Anna F Laing | University of Sussex (original) (raw)
Papers by Anna F Laing
Journal of Geography in Higher Education , 2021
Student-led movements have called for the decolonization of the Higher Education (HE) system in t... more Student-led movements have called for the decolonization of the
Higher Education (HE) system in the UK, as well as elsewhere. Much
of the onus within British geography has been on decolonizing
geographical knowledges, recognizing the role of the discipline in
the colonial project. This paper expands on these literatures by
examining how work on critical pedagogies can deepen the decolonizing
agenda within geography. In other words, it is not only
what we teach that matters, but how. Using the perspectives of
undergraduate geography and international development students
at the University of Sussex taking a module entitled “Decolonial
Movements”, I reflect on how to decolonize the way the subject is
taught within the classroom. I make six tentative suggestions:
ensuring a diversity of teaching staff, not just reading lists; enabling
decolonial pedagogies; encouraging social justice, liberation and
decolonization; using creative and innovative teaching tools; decolonizing
assessment criteria; and embedding decolonization across
the curriculum. To be clear, the aim is not to produce any kind of
standardized curriculum but to spark debate over meaningful forms
of decolonizing pedagogies in undergraduate geography, as well as
to reflect on some of the challenges of implementing a decolonizing
praxis within UK universities.
Re-producing territory: Between resource nationalism and indigenous self-determination in Bolivia, 2020
In 2005, indigenous leader Evo Morales was elected president on a dual promise of nationalising e... more In 2005, indigenous leader Evo Morales was elected president on a dual promise of nationalising extractive industries to direct resource wealth to the country's poor and enacting long-held indigenous demands for a plurinational state. Each project has relied on two contrasting and contested understandings and practices of territorial sovereignty, however. On the one hand, resource nationalism has rested on the state's ability to re-seat and extend national sovereignty over non-renewable natural resources and concomitantly national territory. On the other hand, plurinationalism entails the departure from a liberal multicultural framing of the nation-state toward a model that recognises the territorial self-determination and political autonomy of indigenous nations, including over decisions of extractive development. Resource nationalism has quickly shown its centralising tendencies, as economic concerns have been put before a more radical reorganisation of the modern, colonial model of territorial sovereignty. From an analysis of the territorial geographies articulated by the lowland indigenous movement in the TIPNIS (Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure; Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park) conflict over a road project-and the potential for hydrocarbon exploitation this could enable-this paper demonstrates that indigenous protestors constantly sought to de-and re-territorialise political space in their efforts for the decolonisation of the nation-state. This engagement not only highlights some of the tensions between resource nationalism and indigenous self-determination, but also illustrates how territorial visions are fashioned within the changing political conditions of Latin America's era of the extractive imperative.
Antipode book review of Leandro Vergara-Camus' comparative study of the EZLN and the MST.
Review of book by Carolin Schurr in Emotion, Space and Society.
Books by Anna F Laing
A Research Agenda for Human Rights and the Environment, 2023
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given... more Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Forward-looking and innovative, Elgar Research Agendas are an essential resource for PhD students, scholars and anybody who wants to be at the forefront of research.
Subaltern Geographies , 2019
Final version of accepted chapter for book.
Book Reviews by Anna F Laing
Journal of Geography in Higher Education , 2021
Student-led movements have called for the decolonization of the Higher Education (HE) system in t... more Student-led movements have called for the decolonization of the
Higher Education (HE) system in the UK, as well as elsewhere. Much
of the onus within British geography has been on decolonizing
geographical knowledges, recognizing the role of the discipline in
the colonial project. This paper expands on these literatures by
examining how work on critical pedagogies can deepen the decolonizing
agenda within geography. In other words, it is not only
what we teach that matters, but how. Using the perspectives of
undergraduate geography and international development students
at the University of Sussex taking a module entitled “Decolonial
Movements”, I reflect on how to decolonize the way the subject is
taught within the classroom. I make six tentative suggestions:
ensuring a diversity of teaching staff, not just reading lists; enabling
decolonial pedagogies; encouraging social justice, liberation and
decolonization; using creative and innovative teaching tools; decolonizing
assessment criteria; and embedding decolonization across
the curriculum. To be clear, the aim is not to produce any kind of
standardized curriculum but to spark debate over meaningful forms
of decolonizing pedagogies in undergraduate geography, as well as
to reflect on some of the challenges of implementing a decolonizing
praxis within UK universities.
Re-producing territory: Between resource nationalism and indigenous self-determination in Bolivia, 2020
In 2005, indigenous leader Evo Morales was elected president on a dual promise of nationalising e... more In 2005, indigenous leader Evo Morales was elected president on a dual promise of nationalising extractive industries to direct resource wealth to the country's poor and enacting long-held indigenous demands for a plurinational state. Each project has relied on two contrasting and contested understandings and practices of territorial sovereignty, however. On the one hand, resource nationalism has rested on the state's ability to re-seat and extend national sovereignty over non-renewable natural resources and concomitantly national territory. On the other hand, plurinationalism entails the departure from a liberal multicultural framing of the nation-state toward a model that recognises the territorial self-determination and political autonomy of indigenous nations, including over decisions of extractive development. Resource nationalism has quickly shown its centralising tendencies, as economic concerns have been put before a more radical reorganisation of the modern, colonial model of territorial sovereignty. From an analysis of the territorial geographies articulated by the lowland indigenous movement in the TIPNIS (Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure; Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park) conflict over a road project-and the potential for hydrocarbon exploitation this could enable-this paper demonstrates that indigenous protestors constantly sought to de-and re-territorialise political space in their efforts for the decolonisation of the nation-state. This engagement not only highlights some of the tensions between resource nationalism and indigenous self-determination, but also illustrates how territorial visions are fashioned within the changing political conditions of Latin America's era of the extractive imperative.
Antipode book review of Leandro Vergara-Camus' comparative study of the EZLN and the MST.
Review of book by Carolin Schurr in Emotion, Space and Society.
A Research Agenda for Human Rights and the Environment, 2023
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given... more Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Forward-looking and innovative, Elgar Research Agendas are an essential resource for PhD students, scholars and anybody who wants to be at the forefront of research.
Subaltern Geographies , 2019
Final version of accepted chapter for book.