When I embarked on my thesis project on freeganism, I envisioned myself as following the model of some of my favourite professors—Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, David Graeber, and Peter Singer come to mind—in combining genuine academic inquiry with a strong commitment to social change. Ít wasn’t enough to just be a neutral observer of a group confronting… Continue reading Promises I Can Keep
I’ve been telling everyone that this is my first time in Latin America, but it’s not quite true, since I’ve gone with my family a few times to gringo-filled destinations in Mexico. Without a doubt, our family vacations inevitably found us staying in places with some borderline-catastrophic flaw. There was, for example, the apartment in… Continue reading Good Intentions and Unneeded Courtyard Fountains*
I overcame—or, at least, semi-successfully confronted—two of my biggest fears today: talking in Spanish, and talking to strangers about my research (or anything, really). After six exhausting hours of language class (it’s hard to say that talking all day is “working hard”, but seriously, this is grueling), I went to my professors house to hang… Continue reading Yo Bus Attendant: Write My Thesis
Aside from the fact that it was a cataclysmically bad movie, one of the only things I can remember about the Matrix II was an extremely dumb line, in which someone said “You never really know someone until you’ve fought them” (or something). I tend to take a similar attitude towards cities: “You never really… Continue reading A bit AWOL
I made it to Quito! Two days ago! And, shockingly, I’ve actually been enjoying my time here! Enough that I haven’t had (made?) time to blog, which, I suppose, can only be a good sign. Alas, a more general introduction—replete with unfounded cultural generalizations and a description of the never-ending emotional rollercoaster that is fieldwork—is… Continue reading Holy crap, I am in Ecuador!
There was a time, I imagine, when doing field work in developing countries was legitimately scary. Anthropologists studying remote islands or indigenous tribes might be cut off from contact with their home countries for years. Without the internet or television, their immersion in their place of study was total and non-stop, even in the worst… Continue reading Sink or Swim
In my last post, I explained why I think the local politics of climate change are an underconsidered factor in the success or failure of efforts to limite greenhouse gas emissions. Finding an appropriate site to study this topic, though, is not straightforward. Climate change remains an issue of marginal importance for many, especially in… Continue reading The Project, Part II: Yasuní
Here goes, a quick pre-cap of my summer in Ecuador. It’d be foolish to say that what I’m writing actually reflects what is going to happen: I have no doubt that research questions will change, contacts will fall through, and plans will go awry. If anything, I think this will serve as a monument to… Continue reading The Project, Part I: Theory
It’s finally decided: I’m spending the summer in Ecuador. This is not exactly news. I settled on doing my research on environmental justice movements in Latin America in the fall, narrowed it to the Andes by Christmas, and zeroed in on Yasuní National Park in Ecuador by the beginning of this term. Still, though, it… Continue reading On my way to save the world
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 