Papers by Malayna Raftopoulos
Journal of Academic Perspectives
Since climate change is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, policy and regulatory aspects of the new ... more Since climate change is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, policy and regulatory aspects of the new nexus between digitalisation, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and adaptation span across multiple sectors and levels of governance. As such, it stands that a major challenge is to bring together different scales of governance and shareholders to ensure coordination and cooperation in regulating this new nexus. Therefore, this article outlines and discusses the academic literature on DRR and asks how this nexus can be conceptualised from a regulatory perspective and what opportunities and challenges does this new outlook present for climate resilience. As this article demonstrates, despite this emerging nexus between the fields of law, policy, and technology within DRR, they continue to largely work in isolation. However, the development of a methodological framework, integrating law, policy, and technology within a DRR framework provides useful insights in identifying the relevant factors that should be considered when discussing DRR within the context of Climate Change Adaptative-Mitigation
Journal of Peasant Studies , 2024
This article examines how power is permanently contested in the extractive frontier, forcing extr... more This article examines how power is permanently contested in the extractive frontier, forcing extractive investments to reaccommodate or to retreat. Using the Chuschi mining conflict as a case study, it argues that the anti-mining mobilization appropriated different rights discourses that span different historical blocs to carve out counter-hegemonic spaces of resistance that reproduce a political subjectivity, which is not subsumed by extractivism, to contest power on the extractive frontier. Moreover, it shows that the strategic use of law does not have to ultimately sustain the status quo of neoliberal power but is part of re-imagining a different state and society.
Geoforum , 2024
One of the key challenges facing urban areas in the twenty-first century is how to promote inclus... more One of the key challenges facing urban areas in the twenty-first century is how to promote inclusive developmental policies and address increasing social inequality. Using the community of Mercado Campesino de Arocagua in northwestern Bolivia as a case study, this article shows how peri-urban spaces destabilise traditional ethnic and class divisions, exemplifying the growing complexities of the politics of social and racial exclusion in Latin America. The article argues that the endurance of relations of coloniality enables the exclusion of rural Indigenous groups from the political, social, and economic boundaries of the city. These boundaries, however, are increasingly permeable and unstable. In this context, the multi-scalar governance structures that have helped many Indigenous people in Bolivia to move to and prosper within urban spaces prevent the community of Mercado Campesino from legal recognition.
Situating Displacement Explorations of Global (Im)Mobility, 2022
As this chapter explores, the imposition of extractivist activities through the logic of territor... more As this chapter explores, the imposition of extractivist activities through the logic of territorialization has led to a number of spill- over effects (Gudynas, 2015), including the displacement – both environmental and development induced – of communities as well as the growing trend of governments in hybrid regimes dealing with social protests criminally rather than socially or politically. Through a discussion of the link between the extractivist imperative and territorialization, this chapter firstly examines the ways in which extractivism has been regularized through the reconfiguration of territory, leading to the displacement of both resources and populations. Secondly, the chapter considers the relationship between natural resource conflicts, human rights and criminalization. It analyses how the extractive model has been politically defended though state- led strategies designed to consolidate, defend and guarantee the functionality of the neoliberal extractivist discourse as well as the socio- territorial consequences that arise from processes of territory reconfiguration.
Since rural community-based tourism (RCBT) emerged, it has been widely considered as an effective... more Since rural community-based tourism (RCBT) emerged, it has been widely considered as an effective means of promoting development and conserving natural resources. Through a political ecology approach, this article explores this article explores the potential of RCBT to foster long-term stewardship and transformations in ecological consciousness among campesino communities in unprotected areas. Using Cocachimba as a case study, the article reveals that while RCBT can increase environmental consciousness, stewardship and conservation practices, it also reshapes human-environmental relations, changing both the value and the meaning of environment, as well as altering societal structures and exchange relationships within communities.
This article explores how the anti-fracking movements in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, have... more This article explores how the anti-fracking movements in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, have used Twitter to shape narratives around antifracking. Adopting a dynamic view of collective action frames, the article shows that the anti-fracking movements have developed multiple frames to articulate their struggle and justify their grievances, and how procedural injustice and environmental values have been motivational factors for local citizens. The article also demonstrates that Twitter is principally being used as a broadcast platform rather than being used to create online collective action, but that the strong framing means that disparate groups have been united behind the common cause.
Using the Carmichael coal mine as a case study, this paper explores and analyses the current chal... more Using the Carmichael coal mine as a case study, this paper explores and analyses the current challenges and potentials of the Australian regulatory framework in designing policies that balance the direct local economic benefits with global environmental concerns and a global common vision about how to manage mining development and energy security challenges. In this effort, it evaluates the current Australian regulatory framework for mining projects, based on two hypotheses: 1) the development of large-scale mining energy projects linked to fossil-fuel resources creates legal challenges; 2) these legal challenges should be analysed in an interdisciplinary approach from both local and global perspectives on law, economics and socio-politics.
LEAD Law Environment and Development Journal VOLUME 17/0
This study uses the case of the Carmichael Coal Mining Project in Australia, which, despite its p... more This study uses the case of the Carmichael Coal Mining Project in Australia, which, despite its potential economic and social effects, also generates an enormous amount of GHGs emissions in Australia and the rest of the planet, contravening to the commitments of the Paris Agreement, as well as the scientific assessments of the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). The article adopts a climate change litigation, systemic legal and socio-economic approach, including the role of science and economy in the Australian judiciary’s decision-making system. Scientific assessments and economic factors are evaluated when making mining project approval decisions. The results identify what are the legal elements of regression and advancement in climate change litigation that enable economic and social contributions against climate change impacts. The development of a methodological framework, integrating law and economics with climate change science impacts in a systemic and holistic regulatory framework, provides useful insights in identifying the relevant factors that the Australian courts should take into account when assessing mine issues within the statutory frameworks. It also advises how to balance environmental protection and business opportunities. The hope is to direct the Australian legal system towards a more just, modern and ethical system by including scientific findings and scientific uncertainty in a broader, holistic vision more in line with the current Anthropocene Era.
International Journal of Human Rights, 2020
Though a discussion of the 2019 Brazilian Amazon fires, this article
examines the contested polit... more Though a discussion of the 2019 Brazilian Amazon fires, this article
examines the contested politics of environmental rights in Brazil. It
analyses how the concept of ecocide can offer a useful lens with
which to articulate the socio-ecological consequences of President
Bolsonaro’s extractive imperialism, and the persistent failure of
current international governance frameworks to address the
continuing widespread destruction of the natural environment.
Firstly, the article places the concept of ecocide within the context
of the international governance framework of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the challenges that natural resource
exploitation presents to the achievement of sustainable
development in Latin America. Secondly, it presents an overview of
the concept of ecocide that includes cultural genocide as a method
for undermining a way of life and a technique for group
destruction. Lastly, through an analysis of Brazil’s environmental
politics, contested claims of sovereignty and the recent push for
the industrialisation of the Amazon, the article considers whether
claims of ecocide in the Brazilian Amazon can be substantiated
when using the criteria for the crime of ecocide – namely the size,
duration and impact of the extensive damage to, destruction of or
loss of ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest.
In book: Greening Criminology in the 21st Century: Contemporary debates and future directions in the study of environmental harm by Hall, M., Wyatt, T., South, N., Nurse, A., Potter, G. & Maher, J. (eds.), 2016
International Journal of Human Rights, 2019
Over 21 years after the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (September... more Over 21 years after the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (September 2007 – hereafter UNDRIP) was passed, it is useful to examine the functionality and utility of a core principle it contains- the notion of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with respect to the twin challenges of environmental destruction and a key ‘mitigation’ policy: REDD+. While UNDRIP, and to a lesser extent, the International Labour Organisation Convention No. 169 (ILO 169) has strengthened the legal status of FPIC, its application has proved to be extremely difficult. This article argues that when considering the potential harm of environmental and REDD+ climate change policies there needs to be a greater emphasis placed on the ‘precautionary principle’ when applying FPIC. Demonstrating why precaution needs to be taken in order to ensure human rights, this article argues that increasing the prominence of the precautionary principle within FPIC can impact significantly on the protection of biodiversity as well as the way in which environmental harm, laws and regulations are understood in relation to their social and cultural impact and shape future responses to the climate change crisis.
Ecuador Debate, 2018
La extracción de recursos naturales se ha convertido en una forma de desarrollo muy disputada y c... more La extracción de recursos naturales se ha convertido en una forma de desarrollo muy disputada y conflictiva en América Latina. Se han abierto espacios políticos para la resistencia, basada en los derechos humanos,
que son utilizados cada vez con mayor frecuencia. Sin embargo, se le ha prestado poca atención a las metodologías empleadas para realizar evaluaciones de esos emprendimientos basadas en los derechos humanos. En este artículo se explora una metodología específica en ese campo, enfocada especialmente en proteger los derechos e intereses de las comunidades locales e indígenas.
This article seeks to problematise current frameworks of global environmental governance by exami... more This article seeks to problematise current frameworks of global environmental governance by examining how the neoliberal model continues to rely on the state to suppress plurinational justice. Firstly, it discusses the creation of counter-hegemonic discourses through the emergence of new centres of epistemic production. Secondly, it analyses the ways in which these narratives interact, or fail to interact, with state policies on a local, national and international level through the case study of Evo Morales' Bolivia. The article argues that one of main challenges confronting environmental governance will be to reformulate sovereignty as an epistemic and relational – as well as political and territorial – set of relationships.
Provincialising Nature: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Politics of the Environment in Latin ... more Provincialising Nature: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Politics of the Environment in Latin America offers a timely analysis of some of the crucial challenges, contradictions, and promises within current environmental discourses and practices in the region. This book shows both challenging scenarios and original perspectives that have emerged in Latin America in relation to the globally urgent issues of climate change and the environmental crisis. Two interconnected analytical frameworks guide the discussions in the book: the relationships between nature, knowledge, and identity and their role in understanding recent and current practices of climate change and environmental policy. The chapters in this volume contribute to this debate by offering multidisciplinary perspectives on particular aspects of these two frameworks through a multidirectional outlook that links the local, national, regional, and transnational levels of inquiry across a diverse geographical spectrum. Each contribution approaches questions concerned with the politics of the environment in Latin America from a specific geographic, thematic, and methodological viewpoint, while also creating interconnections that raise new questions that are potentially relevant well beyond a regional context. By looking at the creation of new environmental discourses and policies through the emergence of new centers of epistemic production in the region, this volume ultimately explores the possibility of reconceptualizing socio-natures beyond existing political and economic paradigms.
This opening contribution to ‘Social-Environmental Conflicts, Extractivism and Human
Rights in L... more This opening contribution to ‘Social-Environmental Conflicts, Extractivism and Human
Rights in Latin America’ analyses how human rights have emerged as a weapon in the
political battleground over the environment as natural resource extraction has become an
increasingly contested and politicised form of development. It examines the link
between human rights abuses and extractivism, arguing that this new cycle of protests
has opened up new political spaces for human rights based resistance. Furthermore,
the explosion of socio-environmental conflicts that have accompanied the expansion
and politicisation of natural resources has highlighted the different conceptualisations
of nature, development and human rights that exist within Latin America. While new
human rights perspectives are emerging in the region, mainstream human rights
discourses are providing social movements and activists with the legal power to
challenge extractivism and critique the current development agenda. However, while
the application of human rights discourses can put pressure on governments, it has
yielded limited concrete results largely because the state as a guardian of human
rights remains fragile in Latin America and is willing to override their commitment to
human and environmental rights in the pursuit of development. Lastly, individual
contributions to the volume are introduced and future directions for research in
natural resource development and human rights are suggested.
Chinese investment plans in Greenland have been viewed by various Greenlandic governments with hi... more Chinese investment plans in Greenland have been viewed by various Greenlandic governments with high hopes while their Danish counterparts have been much more reluctant and fearful of what some sort of orchestrated Chinese intervention would mean for the autonomous and supposedly less experienced part of the Danish Kingdom. Despite expectations, actual Chinese actions have not materialized in any of the ways that Greenland and Denmark have hoped or feared which could suggest that China's interest in Greenland was not as once thought. This article discusses the strategic implications of mining in Greenland, questioning the assumed coherence of Chinese interests and also examining both Greenland's and Denmark's role in staging strategic narratives. The article argues that while it is possible to identify Chinese state actors that believe Greenland should be highly prioritized, their approach so far has been very fragmented. In fact, the idea of a coordinated Chinese approach appears to have mainly been created in the contestation between Greenlandic hopes and Danish fears.
Contemporary development debates in Latin America are marked by the pursuit of economic growth, t... more Contemporary development debates in Latin America are marked by the pursuit of economic growth, technological improvement and poverty reduction, and are overshadowed by growing concerns about the preservation of the environment and human rights. This collection’s multidisciplinary perspective links local, national, regional and transnational levels of inquiry into the interaction of state and non-state actors involved in promoting and opposing natural resource development. Taking this approach allows the book to contemplate the complex panorama of competing visions, concepts and interests grounded in the mutual influences and interdependencies which shape the contemporary arena of social-environmental conflicts in the region.
This article makes the case for carrying out a series of community-based human rights
impact ass... more This article makes the case for carrying out a series of community-based human rights
impact assessments (HRIA) on the international mechanism, reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation and sustainable development
(REDD+). In outlining the prima facie case, this article discusses the key areas of
concern surrounding REDD+ and the repercussions for the rights and interests of
local forest and indigenous communities. Furthermore, in its discussion on why
REDD+ necessitates a HRIA, the article explores the implications that a specific link
between human rights and REDD+ would have on the promotion and protection of
forest peoples and indigenous human rights. In the context of the climate change
crisis, formulating a specific link between human rights and climate change
mitigation strategies such as REDD+ is highly pertinent if they are to have a positive
impact at a local level. Formulating this connection could potentially secure the
protection of traditional knowledge, law, customs and lands of those communities in
which it operates, ensuring that the most vulnerable and poorest members of society
do not bare the negative costs of such policies.
Rural Community-Based Tourism and its Impact on Ecological Consciousness, Environmental Stewardship and Social Structures. Bulletin of Latin American Research
Since rural community-based tourism (RCBT) emerged, it has been widely considered as an effective... more Since rural community-based tourism (RCBT) emerged, it has been widely considered as an effective means of promoting development and conserving natural resources. Through a political ecology approach, this article explores this article explores the potential of RCBT to foster long-term stewardship and transformations in ecological consciousness among campesino communities in unprotected areas. Using Cocachimba as a case study, the article reveals that while RCBT can increase environmental consciousness, stewardship and conservation practices, it also reshapes human-environmental relations, changing both the value and the meaning of environment, as well as altering societal structures and exchange relationships within communities.
China is now Brazil's largest trade and investment partner, with Brazil's exports dominated by pr... more China is now Brazil's largest trade and investment partner, with Brazil's exports dominated by primary products such as iron ore, soy and crude oil. China and Brazil have also become major players in international environmental debates as emerging powers, reflecting their contribution to carbon emissions and their vulnerability to climate change and environmental disasters such as droughts, floods, deforestation, landslides and pollution. In environmental terms, Brazil's exports to China have led to changes in land use focused on export agriculture, the construction of infrastructure in vulnerable areas such as the Amazon region and a growing need for cheap, renewable energy to fuel transport, consumption and industrial development. In the context of these intensifying trade and economic connections between Brazil and China, this article examines the environmental dimensions of this relationship, focusing in particular on the contradictions created by renewable energy production. Paradoxically, given Brazil's key role in the international climate change debate, one of the most controversial aspects of the country's development agenda is the promotion of renewable energy as evidenced in the conflicts around hydroelectric power generation. The latter have provoked protests against the dams' social and environmental effects among local communities and international environmental groups. Little studied compared to the more well-known aspects of Sino-Latin American relations, such as infrastructure and trade, the article argues that Chinese involvement in hydropower in Brazil reinforces an increasingly unsustainable domestic development agenda, as reflected in the asymmetry between arguments about the general benefits of hydropower and the negative effects on local communities.
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Papers by Malayna Raftopoulos
examines the contested politics of environmental rights in Brazil. It
analyses how the concept of ecocide can offer a useful lens with
which to articulate the socio-ecological consequences of President
Bolsonaro’s extractive imperialism, and the persistent failure of
current international governance frameworks to address the
continuing widespread destruction of the natural environment.
Firstly, the article places the concept of ecocide within the context
of the international governance framework of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the challenges that natural resource
exploitation presents to the achievement of sustainable
development in Latin America. Secondly, it presents an overview of
the concept of ecocide that includes cultural genocide as a method
for undermining a way of life and a technique for group
destruction. Lastly, through an analysis of Brazil’s environmental
politics, contested claims of sovereignty and the recent push for
the industrialisation of the Amazon, the article considers whether
claims of ecocide in the Brazilian Amazon can be substantiated
when using the criteria for the crime of ecocide – namely the size,
duration and impact of the extensive damage to, destruction of or
loss of ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest.
que son utilizados cada vez con mayor frecuencia. Sin embargo, se le ha prestado poca atención a las metodologías empleadas para realizar evaluaciones de esos emprendimientos basadas en los derechos humanos. En este artículo se explora una metodología específica en ese campo, enfocada especialmente en proteger los derechos e intereses de las comunidades locales e indígenas.
Rights in Latin America’ analyses how human rights have emerged as a weapon in the
political battleground over the environment as natural resource extraction has become an
increasingly contested and politicised form of development. It examines the link
between human rights abuses and extractivism, arguing that this new cycle of protests
has opened up new political spaces for human rights based resistance. Furthermore,
the explosion of socio-environmental conflicts that have accompanied the expansion
and politicisation of natural resources has highlighted the different conceptualisations
of nature, development and human rights that exist within Latin America. While new
human rights perspectives are emerging in the region, mainstream human rights
discourses are providing social movements and activists with the legal power to
challenge extractivism and critique the current development agenda. However, while
the application of human rights discourses can put pressure on governments, it has
yielded limited concrete results largely because the state as a guardian of human
rights remains fragile in Latin America and is willing to override their commitment to
human and environmental rights in the pursuit of development. Lastly, individual
contributions to the volume are introduced and future directions for research in
natural resource development and human rights are suggested.
impact assessments (HRIA) on the international mechanism, reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation and sustainable development
(REDD+). In outlining the prima facie case, this article discusses the key areas of
concern surrounding REDD+ and the repercussions for the rights and interests of
local forest and indigenous communities. Furthermore, in its discussion on why
REDD+ necessitates a HRIA, the article explores the implications that a specific link
between human rights and REDD+ would have on the promotion and protection of
forest peoples and indigenous human rights. In the context of the climate change
crisis, formulating a specific link between human rights and climate change
mitigation strategies such as REDD+ is highly pertinent if they are to have a positive
impact at a local level. Formulating this connection could potentially secure the
protection of traditional knowledge, law, customs and lands of those communities in
which it operates, ensuring that the most vulnerable and poorest members of society
do not bare the negative costs of such policies.
examines the contested politics of environmental rights in Brazil. It
analyses how the concept of ecocide can offer a useful lens with
which to articulate the socio-ecological consequences of President
Bolsonaro’s extractive imperialism, and the persistent failure of
current international governance frameworks to address the
continuing widespread destruction of the natural environment.
Firstly, the article places the concept of ecocide within the context
of the international governance framework of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the challenges that natural resource
exploitation presents to the achievement of sustainable
development in Latin America. Secondly, it presents an overview of
the concept of ecocide that includes cultural genocide as a method
for undermining a way of life and a technique for group
destruction. Lastly, through an analysis of Brazil’s environmental
politics, contested claims of sovereignty and the recent push for
the industrialisation of the Amazon, the article considers whether
claims of ecocide in the Brazilian Amazon can be substantiated
when using the criteria for the crime of ecocide – namely the size,
duration and impact of the extensive damage to, destruction of or
loss of ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest.
que son utilizados cada vez con mayor frecuencia. Sin embargo, se le ha prestado poca atención a las metodologías empleadas para realizar evaluaciones de esos emprendimientos basadas en los derechos humanos. En este artículo se explora una metodología específica en ese campo, enfocada especialmente en proteger los derechos e intereses de las comunidades locales e indígenas.
Rights in Latin America’ analyses how human rights have emerged as a weapon in the
political battleground over the environment as natural resource extraction has become an
increasingly contested and politicised form of development. It examines the link
between human rights abuses and extractivism, arguing that this new cycle of protests
has opened up new political spaces for human rights based resistance. Furthermore,
the explosion of socio-environmental conflicts that have accompanied the expansion
and politicisation of natural resources has highlighted the different conceptualisations
of nature, development and human rights that exist within Latin America. While new
human rights perspectives are emerging in the region, mainstream human rights
discourses are providing social movements and activists with the legal power to
challenge extractivism and critique the current development agenda. However, while
the application of human rights discourses can put pressure on governments, it has
yielded limited concrete results largely because the state as a guardian of human
rights remains fragile in Latin America and is willing to override their commitment to
human and environmental rights in the pursuit of development. Lastly, individual
contributions to the volume are introduced and future directions for research in
natural resource development and human rights are suggested.
impact assessments (HRIA) on the international mechanism, reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation and sustainable development
(REDD+). In outlining the prima facie case, this article discusses the key areas of
concern surrounding REDD+ and the repercussions for the rights and interests of
local forest and indigenous communities. Furthermore, in its discussion on why
REDD+ necessitates a HRIA, the article explores the implications that a specific link
between human rights and REDD+ would have on the promotion and protection of
forest peoples and indigenous human rights. In the context of the climate change
crisis, formulating a specific link between human rights and climate change
mitigation strategies such as REDD+ is highly pertinent if they are to have a positive
impact at a local level. Formulating this connection could potentially secure the
protection of traditional knowledge, law, customs and lands of those communities in
which it operates, ensuring that the most vulnerable and poorest members of society
do not bare the negative costs of such policies.
Table of contents:
1. Forces of resistance and human rights: deconstructing natural resource development in Latin America
Malayna Raftopoulos and Radosław Powęska
2. Indigenous rights in the era of ‘indigenous state’: how interethnic conflicts and state appropriation of indigenous agenda hinder the challenge to extractivism in Bolivia
Radosław Powęska
3. REDD+ and human rights in Latin America: addressing indigenous peoples’ concerns though the use of Human Rights Impact Assessments
Malayna Raftopoulos
4. Violence in the actions of indigenous peoples from the Amazon region as a result of environmental conflicts
Magdalena Krysińska-Kałużna
5. Neogeography, development and human rights in Latin America
Doug Specht
6. From human rights to an urbanising environmental politics: understanding flood and landslide vulnerability in Brazil’s coastal mountains
Robert Coates
7. Human rights and socio-environmental conflict in Nicaragua’s Grand Canal project
Joanna Morley
8. Sustainable development, the politics of place and decoloniality: contradictory or complementary approaches to Latin American futures?
Bogumila Lisocka-Jaegermann