Analyze

Since 1972, Eeyou Itschee, a territory east of James Bay, has been terraformed by the largest hydro-generation system on the planet, led by HydroQuébec and the Government of Québec. A territory 2/3rds the size of France has been diked, dammed, its rivers redirected, and criss-crossed by electrical transmission lines to the South and to the US. Due to the high levels of mercury released by the forests flooded for reservoirs the size of Belgium, health authorities recommend eating no more than two fish from the rivers each month. Fluctuating spring river levels led to the drowning of tens of thousands of Caribou. Learning only from newspapers, the resident Eenouch came together and negotiated the first land claims agreement in Canada, surrendering about 99% of their territory for promises of economic development. 50 years on, a settler-colonial geography, reinforced by a complex sociolegal framework, contain and constrain spatial relations in and of Eeyou Itschee through constant processes of renegotiation and reparation for land with money. Our research focused on a survey of the ways the science literature represents the region and its features. Our research ties with this territory are strongly linked to Nemaska, an Eenouch hamlet 2 days drive north of Montreal that was expropriated but managed to relocate and rebuild their community. Today, a lithium (spodumene) mine is being developed nearby. The community fears the impacts. However, the Nemaska band council approved the project due to the economic benefits it might bring. For more information: https://www.spaceandculture.com/2023/10/31/eeyou-istchee-old-nemaska/ 

Source

Shields, Rob, Cheryl Arnston, Nicholas Hardy and Juan David Guevara-Salamanca. 2023. "Eeyou Itschee and settler colonial terraforming." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

Since 1972, Eeyou Itschee, a territory east of James Bay, has been terraformed by the largest hydro-generation system on the planet, led by HydroQuébec and the Government of Québec. A territory 2/3rds the size of France has been diked, dammed, its rivers redirected, and criss-crossed by electrical transmission lines to the South and to the US. Due to the high levels of mercury released by the forests flooded for reservoirs the size of Belgium, health authorities recommend eating no more than two fish from the rivers each month. Fluctuating spring river levels led to the drowning of tens of thousands of Caribou. Learning only from newspapers, the resident Eenouch came together and negotiated the first land claims agreement in Canada, surrendering about 99% of their territory for promises of economic development. 50 years on, a settler-colonial geography, reinforced by a complex sociolegal framework, contain and constrain spatial relations in and of Eeyou Itschee through constant processes of renegotiation and reparation for land with money. Our research focused on a survey of the ways the science literature represents the region and its features. Our research ties with this territory are strongly linked to Nemaska, an Eenouch hamlet 2 days drive north of Montreal that was expropriated but managed to relocate and rebuild their community. Today, a lithium (spodumene) mine is being developed nearby. The community fears the impacts. However, the Nemaska band council approved the project due to the economic benefits it might bring. For more information: https://www.spaceandculture.com/2023/10/31/eeyou-istchee-old-nemaska/ 

Shields, Rob, Cheryl Arnston, Nicholas Hardy and Juan David Guevara-Salamanca. 2023. "Eeyou Itschee and settler colonial terraforming." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

Covid-19 and class inequalities :

As India Battles Covid, Class Divide is Growing https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/columnists/070520/sanjay-kumar-as-india-battles-covid-class-divide-is-growing.html

 A Pandemic in an Unequal India https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-pandemic-in-an-unequal-india/article31221919.ece

 India cannot Fight Coronavirus without Taking into Account its Class and Caste Divisions https://scroll.in/article/956980/india-cannot-fight-coronavirus-without-taking-into-account-its-class-and-caste-divisions

The Lockdown Revealed the Extent of Poverty and Misery Faced by Migrant Workers https://thewire.in/labour/covid-19-poverty-migrant-workers

India's Response to COVID-19 Is a Humanitarian Disaster http://bostonreview.net/global-justice/debraj-ray-s-subramanian-indias-r...

Documentation of Disaster Relief Work :

PM-CARES Fund 'Not a Public Authority', Doesn't Fall Under RTI Act: PMO https://thewire.in/government/pm-cares-fund-not-a-public-authority-rti-act-pmo

 Community volunteers:  

https://www.facebook.com/thejucommune/

According to its mission statement, "The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.​"

Approximately 90 percent of the American Red Cross membership is volunteer, drawing people from all ages, ethnicity, and background. These volunteers respond to nearly 70,000 disasters every year, mostly home and apartment fires. They also put on training programs and blood drives.

The Red Cross is a large national organization with fixed sets of stockpiled resources which they adapt and apply to each disaster response they face. They set up shelters, distribute emergency supply kits and provide food and medical service in the aftermath of disasters. 

This organization does not claim to have new or novel way of responding to disasters, however their uniqueness lies in the sheer number of disasters of all sizes they respond to. This is best characterized by the information found on their page titled "Disaster Relief," which states the following:

"We respond to an emergency every 8 minutes

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 with the experiances of the Civil War still fresh on people's minds. After touring Europe and seeing the swiss Red Cross in action, Civil War nurse Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross to provide disaster relief and first aid both on the homefront and the front line. Early on, the Red Cross served to educate the public about topics such as first aid and water safety, while starting nursing programs and providing assistance to the military and military families. As new needs, such as blood donation, made themselves apparent, the Red Cross met these needs, starting donation programs and doing labratory research on the blood dontation technology and techniques starting in the 1960's.

Funding for the American Red Cross comes primarily from individual and corporate donations. They are funded by the people to serve the people.

The Red Cross opened a Red Cross R&D in 1961 to further existing research on blood component technology, blood safety, plasma-derived therapeutics, transfusion medicine, and biomedical science. Red Cross R&D has made accievements in the following areas, listed on their website:

• Developed a technique to freeze red blood cells, preserving their viability for up to 3 years, helping to ensure a steady supply of red cells for patients needing rare blood types. (1971)
• Contributed to the development of bar-coding for blood products. (1977)
• Developed procedures for large-scale purification of therapeutic blood proteins like gamma globulin and factor VIII. (1978)
• Collaborated with scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to define the window period—the length of time between infection with the virus and the earliest stage in infection that can be detected by a test—for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) following implementation of universal HIV testing of donor blood. (1994)
• Investigated the prevalence of blood-transmitted diseases like human T-lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1) and Chagas disease, providing key data that led to implementation of testing for these diseases. (HTLV-1 in 1987, Chagas disease in 2008)
• Continue to facilitate improvements in bacterial testing of blood products.
• Investigated the role of antibodies in female-source plasma in causing transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), leading to reduction in the incidence of TRALI by providing male-predominant plasma for transfusion. (2009)
• Modified height and weight restrictions for donors younger than 19, which has significantly reduced adverse reactions among young donors. (2009)