Class Report | Contemporary Politics in the Global South

The aim of the CPiGS course is closely linked with the extractivism and colonial legacies that
shaped the experiences of Indigenous women in Latin America, which we studied in our group
project. This course helped us to understand the Global South not only as a geographical term
but also as a political project, an expression of resistance, and a tool of alternative thoughts
against the neoliberal global order. These are the primary aims of this course. In addition to
acknowledging how people of the Global South develop new political identities and ideas for
justice, we believe CPiGS makes students discuss historical and contemporary processes of
colonialism, imperialism, and capitalist exploitation critically. How important is solidarity to the
Global South, challenging the dominant power structure, and the grassroots movements are all
core to the course. Additionally, this course encourages students to use their perspectives and
personal experiences to contribute to the collective knowledge of our classroom. So that CpiGS
aims to analyze contemporary political issues by understanding inequalities and resistance
movements.

In our theme, studying the works of Gómez-Barris, Acosta, and Svampa helped us to reveal
how neo-extractivism continues colonial patterns of displacement, which significantly affect
Indigenous women. With anarcho-feminist and community-based economic ideas, these women
are not only the group of people who are affected most by environmental and cultural
destruction, but they also play a key role in expressing decolonial alternatives. Therefore, this
theme gave us a strong example of how race, gender, and land are connected in today’s world,
and how people are standing up to fight back and imagine a different future.

Eurocentrism and mainstream liberal feminism often disregard the experiences of Indigenous
women. Our group presentation showed how Western feminism often overlooks and disregards
the colonial and exploitative reality that many Indigenous women experience. Indigenous
feminists state that their experiences are affected by racism, colonialism, capitalism, and
patriarchy, rather than considering that gender oppressions are the same in everywhere. With the
study of Indigenous women's opposition to extractivism, we deeply understand that these
struggles are more than just territorial defense; they also include the safeguarding of their
political stance, knowledge, and ways of life. For example, Buen Vivir and Mujeres Creando
showed how feminist and Indigenous movements present different ways of life and social
structures that reject materialism, individualism, and a controlled environment. This topic
connects well with the CPiGS's main goals since it highlights how the Global South is not only
reacting to injustice but also developing new political concepts. Also, class helps us to see that
struggles can influence both the Global South and beyond to think more deeply about resistance
and justice.

Extractivism, the extractive gaze, neocolonialism, and neo-extractivism are key concepts that
help to understand the historical context and contemporary political and economic power
dynamics in Latin America. Extractivism has its origins in the colonial conquest of the continent,
starting in the fifteenth century. This process entailed a systematic appropriation of land and the
over-exploitation of the natural resources and labour of the indigenous peoples. In order to do so,
the colonizers adopted an extractivist gaze, through which everything is seen as a potential
commodity. The gaze also invisibilizes the human and non-human life, and it is blind to the
interconnections of ecosystems and to the violence engendered by capitalist resource
exploitation. The land was expropriated, the indigenous peoples dispossessed, their labour
extracted, and their traditional ways of life destroyed. The marginalized people, the rural, poor,
and indigenous people, were most harmed. Especially the women suffered deeply, because the
system relied on their unpaid caregiving and cheap labour in dangerous and toxic environments.
At the same time, the colonizers introduced the patriarchal nuclear family that disrupted
indigenous social and economic organization, politically marginalized women, and reinforced
colonial control.
After anticolonial struggle and independence, the economic system based on resource
exploitation continued and was even intensified by modern technologies. Whereas the underlying
structural features of the system remained unchanged. In the neo-extractivist system, the
extraction was no longer done by European colonizers directly but led by the state, which was
captured by economic elites and extractivist companies. It was now carried out in the name of
development, because capitalism was seen as the only way to progress. But since the raw
materials are exported for Western consumption markets and most of the profits also flow to the
West, it only reproduces historical power imbalances and structural economic dependency. The
assumed Western superiority is also visible in academia, where Western theories are portrayed as
superior and universal, in contrast to theories from the Global South that are dismissed as merely
local.

While mainstream liberal feminism can often highlight legal equality and individual rights, it
also tends to ignore more fundamental problems like colonialism, capitalism, and environmental
damage. The experiences and voices of those who are marginalized and indigenous women,
especially in the Global South, can be overlooked by this kind of feminism, which is more
common in the Global South.

We explored how extractivism, which means that natural resources are taken from the land,
continues the colonial pattern of exploitation. Even progressive governments in Latin America,
such as Bolivia under Evo Morales, have used ways of supporting the economy that involve
exploiting natural resources. These projects can and most likely will have a negative effect on
indigenous communities, especially women. They may experience things like losing land, air and
water pollution, and violence.

We also looked at how indigenous people fight against the system in a way that is also
anarchist and feminist, especially the Bolivian group Mujeres Creando. This group of women felt
left out by the more traditional leftist and feminist movements. These artists believe in taking
action straight away. So, to fight against things like racism, patriarchy, and violence from the
state, they started using graffiti, street performances, and public protests. Their slogan, "Indias,
putas y lesbianas, juntas, revueltas y hermanadas" meaning "Indias, prostitutes and lesbians,
united, revolted and sistered", shows that they are focusing on bringing together all of the
marginalized women.

Mujeres Creando links women's oppression with environmental destruction. They say that the
land and women's bodies are treated the same way: they are used, controlled, and ignored. The
people are against it because of traditional Indigenous beliefs, such as the concept of "Buen
Vivir", this term refers to a way of life where people live in harmony with nature and with each
other. We saw how feminism in the Global South offers new ways of thinking that go beyond
ideas from Europe. It fights for justice that is not based on laws or state reforms.

The concept of the Global South was first used by Carl Olsby in 1969, and it is not only a
geographical definition, but also a political terminology. This concept is an important way to
understand the global inequalities of size by the heritage of colonialism and capitalist modernity.
In this course, we examined how land, labor, race, and resistance are connected in the everyday
lives and political theories of the South. From the Bandung anti-colonial project to the Zapatista
system and regional autonomies, the communities have struggled to liberate their lands and
peoples against both external domination and internal hierarchies.

The decolonization of political theory, through thinkers such as Kwame Nkrumah and Paulo
Freire, emphasizes the need to reclaim knowledge and politics from colonial frameworks. The
theory of the colonial structure of power reveals how oppression is maintained through
education, labor, and race, but also how resistance can take root in local and collective
knowledge systems - what some call “societies on the move.”

Within the framework of the agrarian question, we discussed how land occupations in Brazil
and Zimbabwe challenge the exploitative structure of neoliberalism and racialized capitalism.
The intersection of race, labour, and gender, especially through indigenous feminist work and
figures such as Julieta Paredes, improved our understanding of extractivism not only in the way
of the economic model but also as a violent, gendered, and racialized form of dispossession.
Also, indigenous and feminist critiques of extractivism show that debt, death, and dispossession
are not abstract but lived forms of violence.

Class six on Area studies helps us understand the many cultural and social effects of
extractivism on communities. By using different methods in area studies, we can find ways to
reduce these negative impacts. Area studies also explain how the Global South relies on
extractivism and its effects on the region. In Prof. Bombardi's lecture, the harmful effects of
pesticide use on indigenous people, especially children and women, are highlighted. Prof.
Bombardi supports agroecology to help women gain independence and empowerment.

The class on contemporary politics in the Maghreb included a guest lecture about female
agricultural workers in southern Morocco. This talk showed how agricultural practices, like
extractivism, can displace indigenous and female workers. Dr. Mphaphuli's research on gender,
race, and class connects with the feminist critique of extractivism, showing its impact on
marginalized groups. Dr. Mphaphuli uses a decolonial perspective that strongly aligns with
indigenous and feminist critiques of extractivism.

The indigenous and feminist critique of extractivism is similar to the guest lecture on
Palestine. Both critics look at systematic exploitation and the neglect of indigenous peoples, with
women suffering the most. Both contexts also involve resistance movements and the lasting
effects of colonialism.

Lastly, the guest lecture in class 11 discusses cases of indigenous agency and self-
determination, which are closely connected to the topic of extractivism. Manahan’s exploration
of alternatives to development supports development models that respect indigenous rights and
promote gender equality.

Suggested reading and sources:

1. Reading – Grosfoguel, Ramón (2007). The Epistemic Decolonial Turn: Beyond Political
Economy Paradigms.
2. Reading – Walter D. Mignolo – The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures,
Decolonial Options (2011)
3. Podcast – “Global South Voices” (by Sur International Journal)
4. Documentary – The Territory (2022) – Directed by Alex Pritz