In the Amazon: Indigenous Peoples and the Politics of Nature

3 units

As it turns out, James Cameron's Avatar is not so far from the truth. The Amazon region of South America has long been home to indigenous peoples and civilizations, but has been radically transformed by several hundred years of European colonization, the rise of nation-states and armies, and the ongoing extraction of natural resources for the global market. The battle over the meaning and use of nature and peoples' relations to it have been central throughout this history and are so today. Now environmentalists, national governments, global corporations, and indigenous social movements are engaged in a struggle over the future of the Amazon. We will explore these relationships between indigenous peoples and others in light of this history. We will study and compare indigenous and Euro-American views of nature. We will consider how indigenous peoples, environmentalists, and other peoples confront global efforts to gain access to natural resources. We will ask how global flows like oil, cocaine, guns, and carbon credits connect our lives to theirs. We will explore how 'modern' ideas about race and nature have linked indigenous peoples to processes as varied as the enslavement of African peoples and modern plans for development. What might the Amazon and its peoples and politics teach us about ourselves and the future of our shared global environment? Open to January Program Students only.