Tom Royer - How do the earth and space exist in a continuum of sustainability (or unsustainability)?

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 to onto existing critical literature, they are still his own interpretation of his and 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/ 

This month we are delighted to have a conversation with Sabaheta Ramcilović-Suominen, who is an Associate Professor in International Forest Policy and Governance at the Natural Resources Institute, Finland (LUKE). Saba talks to us about her contributions to the recently published, open access book, Socioecological Transformations: Linking Ontologies with Structures, Personal with Collective Change. Sabaheta has a dual role in this book, as a chapter contributor and as the editor. We start the conversation with some insights into Sabaheta’s personal journey into research and how she got to be interested in concepts like non-duality and inner change in the context of working toward sustainability. This episode particularly covers the concept of separation, as a root cause of socioecological distress and alienation, and radical intraconnectedness, as a lens that tackles the illusion of separation and how that informs the wider literature on socioecological transformations. Sabaheta also gives us a sneak peek into the five or six opening chapters, and some of the topics and concepts tackled there. Thus, many of the important contributions and chapters are not introduced or discussed. If you are interested to learn more about the book, please check it out here https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/104337/9781040406724.pdf?sequence=1&isA. In addition, if you would like to hear more, there is a digital Book Launch on 9.12.2025, which will spotlight many of the chapters not covered in this episode. More information on the book launch here: https://justglobeproject.com/book-launch-socioecological-transformations-linking-ontologies-with-structures-personal-with-collective-change-part-ii/.If you would like to learn more about Sabaheta’s work, please check out her latest project website https://justglobeproject.com/ and her research profile  https://www.luke.fi/en/experts/sabaheta-ramciloviksuominen. 

This month we are honored to be joined by Georgia de Leeuw who is a post-doctoral researcher in Human Rights Studies at Lund University. Georgia’s research has focused on Swedish mining and steel transition, in which steel is produced with hydrogen instead of coal. We start the conversation talking about Swedish exceptionalism and what this means in relation to mining. This opens into a more general discussion of the colonial project and how it has played out in the Nordic context. Within the Nordic context, while colonialism did not often include crossing an ocean, there has still been intense colonial activity in the north and continuing violations of Indigenous rights. We then continue into discussing the role of techno optimism and how extractivism is framed by industry as a positive project, something that is required for development and survival. Georgia looks at advocates and resistance to mining and green steel through the lens of psychoanalysis. Join us for this amazing conversation!Would you like to learn more about Georgia’s work? https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/georgia-de-leeuwArtists and other resources mentioned in the show:Reindeer herder and co-author of forthcoming article: Rickard Länta, leading figure in the Sami resistance against mining in Jåhkågasska reindeer herding communityAuthors:Elin Anna Labba, Ann-Helén LaestadiusMovies:Stolen (2024) accessible on Neflix, based on the book by Ann-Helen LaestadiusLet the River Flow (2023)Artists: Anders Sunna, Timimie Märak and Maxida Märak, Sofia Jannok

(UPDATE: Open access book out now! Link below) This month we are delighted to be joined by Markus Kröger, professor of Global Development Studies at University of Helsinki. Markus has joined the show before as a founder of the EXALT Initiative and as a PI in the Trees for Development project. This time Markus is here to talk to us about his new book from University of Cambridge Press, Clearcut: Political Economies of Deforestation. This open access book will be published open access in October 2025. Markus gives us a sneak peek into the key topics of the book, primarily the mechanisms of regionally dominant political economies (RDPE) and the role they play in driving extractive sectors. To make this novel theorization, Markus looked at cattle capitalism in Brazil, narco-gold in the Amazon, and paper pulping in Finland. Markus shows how these three different RDPEs drive deforestation in their respective locations.  Interested in reading Clearcut? (Open access out now!) https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/clearcut/8BBC0BFBF9AF30A01D4A1F6F6DA8E89C Interested in learning more about Markus’ work? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/markus-kr%C3%B6ger  Interest in the Trees For Development Project? https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/trees-for-development   

This week we had the pleasure to be joined by Nikolai Siimes, who is a more than human geographer at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. In addition to his academic research, he has worked for almost a decade in the wine sector in different capacities. He describes his PhD as an ethnography of wine, which uses wine as a case to follow microbes and human–microbe relations in agriculture. He uses “sensory and embodied ethnographic methods to examine microbial agency, agricultural governance, and the sensory-material politics of food and drink.” Nikolai starts our conversation by reminding us that microbes are everywhere and make up everything. Nikolai brings us to the microbial level and helps us think through their worlds and worldings and how our actions affect the microbial realm, for example with the use of pesticides in vineyards. This work takes microbes seriously as cultural agents within the world, rejecting simple accounts of microbes as inert and mechanistic. If you want to learn more about Nikolai’s work, check out the links below:University Profile https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/nikolai-siimes If you want to read some of Nikolai’s publications:Having a drink with awkward Brett: Brettanomyces, taste(s) and wine/markets - An article on Awkward Brettanomyces https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nzg.12368Making Time with Microbes - A recent book chapter discussing microbial temporalities and sensory ways of relating to wine microbes http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032632995-11

We are delighted to welcome Alexander Dunlap back to the EXALT podcast for a conversation about his latest work. Xander has been looking at rare earth element mining, lithium mining, and solar panel lifecycles in the United States. Right now, he is writing up the research on the disposal and decommissioning of solar panels, which is where our conversation kicks off. Xander found that even in highly regulated states it is more economically efficient to just landfill them rather than recycle them (even if they would be technically recyclable). Low carbon technologies are being used in a lot of insidious ways in industrial and capitalist societies. We need to really reflect on what renewability really means and we need to think hard as researchers before we blindly engage with public relations words (i.e. sustainability, renewability). Check out the Justice in Renewable Energy Supply Chains projects investigating the life cycle of solar panels on the ground, where you can find more information, articles and policy briefs:https://www.bu.edu/igs/research/projects/justice-in-renewable-energy-supply-chains/ If you would like to check out Xander’s other episodes, here are the direct links:How is this system killing us and what can we do? https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/xander-dunlap-how-is-this-system-killing-us-and-what-can-we-do/id1499621252?i=1000650809357 Until You Become Ungovernable, Why Would Anyone Listen to You? https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/alexander-dunlap-until-you-become-ungovernable-why/id1499621252?i=1000587449856 Is "green energy" really that green (and is it better called "fossil fuel plus")? https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/alexander-dunlap-is-green-energy-really-that-green/id1499621252?i=1000506999251  Check out Xander’s upcoming talk (26 Aug. 2025, 14:00-16:00) at University of Copenhagen https://cape.ku.dk/eng/calendar/2025/exploring-the-life-of-solar-panels/  Want to learn more about Xander’s work? Check out his research profiles here: https://www.bu.edu/igs/profile/alexander-dunlap/https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/alexander-dunlaphttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexander-Dunlap?ev=hdr_xprf  

This month we are joined by Taru Salmenkari who does research on Chinese NGOs. Taru has a long career studying China, NGOs, and the role of civil society. We are super lucky to catch Taru right as her new book comes out, Global Ideas, Local Adaptations: Chinese Activism and the Will to Make Civil Society. By “exploring the boundaries, fringes, and inner workings of civil society” this book “investigates local forms of political agency in China in light of the globalization of political values, practices, and institutions.” We talked about the book and focused on how the introduction of NGO society to new places requires glocalization to make NGOs locally relevant. Taru highlighted how locals use NGOs for their own aims and in their own ways, which often diverges from the wishes of civil society promoters. Taru explained how civil society promotion uses theoretically and methodologically problematic forms of information extraction about NGOs. Join us for this wide ranging and interesting conversation!Want to check out some of Taru’s work?Profile at University of Helsinki https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/taru-salmenkari/publications/Global Ideas, Local Adaptations: Chinese Activism and the Will to Make Civil Society https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/global-ideas-local-adaptations-9781035316670.html Civil Society in China and Taiwan: Agency, Class and Boundaries https://www.routledge.com/Civil-Society-in-China-and-Taiwan-Agency-Class-and-Boundaries/Salmenkari/p/book/9780367209193 

This month we are very excited to be trying out a different format as we are joined by two former guests, Manuela Picq and Markus Kröger. Manuela and Markus both have work related to resistance efforts and we thought that their respective work would come together into a quite interesting discussion. First each gives insight into their respective experiences and then we talk collectively about their experiences. Manuela gives us a peek into her work as a water defender in Ecuador, while Markus shares his experiences working with resistance movements in India and Brazil. They bring together the lessons and strategies for resistance groups they have written about and discussed on the podcast previously, looking at synergies and overlaps that individuals and groups can bring into their work to increase the likelihood of their resistance succeeding. Even though they come from quite different contexts, there are many points of overlap and fertile ground for a robust discussion. Manuela’s first episode https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/manuela-picq-what-lessons-can-activists-resistance/id1499621252?i=1000704855663 Want to learn more about Manuela’s work? https://www.manuelapicq.com/ Markus’ first episode https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/markus-kr%C3%B6ger-what-is-the-best-way-to-push-for-change/id1499621252?i=1000496576381 Want to learn more about Markus’ work? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/markus-kr%C3%B6ger 

This month we had a compelling conversation with Manuela Picq, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Political Science and Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies at Amherst College (USA). However, this academic work is just part of Manuela’s life as she lives between Massachusetts and Ecuador where she is an activist defending the water and Indigenous livelihoods. Manuela blends academics, activism, legal action, and land defense. Manuela gives us insight into what it means to be a water defender and what the struggle means over time and the duration of a life. She highlights the importance of building a community and complimenting each other within the wider fabric of a resistance effort. We are reminded that nothing can be defended that is bigger than ourselves on our own. Manuela gives us insight into her experiences and the things that have happened to her within working against extractivist forces. Interested to learn more about Manuela’s work? https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/mpicq You can watch her keynote talk from the Development Days 2025 conference on the Finnish Society for Development Research’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRuAL7qgxxw&list=PLbjidPMU6Z_Hhtlq1H1sWY-LiK7TPn2rK&index=3 

This month we are honoured to be joined by one of our colleagues from Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki. Tiina Seppälä came to Global Development Studies by way of International Relations. Her work has looked at global inequalities, poverty, war, and social justice issues among many others. Activism is also an area of interest and Tiina has worked with peace activists in the UK, slum and women’s rights activists in South Asia, as well as asylum seekers in the Finnish context. Tiina gives us insight into her trajectory and how she naturally progressed from one project to another and how funding has had an impact on the directions of her career. During her fieldwork she had some interesting encounters with the dark side of development, or what could be called maldevelopment. Tiina speaks openly and honestly about her own positionality within research and some of the mismatches between the theoretical and the real. The role of unlearning can sometimes be just as important as the role of learning. Tiina gives us insight into the ways in which artistic methods have played a role in how she approaches her research. Our conversation is wide ranging and quite compelling!Want to learn more about Tiina’s work? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/tiina-sisko-sepp%C3%A4l%C3%A4 Want to learn more about The Finnish Society for Development Research (FSDR)? https://www.kehitystutkimus.fi/?page_id=326