"Energy Justice from Below," with Azucena Castro

In our final New Energy talk of the spring 2023 term, Azucena Castro, Swedish Research Council Postdoctoral Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University; Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University, gave a talk, "Energy Justice from Below: The Role of Artivisms from the Sacrifice Zones for a Situated Political Ecology of the Energy Transition. Insights from La Guajira, Colombia and the Argentinian Patagonia."
About the Talk: The national projects to transition to clean energy forms in Latin America are not devoid of conflicts. In many cases, these projects entail new forms of colonialism and extractivism that intersect with traditional ones as coal mining. These conflicts are connected with the formation of energy imaginaries around territories that are perceived as sacrifice zones to generate energy for the nation and international markets. In this talk, Azucena Castro will address how those imaginaries are formed and sustained by hegemonic discourses but also challenged by local forms of art and activism (artivisms) that demand energy justice in the context of the energy transition. While wind and water energy have been portrayed as the solution to the climate crisis, there are many conflicts arising in regard to Eolic parks and hydroelectric dams all over Latin America. Castro will draw insights from two case studies on renewable energy forms in Latin America: La Guajira in Colombia, designated as "the epicenter of Colombia's energy transition" for Eolic Energy, and the Argentinian Patagonia, viewed as "Patagonia-energy" for the installation hydroelectric plants. By discussing the engagement of local activist art with energy from a political ecological perspective, she will show how local needs and cosmologies are highlighted as crucial to attain an energy justice from below, i.e., a just and sustainable energy transition that considers biocultural diversity, technological sovereignty, and expanding views on energy beyond electricity.
About the Speaker: Azucena Castro is Swedish Research Council Postdoctoral Researcher at Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University. Her research revolves around environmental and energy humanities with focus on Latin American and Caribbean cultural studies.