geopolitical ecology

In this episode, we talk with Jessica Dempsey and Rosemary Collard about how to think about the capitalist state not as a unified actor, but as a contradictory and often incoherent set of institutions, practices, and relationships that both authorize extraction and seek legitimacy. We explore how environmental governance in Canada is shaped by this contradiction: despite laws and frameworks that are supposed to protect nature, we end up with continued and expanded ecological harm.We also dig into how Jess and Rosemary draw from feminist and abolitionist thought to analyze the state as a supplier of nature to capital, a manager of resistance, and a key player in the reproduction of racial and sexual hierarchies. We touch on patriarchy as an ecological regime, and think through how capitalism can both destroy the conditions of life (cannibalistically) and adapt to ecological collapse (parasitically).The conversation then moves to global environmental politics; why international agreements like the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity must be understood in relation to trade, debt, and tax regimes and what it means to build a political internationalism in response.This is a conversation about the complexity of power and the need to confront it clearly. Jess and Rosemary bring sharp analysis, grounded in struggle, to help us make sense of the terrain we’re fighting on.---Jessica Dempsey and Rosemary Collard run the Extinction Paradox research group. Together, they’ve theorized and investigated how the Canadian state manages the deep contradictions at the heart of environmental governance—passing laws to protect nature while simultaneously enabling capital’s ongoing exploitation and destruction of ecosystems. Their feminist critiques of capitalism and the capitalist state unearth dynamics that are often obscured by design. These include how dominant narratives of ecological collapse—even when critical vis-à-vis denialism—often fail to name the structural drivers of crisis, or to acknowledge how racial and sexual hierarchies are central to how ecological harm is organized, justified, and sustained.Jess is professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia, researching the political economies of biodiversity conservation and the contradictions of environmental governance under capitalism. Her work combines Marxist, feminist, and anti-colonial theory to examine how states, corporate, and financial actors navigate the ecological crises they help produce. She is the author of Enterprising Nature, a book that critically explores market-based conservation efforts.Rosemary is professor of Geography at Simon Fraser University, whose work focuses on the intersections of wildlife, capitalism, and the state. She draws from feminist political economy and multispecies studies to explore how wild animals are governed within regimes of extraction and enclosures. Her book, Animal Traffic, traces how wild animals are made into lively capital in the global exotic pet trade. We highly recommend reading both of their books, and to keep an eye out for a book they’re working on together now for future publication. Some of their featured writings:- Patriarchy is an Ecological Regime- Capitalist Natures in Five Orientations- A Manifesto for Abundant Futures- IPBES Transformative Change Assessment: Chapter 4. Overcoming the challenges of achieving transformative change towards a sustainable worldBrowse the research group’s page: Extinction Paradox

In this episode, we speak with Emily Iona Stewart to unpack the complex and deeply political dynamics behind the global rush for critical minerals.Why are these minerals—like lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel—so important? Where are they found? What are the implications of their extraction for Indigenous communities, ecosystems, and the development trajectories of post-colonial nations?We explore how critical minerals sit at the intersection of climate technologies, militarism, and digital technologies. From defense-for-minerals deals between the US and Ukraine or the DRC, to stockpiling strategies that prioritize military use over energy justice, this conversation highlights the geopolitical, economic, and ethical stakes of today’s mineral boom.As Emily reminds us, it’s not enough to decarbonize. We must ensure that the transition to a zero-carbon world doesn’t reproduce the same systems of exploitation, dispossession, and inequality.Emily is the Head of Policy and EU Relations at Global Witness, a leading international NGO known for its investigative work exposing the connections between natural resource exploitation, environmental destruction, corruption, and human rights abuse.Emily has played a major role in shaping European climate and sustainability policy, including contributions to the European Green Deal. At Global Witness, she leads efforts to ensure that the extraction and use of transition minerals is not only responsible, but also just—centering the rights of affected communities and advocating for transparency and accountability.About Global Witness:For over 30 years, Global Witness has been investigating and exposing the systems that enable environmental harm, conflict, and corruption. Their work holds powerful actors accountable and supports movements fighting for climate justice and the protection of human rights. Learn more at ⁠globalwitness.org⁠.Resources: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/1/2/modern-plunderers-lobito-corridor-plans-bring-fear-hesitation-in-drchttps://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/transition-minerals/fuelling-the-future-poisoning-the-present-myanmars-rare-earth-boom/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-eyes-us-minerals-deal-by-end-june-ft-reports-2025-05-25/https://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/clean-energy-dirty-consequences-mining-for-renewable-technologies-linked-to-global-social-unrest/https://smi.uq.edu.au/article/2022/12/54-per-cent-projects-extracting-clean-energy-minerals-overlap-indigenous-lands

I had the honor to host Dr. Hicham Safieddine, a brilliant Lebanese scholar and historian at the University of British Columbia. His work has included a detailed study of the emergence and transformation of global and national monetary regimes and financial systems under capitalist expansion, debt, war, colonial conquest, national liberation and revolution. He also works on the history of economic thought, as well as modern Arab and Islamic thought, with an emphasis on the age of anti-colonial national liberation in the mid-20th century. In this episode, we discuss Hicham’s conception of the border regime that defines the geographies of zionist settler-colonialism. He put forth the conception of “a state without borders, borders without states” to help us hone in on an adequate framing to what’s happening in our homelands today. Then, we discuss what the new phase of US empire in terms of Trump’s ethnic cleansing plans for Gaza as well as all the tools of US empire he inherits, which have been used, albeit in variegated ways, all over the Global South throughout history. I ask Hicham to dissect and discern all the imperial tools that the US has at its disposal to assert and reassert its hegemony. Finally, we tackle the silencing and censorship we see in and out of the academy, specifically leaning on Hicham’s experiences at UBC as well as having taught and lived in the UK previously. As usual, we end with a note of critical hope. I ask Hicham what keeps him going, and I’m pleased that he felt comfortable enough to share it with me, despite the fact that he has personally been impacted by zionist violence. Please check out Hicham’s work, starting here:Banking on the State: The Financial Foundations of LebanonMahdi Amel, Arab Marxism and National Liberation: Selected Writings

Karim Safieddine is a PhD student interested in understanding the ways in which social movements, for what they represent in terms of various aspects of intellectual and organizational leadership, challenge or reproduce prevailing power relations and ideological norms between late 20th and 21st century Lebanon. In this context, his research focuses on the historical and contemporary development of the "Lebanese Left", particularly in relation to other more dominant local political forces. While he heavily relies on Gramscian optics in his studies, he is open to various models and methods. He was the President of the Secular Club at the American University of Beirut, which is where I know him from, as I participated briefly in the Club’s political landscape during my undergrad years. In this episode, we discuss a multitude of topics particular to Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria–from the various forces of power, oppression, hope, and resistance to the various moments and figures in history that shaped and reshaped the realities of millions of people, of institutions, of knowledge production, and so on. The conversation was always rooted in the multifaceted anti-establishment movements in Lebanon, which inevitably requires us to constantly contextualize, analyze, and comprehend what these movements were up against, the tools they had (and didn’t have) at their disposal, moments in which they were stubborn and moments in which they did the self-reflection necessary for more meaningful ways, and what it meant to be situated in the geopolitical context that was and is also constantly changing. We break it down into two sections: Lebanon before 1990 and Lebanon after 1990, leading to the present conjuncture, where we end the episode on some reflections by Karim on what challenges and opportunities lie ahead, in such a pivotal moment. For your reference, Isa and I compiled a small timeline of post-1990 Lebanon that could help you better understand the conversation (see below). Also, Karim mentions a lot of names of people as well as movements that I highly recommend looking up as you listen. It could be arduous and disruptive to pause and reflect at times, but doing so gives the experience - as well as Karim’s voluntary work - the reflective value it deserves. 1990: Ta’if and beginning of Harirism / post-war neo-liberal order 2000: End of Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon 2005: Cedar Revolution + Assassination of Hariri + End of Assadist Occupation of Lebanon. 2006: July War (w/ Israel) 2008: “May 7” / Hezbollah “invades” Beirut 2011: Arab Spring (Focus: Syrian Revolution and War) 2015: “You Stink” Movement 2019: Thawra / October 17 Revolution 2020: Beirut Blast 2019-Present: Economic collapse 2023 Oct. 7–Present: Zionist onslaught + assassination of Hassan Nasrallah + End of Assad regime in Syria. Finally, here are some pieces written by Karim: 13 Years After the Arab Uprisings: The Strategic Choices of Lebanon's Anti-establishment Movement Lebanon's opposition today: A story of perpetual crises Hezbollah couldn't save Gaza or Lebanon: Only state-building can ensure our future Karim’s IG account: @safieddinekarim PS: Special thanks to Chafic Mouharam for conversing with me over the past years about Lebanon. We were together in Toronto when the horrible Blast in Beirut took place and we processed, mourned, and reflected together. He helped inform some of my questions in this episode. Thank you, Chafic. Chapters: (00:00) Introduction & Personal Experiences (20:16) Lebanon Pre-1990 (41:35) Lebanon Post-1990 (1:01:45) Anti-establishment and 2019 Thawra (1:22:00) Looking ahead