概念(Brenner和Schmid.目的：(I)重建/构建拉瓜希拉的社会生态关系的环境历史，以便建立环境变化的叙述，并提供采矿对该地区的人和生态系统的影响的证据。(Ii)使用‘政治生态学’作为关键镜头，分析全球城市化背景下采掘业产生的社会生态关系和图表变化。(Iii)发展一种跨学科的方法，制定一种叙述联系和关系的环境历史。利用参与性行动研究，共同绘制社区地图，口述历史，以及记录和代表社会生态变化的对象和实践的档案，以促进大众教育材料的制作。研究可以通过发展一种跨学科的方法，侧重于生活在采矿活跃地区的人们的经验和‘情境知识’，潜在地对关于采矿的社会生态影响的知识做出重大贡献(Haraway，1998

This research explores the socioecological conflict in La Guajira, a province in the north of Colombia, arising from an opencastcoalmine installed in the 1970s. This area, including part of Venezuela, has been the historical land of the Wayuu people,an indigenous group with the highest population in Colombia. Afro-descendants established there after they run away fromslavery and organised settlements. Before the mine, these rural communities have established strong links in trading, and theaccess to services such as water; they used to have a survival economy (Chomsky, 2016). The natural environment in LaGuajira is a range of ecosystems from desert to dry tropical forest and 'constitutes an important area for endemism' (UlloaDelgado,2016. P. 10). This region has also lacked government attention historically and is one of the poorest in Colombiawith a high infant mortality. 44.9% of the population there are Indigenous and 14% Afro-descendants facing pollution, waterscarcity, and the loss of livelihoods due to their displacement and/or relocation to urban settlements (Munera Montes, et al,2014).In this context, by exploring the 'environmental history' (Armiero and Sedrez, 2014) of La Guajira, I will analyse changingsocioecological relations before and after the establishment of the mine, and how the concept of 'planetary urbanisation'(Brenner and Schmid, 2012) allows us to make connections so that relations from such remote areas become understood andanalysed as an integral part of the worldwide urban fabric.Aims:(i) Re/construct an environmental history of the socioecological relations in La Guajira in order to build a narrative ofenvironmental change and provide evidence of the impact of mining on both people and the ecosystem in the region.(ii) Use 'political ecology' as a critical lens to analyse the socioecological relations and chart transformations produced byextractive industries in the context of planetary urbanisation.(iii) Develop a transdisciplinary methodology that enacts a narrative environmental history of connections and relations.Use participatory action research to co-produce community mapping, oral history, and an archive of objects and practicesrecording and representing socioecological transformations to facilitate the production of material for popular education.The research can potentially make a significant contribution to knowledge around the socioecological impacts of mining bydeveloping an interdisciplinary methodology which focuses on the experiences and 'situated knowledge' (Haraway, 1998) ofthe people living in areas with active mines