Amber Huff - What are the big myths about rangelands and how can they be tackled?

This month we are delighted to be joined by Amber Huff, who is a is a research fellow at the Institute for Development Studies and the coordinator of the Centre for Future Natures at the University of Sussex. Amber is a political ecologist and social anthropologist, who focuses on the crisis of, and the stories we tell in the Anthropocene in relation to the common(s) and enclosure. She helps to highlight the big stories we are being told in an era of extended crisis at many different levels, from the high-level discourses to the on ground lived experiences in place. She asks questions like: what does it look like and feel like in the era of extended crisis, how does this affect us physically and mentally. Amber has conducted research in Madagascar, Kenya, South Africa, the Southern United States and the United Kingdom. Join us for this exciting conversation!Want to learn about Amber’s work? Check out her profile, project webpages, and the referenced keynote here:Amber’s University profile https://www.ids.ac.uk/people/amber-huff/ Future Natures https://futurenatures.org/REPAiR Project (Resilient and Equitable Nature-based Pathways in Southern African Rangelands) https://repairproject.org/Keynote at the TreesForDev & REMM Project, Spring Symposium 2026 https://youtu.be/ZGSHHBZW0Ek?si=oAjz46eLynyJzof3 

We are very excited to be joined by our colleague from the University of Jyväskylä, Bonn Juego. Bonn is a political economist, Senior Lecturer in International Development Studies, and the four-term Chair of the Finnish Society for Development Research (FSDR).Above all, Bonn considers himself a “student of capitalism”—investigating its political-economic, geopolitical, socio-ecological, and technological dimensions. His work bridges global political economy, heterodox economics, and post-colonialism, offering critical insights into the phenomena of “authoritarian neoliberalism” (i.e., a neoliberal economy embedded in the politics of authoritarianism) and “authoritarian populism” (i.e., the popular legitimacy given to anti-democratic personalities and practices), while contributing to conceptualizations of “securitization” (i.e., the dominance of security institutions and agents over societal spheres) and “just sustainability” (i.e., sustainable futures firmly grounded in the principle of justice).In this wide-ranging conversation, Bonn shares his personal and intellectual journey from the Philippines and Malaysia to Estonia, Denmark, and Finland, reflecting on his consciousness formation through lived experiences, progressive mentorship, and pivotal moments that shaped his worldview. He also expands our understanding of extractivisms today by sharing ideas from his contemporary endeavors and writings: examining rent-seeking and extractivist activities of governance elites and the oligarchic class; interrogating the historical-structural link of capitalist development with war and conflict, whereby valuable nature and human beings are prematurely disposed of and profitably transformed into wasted lives and into wasteful things; drawing on his recent policy study on worker and data extractivism in the interplay between labor and technology under conditions of competition-driven AI and other new technical innovations; and reflecting on his ongoing project studying the transnational recruitment and migration of Filipino nurses to the Finnish healthcare system—exposing the contradictions, devaluation, racialization, and inequalities in extractive transnational care relations and the crisis of social reproduction in both a Global South nation and a Nordic welfare state.Confronting complex global crises, Bonn leaves us with a reflexive framework for activist scholarship, taking a cue from Gramsci's “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.” He makes an inspiring appeal to treat development studies as a prefigurative discipline of conscience—emphasizing means-ends consistency, everyday ethical action, and the indispensable power of collective movements in making a difference.Want to learn more about Bonn's work? Check out his academic profile here: https://www.jyu.fi/en/people/bonn-juego

This month we were delighted to be joined by our colleague Jenni Viitala. Jenni did her PhD at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Helsinki and is currently working on a post-doc at Aalto University. In this episode, Jenni tells us about the work she undertook during her doctorate. This monograph explored how and where planetary metal supply chains connect and disconnect. In particular, Jenni looked at what happens in particular spaces of extraction, such as at the physical gold mining site in the Ecuadorian Amazon and where the mined gold is refined in Finland. These two disparate places are intertwined in surprising ways through the workings of the global supply chain and the production of gold. She unpacks how the sites of extraction and refining are co-dependent. These types of connect are underexplored in academic research. Jenni gives us insight into both of the places themselves and their connections and where there is potential for disconnect as well. Join us for this interesting dive into two unique sites involved in global extractivism. Read Jenni’s monograph, Tracing gold : An ethnography across a planetary supply chain, here: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-84-1264-9Check out Jenni’s research profile here: https://www.nodus.aalto.fi/nodusians/jenni-viitala. 

This month we are delighted to be joined by our colleague from Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki, María Soledad Paz. Her research looks at the interplay of water and avocado plantations in central Chile. Currently, water is being diverted from rivers to feed the avocados which has deleterious effects on the land and the community that is dependent on the land. Small holder farmers are no longer able to sustain their livelihoods and local production while on the next hill the avocado plantations are thriving because they take the water. This area is an area in Chile where agro-extractivism runs rampant as most of the agricultural produce is exported at the expense of the land and people in place. María introduces us to some of the deeper issues with what is happening where avocados are produced which are not always considered when avocados are being consumed in Europe. We explore this disconnection in depth. Join us for this wide ranging and interesting conversation!Interested to check out María’s work? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/mar%C3%ADa-soledad-paz/

This month we were delighted to be joined by a colleague from Social and Cultural Anthropology at University of Helsinki. Stefan Millar is a Social Anthropologist who specializes in the state, migration, colonialism, and infrastructures. Stefan is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care. Our conversation focused most directly on Stefan’s PhD research, which examined the role of the state in the context of Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya. Stefan has focused on the state and infrastructures within the space of the refugee camp. Stefan gives us insight into his personal trajectory and how he got interested in the long durée implications of colonialism. In his current work in Kenya, he is looking at urban infrastructures that refugees create to mitigate the end of aid (US Aid and the withdrawal of European aid), especially in relation to food and water. Stefan is interested in how people navigate this context and what alternatives they develop to continue surviving under the conditions of redistribution of aid. On the theoretical side, we talked extensively about Stefan’s critique of Giorgio Agamben’s state of exception. Join us for this layered and exciting conversation!Interested to learn more about Stefan’s work? https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/people/people-finder/stefan-millar-9472907 Want to read Stefan’s PhD dissertation? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/files/254098602/1._EncampedStatesMillar.pdf KANERE, Kakuma based journalism:https://kanere.org/about-kakuma-refugee-camp/KRIN, network for Kakuma based refugee-led organizations:https://reframe.network/rlo/kakuma-kalobeyei-refugee-led-initiatives-kkrin

This month we were honored to sit down with Professor Ortwin Renn to talk about the concept of polycrisis. Ortwin works with the World Academy Info Hub, Existential Threats and Risks to All InfoHub (EXTRA), as the Director of Systemic Risk Research. This episode is the second produced in collaboration with the join EXTRA/EXALT webinar “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” (see link below). Ortwin is social scientist focusing on risk governance who has had a long and storied career. Currently, he serves as a professor emeritus for environmental sociology and technology assessment at the University of Stuttgart and directs the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for the investigation of communication and participation processes. In our conversation we talk about sustainable practices and how they can be implemented in society. We start our conversation with how Ortwin got involved with sustainability and how he discovered his interest in social movements and particularly why people get involved in social movements, especially focuses on technology and how there can be a livable co-evolution between nature and society. Ortwin shared that one of the biggest developments he has seen over his career is that it used to feel like we were facing one crisis at a time, while today is feels like there are multiple, interconnected crisis. Join us for this insightful conversation on polycrisis and its existential and practical implications!Want to learn more about Ortwin’s academic work? See:His profile at the Research Institute for Sustainability https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/people/ortwin-renn and the non-profit DIALOGIK https://www.dialogik-expert.de/en Want to learn more about his work at the World Academy? Check out the EXTRA website. https://worldacademy.org/extra/ Want to check out the webinar co-hosted by EXTRA and EXALT, “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” You can find it on the EXTRA YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/emyOYEh2oZQ?si=dxkaNNIjWcqInwfP

This month we are delighted to be in conversation with Thomas Reuter, a Professor at the Asia Institute of The University of Melbourne. His research focuses on transformative social change, food systems, and transitions to sustainability in Asia and beyond. He is on the board of the World Academy (WAAS) and serves as the Chair of the Existential Threats and Risks to All InfoHub (EXTRA). In this conversation we learned about Thomas’ academic development and how he got interested in extractivism as a concept. Thomas has worked extensively in Indonesia, especially looking at the food systems and the devastating effects of plantation agriculture. Thomas gives us some insight into the enduring colonial legacy in modern extractivist ventures. We started the conversation learning about the changes in Indonesia over the past several decades, from the dominance of subsistence agriculture to “modern” monocultural agriculture. The knock-on effects from this “development” extend to land use, health, labor relations, and the rise of cash economies, among many others. We discussed the role of consumption and our societal values and their environmental impact. Join us for this wide-ranging and insightful conversation!! Want to learn more about Thomas’s academic work and engagement? See: His ResearchGate Profile and His LinkedIn Want to learn more about his work at the World Academy? Check out the EXTRA website.Want to check out the webinar co-hosted by EXTRA and EXALT, “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” You can find it on the EXTRA YouTube channel.

This month we were delighted to have a conversation with Vivian Price, a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki. Presently she is working with Janette Kotivirta, Doctoral researcher in World Politics at University of Helsinki, on a video dialogue project on just transitions. Vivian comes to Helsinki from California State University Dominguez Hills, where she is a Professor in Interdisciplinary, Environmental and Women's Studies. Vivian shares insight with us about her blue-collar work history and long-term experience working to strengthen labour and environmental standards. Prior to earning her doctorate as a non-traditional student, Vivian worked in restaurants, offices, and as a union member in factories, refineries, and construction sites, which served to develop and deepen her understanding of working-class struggles. She has also been an apprenticeship instructor and officer in the International Brother (& Sister) -hood of Electrical Workers, and once a professor, became an officer in the California Faculty Association. Vivian looks at climate justice through the lens of the worker, with the hope of connecting unions, scientists, communities, and environmentalists. This is a fresh perspective and allows us to explore new spaces in the discussion on the impacts of extractivism. Vivian wishes to share a message of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the US resisting ICE. We support this message and also stand in solidarity.If you would like to learn more about Vivian’s work, please check out the links below. Vivian’s University Profile https://www.csudh.edu/labor-studies/faculty/vivian-price Feature-length documentariesHammering It Out (2000, 56 min) Distributor, Women Make Movies Description here Transnational Tradeswomen (2006, 56 min) Distributor, Women Make Movies Description hereHarvest of Loneliness (2010, 56 min) Distributor, Film Media Group. Description hereShorts on Just TransitionTalking Union Talking Climate (2023, 15 mins) Three oil workers (a Nigerian, a Norwegian and a Californian) have a conversation about what it's like to be a unionist, how their companies view unions, how their companies distribute profits, and their views on climate change and the future of the oil industry. Based on research with the WAGE team at the University of Oslo and OsloMet.Voices from the green transition (2025, 14 mins) How are workers and communities experiencing the transition away from coal in South Africa and the extraction of lithium in Chile? This short film highlighting the ideas of marginalized groups is based on research from the Just Transition: action, concepts, debates and strategies research project at the University of Leeds.Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7GOu9hUsF4

In this very special bonus episode of the TreesForDev podcast we are joined by Project PI Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes and Péronne. Aude describes herself as catalyzer and designer for positive systemic change in local communities worldwide, with a special expertise on ecosystem stewardship and community development and the coordination of the commons. We start the conversation with insight into Aude’s background and how she got involved in ecological restoration. Aude works on several different layers—the ecological, the social, and the economic—always with a focus on the ways in which people relate to each other and the environment. She is currently working in Kenya at Grassroots Economics looking at questions of how to transform a degraded economy into an economy that is good for all. In particular she works on implementation of rotational labor associations where members of the community work together for the good of the community. Aude gives us practiced based insights into how this reciprocal, trust-based system works. Learn more about Aude work and read her article on Substack https://substack.com/@audeperonne?utm_source=user-menu Connect with Aude on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/aude-p%C3%A9ronne-153975250/ Learn more about the Trees For Development project here www.treesfordev.fi 

This month we were delighted to be joined by Tom Royer who is a Visiting Researcher at the Arctic Centre and a Doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Law at University of Lapland. Tom’s work revolves around commercial space ports in the arctic from a more-than-human perspective. This work combines critical legal studies, multispecies justice, and extractivism. These space ports are hubs where commercial spacecraft are stored, worked on, launched, and re-entered (sometimes whole, sometimes not). The Arctic is not a new venue for commercial space activities, with some ports having a more than 50-year history. This is partially because satellites orbiting the poles can circle the globe in a single day. Tom opens a whole world to us in relation to commercial space ports and gives us a lot of food for thought in terms of impacts of these operations. Tom would like to make sure listeners are aware that everything he says during the episode is his own critical interpretations rather than simple factual statements. While his arguments map onto existing critical literature, they are still his own interpretation of his and, therefore, stand as supported analytical claims. Want to learn more about Tom’s work? Check out his university profile https://research.ulapland.fi/en/persons/tom-royer/ Check out High North News https://www.highnorthnews.com/en Check out Barents Observer https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/ Check out Keeptrack.space https://keeptrack.space/