COVID 19 PLACES: ECUADOR
This essay supports an upcoming discussion of how COVID-19 is unfolding in Ecuador and a broader discussion within the Transnational STS COVID-19 project.
This essay supports an upcoming discussion of how COVID-19 is unfolding in Ecuador and a broader discussion within the Transnational STS COVID-19 project.
Image created with the use of a free image by Crystal Mirallegro (Unsplash website) for Ecuador's covid19 place essay
A research Center at the University of Cuenca with the collaboration of FLACSO-Ecuador
I am interested in seeing how social ties and networks have been used to cope with (un)natural disasters. My research focus on places under disasters conditions such as Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, in which social ties have made the difference between life and death. Furthermore, “natural” disaster has been used to approved austerity measures and unjust policies to impoverished communities like in New Orleans after Katrina. These policies were not new, as they are rooted in structures of power to preserve the status quo. Yet, people have resisted, “through a network of branches, cultures, and geographies” that has stimulated a reflective process of looking within for solutions rather than outside. As often this outside solutions are not only detached from community’s reality but can perpetuate social injustices and inequalities.
McKittrick, K., & Woods, C. A. (Eds.). (2007). Black geographies and the politics of place. South End Press.
Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2009). Race, place, and environmental justice after Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to reclaim, rebuild, and revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Westview Press.
Welcome to the urban climate adaptation seminar! We are looking forward to engaging with you on Disaster-STS and during the July 31st discussion.
This audio was sent by Manuel Maiche, community leader of Kuamar, part of the Shuar territory in Ecuador.