Political Ecology is the study of how social power relations are entwined with environmental processes, in contexts such as food production, extractive industries, climate change vulnerability and urbanization. EUC researchers are examining these processes in contexts as diverse as Indigenous communities and urban peripheries in Canada, the forests of Costa Rica, water resources in Chile, conservation and the lives of animals in Southern Africa, and labour in the distant water fisheries of Southeast Asia.
Projects
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Work at Sea: Explaining Labour Relations in the Global Fishing Industry -
Offshore oil exploratory drilling and marine protected areas: Assessing decision-making processes and outcomes in comparative developed state cases -
Relational Accountability for Indigenous Rematriation (RAIR): Creating food sovereignty through rematriation, land sharing, and relationship building

Community Partnerships
Professor Deborah McGregor’s Indigenous Environmental Justice project works with Indigenous communities to develop approaches to environmental justice that are informed by Indigenous knowledge systems, laws, concepts of justice and the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples. The project provides resources for community members, students, activists and scholars.
Researcher Spotlights

Carlota McAllister
Professor McAllister is a political and historical anthropologist studying how gauchos living in Chilean river valleys build collective responses to the dam proposals.

Felipe Montoya
Professor Montoya is director of York’s Las Nubes Eco-campus in Costa Rica, where he studies community development and environmental conservation.

Anna Zalik
Professor Zalik’s research focuses on the political economy and political ecology of oil, gas and other extractives, including their relations to historical and contemporary colonialism.