Postdevelopment pathways in the Faroe Islands and São Tomé e Príncipe

Description

This presentation engages with the conversation on the pluriverse and postdevelopment pathways drawing from research in two small island countries, one in the global North and the other in the global South.

I present material generated from participatory and ethnographic fieldwork in the Faroe Islands and in São Tomé e Príncipe on food-political dynamics and visions for change in both research contexts.

While there is a clear material “North-South” difference between the political economies and socio-ecological metabolisms of these two island countries, both are also characterized by non-growth oriented economic philosophies that are contextually meaningful and ontologically commonsensical to its inhabitants.

Initial findings from my research suggest that in both cases the hegemonic growth-oriented paradigm co-exists with local and contextually meaningful economic practices that are non-growth-oriented, but that instead are rooted in historical context and based upon values and social relationships that have not been commodified by capitalism.

I discuss the tensions that exist between the growth-oriented paradigm on the one hand and local non-growth oriented practices and visions on the other hand, and explore ways that research in fields such as ecological economics and economic anthropology can support pluriversal postdevelopment pathways in places like the Faroe Islands and in São Tomé e Príncipe.

Period	12 Sept 2018
Event title	Ecological Economics and Socio-ecological Movements: Science, policy and challenges to global processes in a troubled world: Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics
Event type	Conference
Conference number	15
Location	Puebla, MexicoShow on map