Critical Ecologies

Irish horticulture is heavily reliant on seasonal migrant workers, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. With PhD researcher Rebecca Vining, this podcast uses the case study of Romanian-Irish labour migration to identify how this exploitation has been built into the global agri-food system. By applying a "world-ecology" approach, it is possible to link land grabbing in...

Fast fashion illustrates the social and environmental disasters that lie in the wake of capitalism’s ever-increasing hunger for profits. Everything in the path to profit is devalued and made disposable: environment, place, and people. The experiences of secondhand clothes traders in Ghana and Kenya are the lived reality of this devaluation in practice, where they are sold, for profit, Global North...

Immerse yourself in the shadowy world of environmental injustice and the terrifying reality of "slow violence". Together with Master's student in Environmental Psychology, Elena Jordan, we explore how overlooked forms of harm, such as those caused by environmental change, gradually unfold over time and escape immediate notice. Elena sheds light on the Bhopal disaster and illustrates...

In a country viewed as full of greenery, folklore, and warm hospitality, join us in this podcast as we explore the overlooked experience of environmental racism faced by the Irish Traveller community. This podcast delves into how members of the Traveller community, a racialised group, experience dual challenges of climate change and societal discrimination and institutional barriers, affecting the...

Some of the currently most pressing global challenges center around climate change, biodiversity loss and habitat destruction. To address these, most nations have adopted strategies for nature conservation and management that are seemingly pro-environmental - "green". This podcast draws attention to the fact that these practices are a continuation of colonial thought and practice. Using...

This episode discusses the concept of slow violence and the differential impact it has on women and girls when we talk about the environment and climate change. MA student Jenifer Sánchez helps us think about and consider the concept of intersectional ecology to understand that slow environmental violence is not only crossed by the category of class, but by gender, race and even cultural and relig...

In this episode, MA student Rodrigo Silva delves into the history and contemporary dynamics of the Haliti-Paresi Indigenous group in Mato Grosso, Brazil, amidst continuous capitalist incursions into the region. The historical analysis observes the material exploitation and discursive practices being employed by colonial powers since the eighteenth century towards these peoples. It culminates with...

Urban centres are places of ‘parasitic’ consumption and are highly developed, whereas rural areas are left far behind. Although cities are not particularly involved in food production, they do provide higher food safety than rural areas. We talk about how these inequalities between rural and urban spaces are developed in the context of the Irish food regime through the lens of the metabolic rift a...

Kilraneghlan Hill looks over the rural village of Kiltegan in West Wicklow. The hill is home to a graveyard, flora and fauna, and many historical sites.  In 2021, residents were informed of plans for the hill to become a wind farm development site, with planning permission requested for 5 wind turbines to be installed on the hill. Using the concepts of NIMBYism and place attachment, MA student Luc...

Join us for an interesting and enlightening podcast delving into the connections between capitalism, environmental change and education. Our guest Stephen Coady, a postgraduate diploma student in geography pursuing a career in teaching, discusses the Anthropocene and Capitalocene. He highlights the implications of the two concepts for understanding climate and ecological crises. We explore the dee...

In the southernmost region of Mexico, indigenous people have been resisting dual colonial and capitalist oppression for at least 500 years, and they have also been selling coffee beans through a global market. Is this an attempt to tap into circuits of economic development or a trade-off between indigenous autonomy and profits? MA student Polina Volkova, argues that it is neither and explains that...

Ireland’s bogs are an interesting space to explore competing agendas of the Green Transition, sustainable development and environmental justice. In this podcast, PhD researcher Criostóir King discusses the various visions of development that have historically been associated with turf cutting, how this is changing within the context of the Green Transition, and what potential alternatives might be...

This podcast discusses the links between environmental injustice and climate injustice. Diploma student Sarah Morrissey, begins by introducing both the concepts and introduces the links between the two concepts, the major one being the shared roots which both concepts share mainly due to colonial projects which increased environmental impacts and produced a racial hierarchy. The podcast introduces...

In this podcast episode, we go into the heart of North Mara, Tanzania, where the Kuria community faces the harsh realities of extractivism. With gold being one of the sources of revenue in the country, powerful corporations and state authorities play significant roles in shaping the lives within the community. As extractivism threatens their lands and livelihoods, Elina Musa examines the innovativ...

In this podcast, Aoife Murphy discusses the issue of housing and some of the movements and campaigns that have developed within the past couple of years. Housing is such a large and topical issue at the moment, and many different people within Ireland are affected. In recent years the government has begun to introduce new policies and schemes to try and help make this process easier on everyone in...

In this podcast, Emilie Jessen discusses the concept of agro-ecology and how the movement emerged and have evolved as a wide concept today. Starting with a discussion on why agro-ecology emerged as a counter response to The Green Revolution in the 1960’s and the dominant agro-food system, we discuss why the movement met resistance in the beginning, and how agro-ecological farming is different from...

Historically in Ireland, bogs have been exploited for their resources by colonial powers, governments and semi-state bodies. This has resulted in extensive loss of peatlands in Ireland and this has had negative impacts on the communities and wildlife that rely on these spaces. In this podcast the concepts of spatial justice and multispecies justice are discussed in relation to the loss of peatland...

Why in Ireland is just 8% of agricultural land used for crops, while the rest is devoted to animal production? This podcast with Shane Hanly delves into some of the reasons why the Irish agricultural system has become specialised with animal production. Factors such as membership of the European Union and globalisation of agri-food systems are discussed. A number of spatial justice implications, b...

In this episode MSc Environmental Psychology student, Róisín Reddy, discusses spatial and environmental justice in the context of Ireland. We explore how these concepts intersect and how both contribute to the critical analysis of perceptions of space and the role they play in unequal distributional patterns. Using the example of County Leitrim, Róisín highlights some of the main challenges being...

In this podcast with Melanie Johnson, we go back to the 1300s to explore the origins of capitalism as we know it today and talk about the importance of space in its inception. The vital role of common space in human independence is discussed, and enclosure, privatization, and commodification are shown to be its violent antagonists. De-enclosure is a target to be achieved through a process called D...

In this podcast, Jasmine Buckley discusses an environmental injustice, green gentrification. She discusses how green gentrification is a good example for demonstrating the links between environmental and spatial injustice. This podcast explores how the procedure of providing green space in urban neighbourhoods may not always have positive outcomes despite it being known for its health benefits. Ex...

In this podcast, Jennifer O’Malley discusses the complex relationship between the agro-food industry and climate change in contemporary Ireland. Jennifer describes the emergence of the metabolic rift in the context of colonial Ireland in the nineteenth century to examine the complex interconnections that exist between nature and society. This system was based on extractive economic relations that...

Ireland has been an exemplar case for the struggle between green commitments and democratic responsibility and, since the Irish Agri-Food sector speaks for over one third of the nations’ emissions profile, the sector has been placed on the frontline of the struggle to combat climate change.  By all appearances, Ireland’s climate responsibility division debate is shifting from the classic...

The concept of slow violence is one that has gained recognition in recent years, providing a definition for events that are violent but not normally seen as such, due to its slow nature and continuation over many years. The current destruction being caused to communities and the environment in Leitrim by Sitka spruce plantations can be viewed as slow violence, as well as the area itself being refe...

This podcast episode explores the ideas of gentrification and slow violence. It also discusses how gentrification can be seen as the eventual product of a long period of slow violence through disinvestment and is functionally dependent upon a history of violence in an area. In order to make the links between the two spatial justice frameworks it looks on the case study of Inchicore. Dr. Bresnihan...