Political Ecologies
The Political Ecologies Research Group brings together academic staff and postgraduate research students who share interests in the knowledge dynamics and power struggles shaping contemporary human–environment relations.
The Political Ecologies Research Group seeks to bring together academic staff and postgraduate research students, from both within the School of Geographical Sciences and beyond, who share an interest in the knowledge dynamics and power struggles shaping contemporary human–environment relations. The group welcomes all those committed to advancing critical scholarship of the processes through which nonhuman natures are conceptualised, mapped, governed and reconstituted, including through a range of politico-ecological approaches.
Current groups members’ interests span diverse issues including: climate change; biodiversity conservation; plant life; multispecies studies; farming, agroecology and food geographies; rural environments; energy cultures and transition; environmental risk, hazards and resilience; and resource making and extraction. Academic staff in the group include Dr Negar Behzadi, Dr Jaskiran Kaur Chohan, Dr Naomi Millner, Dr Nye Merrill-Glover and Dr James Palmer.
Research Highlights
Drone Ecologies
‘Drone Ecologies’ (Naomi Millner) investigates how drone technologies are used in environmental conservation, particularly for mapping and monitoring ecosystems. The project explores the ethical, political, and ecological implications of drones, including how they reshape relationships between humans, nonhumans, and landscapes. Findings have been published in a special issue in Global Social Challenges and an international policy brief.
Peasant and Popular Feminism
‘Peasant and Popular Feminism: Co-constructing sustainability and peace in Colombia’ (Jaskiran Kaur Chohan) explores the effectiveness of Peasant Popular Feminism (PPF) in supporting activism and agroecological transitions for women peasants in the Peasant Reserve Zone of Valle del Rio Cimitarra, Colombia. This project fills an important gap on how regional organisations have assimilated and adapted PPF to local realities.
The Peatscapes
The ‘Peatscapes’ project (James Palmer) aims to investigate emerging knowledge controversies surrounding ongoing efforts to scale-up European peatland restoration for climate mitigation purposes. The project draws on field research at diverse peat restoration sites in the UK and Estonia, based around qualitative methods including walking interviews, participant observation, and policy analysis.