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Articles, Book Chapters, and Encyclopedia Entries by Elvin Delgado De Jesús
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Resource Geography, 2021
This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing ... more This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing on my own history of involvement with debates and controversies surrounding the development of solar power in Kittitas County, Washington. It explores the ways in which county residents debate the siting of large-scale solar projects in prime irrigated agricultural land proposed by private firms in Seattle. The chapter offers my perspectives regarding the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from engaging in local issues in and around where I live and work. I argue that critical resource geographers are well equipped to engage in academic praxis beyond academia and apply critical social theory to shed light on resource issues affecting the communities where they live. However, doing so requires institutional support and an open space that promotes communication between that faculty and her/his department to articulate the importance of academic praxis and community engagement for the department, the university, and the community. I find that the nature of community engagement shifts when it happens where one lives and works rather than in a distant place where it may be contained within the spaces and time frames of fieldwork from which one returns when done.
Journal of Latin American Geography, 2018
This article explores struggles over shale fuel development in the Vaca Muerta formation in the P... more This article explores struggles over shale fuel development in the Vaca Muerta formation in the Province of Neuquén in northern Patagonia, Argentina. In particular, this article provides a socio-geographical analysis to elucidate the legal framework used to control underground deposits and critically explore the socioeconomic implications of fracking activities in the community of Añelo, where the infrastructure to support fracking activities is being developed. By analyzing the relationships between national strategies to recover hydrocarbon sovereignty to achieve energy self-sufficiency, provincial government attempts to develop shale deposits to increase the revenue generated from their rent, and everyday lives of citizens in Añelo, this study aims to illuminate the myriad complexities inherent to issues of access to and control over unconventional deposits, the commodification of shale deposits, and the impacts associated with their extraction in a changing energy landscape. The article argues that the socioeconomic impacts experienced in Añelo are not only the direct consequence of the boomtown scenario resulting from the exploitation of Vaca Muerta, but this process is in part the end-result of a national strategy spearheaded by the government to secure the accumulation of capital through shale fuels rent as part of a broader agenda to achieve energy sovereignty. It further contends that changes in Añelo are the direct result of neoextractivism, where the primary agents responsible for the boom-town scenario in the community are the state-owned YPF, in joint venture with inter-national oil and gas companies.
Key words: energy sovereignty, hydraulic fracturing, energy landscapes, Argentina, Vaca Muerta, Añelo, unconventional deposits, shale oil, shale gas, petro-capitalism, livelihoods
Journal of Latin American Geography, 2018
Society & Natural Resources, 2017
This article provides a critical analysis of the process involved in transforming small-scale art... more This article provides a critical analysis of the process involved in transforming small-scale artisanal production of solar salt into large- scale industrial production by Produsal in Los Olivitos Wildlife Refuge and Fishing Reserve in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. In doing so, it highlights the socioecological impacts resulting from this process in the wetland and the fishing community of Ancón de Iturre. Using political economy of nature as a theoretical framework, especially notions of the formal subsumption of nature, materiality of natural resources, and the commodification of nature, this article explores how the biophysical characteristic of salt and the ecosystem where it is contained present a specific set of natural obstacles for its production; the different strategies used by Produsal to overcome these obstacles; and the social and ecological contradictions embedded in the process.
The Routledge Research Companion to Energy Geographies, Stefan Bouzarovski, Martin J. Pasqualetti and Vanessa Castan Broto (eds.), Routledge Press, pp. 330-346. , 2017
This chapter explores the conflictive energy landscape produced by the petrochemical revolution u... more This chapter explores the conflictive energy landscape produced by the petrochemical revolution under late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez from a critical perspective. Using the production of Petrocasas (houses made out of plastic) as a case study, I analyze the particular type of social and ecological impacts associated with its production at multiple scales. In doing so, I examine how the biophysical characteristics of oil and natural gas not only shape the development of this project, but also how their petrochemical transformations into Petrocasas created a conflictive energy landscape that may be obscured by the commodification process itself. I argue that not only does the petrochemical sector play an important role in the commodification of fossil fuels, but that it is also one of the most important actors in the modernization strategies of most petro-states today. I further suggest that petrochemical industries have become both vehicles of capital conversion and accumulation for many petro-states.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2016
Energy issues are becoming increasingly common subjects of instruction in undergraduate- and grad... more Energy issues are becoming increasingly common subjects of instruction in undergraduate- and graduate-level classrooms across a variety of disciplines. The interdisciplinary character of energy studies provides geographers with a great opportunity to present different applied and theoretical approaches to help students conceptualize energy issues from a critical perspective. This article presents a class intervention as an example of how to incorporate geographic concepts and political economic theory into the classroom to help students understand the social, political, economic, and environmental implications of energy production, distribution, and consumption at multiple scales from a critical perspective.
Syracuse University, 2012
This dissertation examines how the livelihoods and health of fishers in the community of Ancón de... more This dissertation examines how the livelihoods and health of fishers in the community of Ancón de Iturre have been affected by the industrial production of solar salt used mostly for the extraction and petrochemical transformations of fossil fuels in Lake Maracaibo. I argue that even though the productive infrastructure of resource extraction industries are spatially fixed in place, the social and environmental consequences resulting from the production of oil and natural gas happen not just in situ. Rather they are re-produced at different times and geographic scales away from the extraction sites as a result of the extensive spatial reach of fossil fuels.
The project, grounded in political ecology and political economy of nature, endeavors to unravel the socio-ecological contradictions that emerge from the complex relations between nature and society in Ancón de Iturre. In order to uncover the complex interactions between the different actors involved in this study, I develop an approach that blends an evaluation of broader-scale material and institutional interconnections with an ethnographically oriented analysis of the day-to-day dynamics of fisher’s struggle to consolidate their livelihoods. This approach utilized a mix of qualitative methods such as archival work, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and participant observation.
Chapter 1 introduces the research problem, the theoretical framework, the overarching argument and the methods used in this dissertation. Chapter 2 explores the history of oil politics in Venezuela since 1914 and the systematic social and environmental consequences of these processes in Lake Maracaibo. Chapter 3 examines the role of the petrochemical industry on the transformation of fossil fuels into different commodities derived from plastics, especially PVC as a modernization strategy directed by Hugo Chávez’ petrochemical revolution. Chapter 4 investigates the symbiotic relationship that exists between fossil fuel extraction, petrochemical transformations, and salt production in Venezuela by paying special attention to their material and institutional interconnections throughout the hydrocarbon commodity chain. Chapter 5 examines the socio-ecological asymmetries of industrial salt production in the southern section of Los Olivitos in the context of: (1) the relations between land appropriation, enclosure and subsequent privatization of Los Olivitos by PRODUSAL; (2) the internal divisions between scholars and environmental activists to conceptualize socio-ecological struggles in Ancón de Iturre; and (3) the effects of these processes in the community’s ability to secure their livelihoods. Finally, in Chapter 6, I recap the main findings of the dissertation, draw attention to the importance of salt, and suggest a future research agenda.
Encyclopedia of Energy, (Ed.) M. Pierce, Golson Media: Salem Press., 2012
Encyclopedia of Energy, (Ed.) M. Pierce, Golson Media: Salem Press., 2012
Papers by Elvin Delgado De Jesús
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Resource Geography, 2021
This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing ... more This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing on my own history of involvement with debates and controversies surrounding the development of solar power in Kittitas County, Washington. It explores the ways in which county residents debate the siting of large-scale solar projects in prime irrigated agricultural land proposed by private firms in Seattle. The chapter offers my perspectives regarding the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from engaging in local issues in and around where I live and work. I argue that critical resource geographers are well equipped to engage in academic praxis beyond academia and apply critical social theory to shed light on resource issues affecting the communities where they live. However, doing so requires institutional support and an open space that promotes communication between that faculty and her/his department to articulate the importance of academic praxis and community engagement for the department, the university, and the community. I find that the nature of community engagement shifts when it happens where one lives and works rather than in a distant place where it may be contained within the spaces and time frames of fieldwork from which one returns when done.
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Resource Geography, 2021
This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing ... more This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing on my own history of involvement with debates and controversies surrounding the development of solar power in Kittitas County, Washington. It explores the ways in which county residents debate the siting of large-scale solar projects in prime irrigated agricultural land proposed by private firms in Seattle. The chapter offers my perspectives regarding the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from engaging in local issues in and around where I live and work. I argue that critical resource geographers are well equipped to engage in academic praxis beyond academia and apply critical social theory to shed light on resource issues affecting the communities where they live. However, doing so requires institutional support and an open space that promotes communication between that faculty and her/his department to articulate the importance of academic praxis and community engagement for the department, the university, and the community. I find that the nature of community engagement shifts when it happens where one lives and works rather than in a distant place where it may be contained within the spaces and time frames of fieldwork from which one returns when done.
Journal of Latin American Geography, 2018
This article explores struggles over shale fuel development in the Vaca Muerta formation in the P... more This article explores struggles over shale fuel development in the Vaca Muerta formation in the Province of Neuquén in northern Patagonia, Argentina. In particular, this article provides a socio-geographical analysis to elucidate the legal framework used to control underground deposits and critically explore the socioeconomic implications of fracking activities in the community of Añelo, where the infrastructure to support fracking activities is being developed. By analyzing the relationships between national strategies to recover hydrocarbon sovereignty to achieve energy self-sufficiency, provincial government attempts to develop shale deposits to increase the revenue generated from their rent, and everyday lives of citizens in Añelo, this study aims to illuminate the myriad complexities inherent to issues of access to and control over unconventional deposits, the commodification of shale deposits, and the impacts associated with their extraction in a changing energy landscape. The article argues that the socioeconomic impacts experienced in Añelo are not only the direct consequence of the boomtown scenario resulting from the exploitation of Vaca Muerta, but this process is in part the end-result of a national strategy spearheaded by the government to secure the accumulation of capital through shale fuels rent as part of a broader agenda to achieve energy sovereignty. It further contends that changes in Añelo are the direct result of neoextractivism, where the primary agents responsible for the boom-town scenario in the community are the state-owned YPF, in joint venture with inter-national oil and gas companies.
Key words: energy sovereignty, hydraulic fracturing, energy landscapes, Argentina, Vaca Muerta, Añelo, unconventional deposits, shale oil, shale gas, petro-capitalism, livelihoods
Journal of Latin American Geography, 2018
Society & Natural Resources, 2017
This article provides a critical analysis of the process involved in transforming small-scale art... more This article provides a critical analysis of the process involved in transforming small-scale artisanal production of solar salt into large- scale industrial production by Produsal in Los Olivitos Wildlife Refuge and Fishing Reserve in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. In doing so, it highlights the socioecological impacts resulting from this process in the wetland and the fishing community of Ancón de Iturre. Using political economy of nature as a theoretical framework, especially notions of the formal subsumption of nature, materiality of natural resources, and the commodification of nature, this article explores how the biophysical characteristic of salt and the ecosystem where it is contained present a specific set of natural obstacles for its production; the different strategies used by Produsal to overcome these obstacles; and the social and ecological contradictions embedded in the process.
The Routledge Research Companion to Energy Geographies, Stefan Bouzarovski, Martin J. Pasqualetti and Vanessa Castan Broto (eds.), Routledge Press, pp. 330-346. , 2017
This chapter explores the conflictive energy landscape produced by the petrochemical revolution u... more This chapter explores the conflictive energy landscape produced by the petrochemical revolution under late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez from a critical perspective. Using the production of Petrocasas (houses made out of plastic) as a case study, I analyze the particular type of social and ecological impacts associated with its production at multiple scales. In doing so, I examine how the biophysical characteristics of oil and natural gas not only shape the development of this project, but also how their petrochemical transformations into Petrocasas created a conflictive energy landscape that may be obscured by the commodification process itself. I argue that not only does the petrochemical sector play an important role in the commodification of fossil fuels, but that it is also one of the most important actors in the modernization strategies of most petro-states today. I further suggest that petrochemical industries have become both vehicles of capital conversion and accumulation for many petro-states.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2016
Energy issues are becoming increasingly common subjects of instruction in undergraduate- and grad... more Energy issues are becoming increasingly common subjects of instruction in undergraduate- and graduate-level classrooms across a variety of disciplines. The interdisciplinary character of energy studies provides geographers with a great opportunity to present different applied and theoretical approaches to help students conceptualize energy issues from a critical perspective. This article presents a class intervention as an example of how to incorporate geographic concepts and political economic theory into the classroom to help students understand the social, political, economic, and environmental implications of energy production, distribution, and consumption at multiple scales from a critical perspective.
Syracuse University, 2012
This dissertation examines how the livelihoods and health of fishers in the community of Ancón de... more This dissertation examines how the livelihoods and health of fishers in the community of Ancón de Iturre have been affected by the industrial production of solar salt used mostly for the extraction and petrochemical transformations of fossil fuels in Lake Maracaibo. I argue that even though the productive infrastructure of resource extraction industries are spatially fixed in place, the social and environmental consequences resulting from the production of oil and natural gas happen not just in situ. Rather they are re-produced at different times and geographic scales away from the extraction sites as a result of the extensive spatial reach of fossil fuels.
The project, grounded in political ecology and political economy of nature, endeavors to unravel the socio-ecological contradictions that emerge from the complex relations between nature and society in Ancón de Iturre. In order to uncover the complex interactions between the different actors involved in this study, I develop an approach that blends an evaluation of broader-scale material and institutional interconnections with an ethnographically oriented analysis of the day-to-day dynamics of fisher’s struggle to consolidate their livelihoods. This approach utilized a mix of qualitative methods such as archival work, document analysis, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and participant observation.
Chapter 1 introduces the research problem, the theoretical framework, the overarching argument and the methods used in this dissertation. Chapter 2 explores the history of oil politics in Venezuela since 1914 and the systematic social and environmental consequences of these processes in Lake Maracaibo. Chapter 3 examines the role of the petrochemical industry on the transformation of fossil fuels into different commodities derived from plastics, especially PVC as a modernization strategy directed by Hugo Chávez’ petrochemical revolution. Chapter 4 investigates the symbiotic relationship that exists between fossil fuel extraction, petrochemical transformations, and salt production in Venezuela by paying special attention to their material and institutional interconnections throughout the hydrocarbon commodity chain. Chapter 5 examines the socio-ecological asymmetries of industrial salt production in the southern section of Los Olivitos in the context of: (1) the relations between land appropriation, enclosure and subsequent privatization of Los Olivitos by PRODUSAL; (2) the internal divisions between scholars and environmental activists to conceptualize socio-ecological struggles in Ancón de Iturre; and (3) the effects of these processes in the community’s ability to secure their livelihoods. Finally, in Chapter 6, I recap the main findings of the dissertation, draw attention to the importance of salt, and suggest a future research agenda.
Encyclopedia of Energy, (Ed.) M. Pierce, Golson Media: Salem Press., 2012
Encyclopedia of Energy, (Ed.) M. Pierce, Golson Media: Salem Press., 2012
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Resource Geography, 2021
This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing ... more This chapter reflects upon the role of critical resource geographers beyond academia by focusing on my own history of involvement with debates and controversies surrounding the development of solar power in Kittitas County, Washington. It explores the ways in which county residents debate the siting of large-scale solar projects in prime irrigated agricultural land proposed by private firms in Seattle. The chapter offers my perspectives regarding the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from engaging in local issues in and around where I live and work. I argue that critical resource geographers are well equipped to engage in academic praxis beyond academia and apply critical social theory to shed light on resource issues affecting the communities where they live. However, doing so requires institutional support and an open space that promotes communication between that faculty and her/his department to articulate the importance of academic praxis and community engagement for the department, the university, and the community. I find that the nature of community engagement shifts when it happens where one lives and works rather than in a distant place where it may be contained within the spaces and time frames of fieldwork from which one returns when done.