BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Defending lands and forests: NGO histories and extraordinary viole
 nce in the Philippines. - Dr Wolfram Dressler\, University of Melbourne
DTSTART:20210223T100000Z
DTEND:20210223T110000Z
UID:TALK157009@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Rogelio Luque-Lora
DESCRIPTION:Across the Global South\, a surge in authoritarian rule and ex
 tractive agendas have intensified the harassment and murder of activists p
 rotecting remnant forest frontiers. In 2017\, Global Witness (2018) docume
 nted the brutal murders of 207 so-called ‘environmental defenders’\, t
 he deadliest year on record since first documenting the killings.  In the 
 Philippines\, particularly\, the harassment and violence against environme
 ntal defenders have recently accelerated under the authoritarian regime of
  President Rodrigo Duterte.  Excluding drug-related extra-judicial killing
 s\, the same NGO documented 30 murders in the country in 2018\, the highes
 t number of killings of any country globally that year. Fifteen deaths wer
 e linked to agribusinesses.  Largely due to expanding plantations and mine
 s\, the frontier province of Palawan has experienced an associated surge i
 n land grabbing and illegal logging\, driving defender harassment\, intimi
 dation\, and death. While several studies have explored the broader contex
 t of defender activities and violence in Southeast Asia (Grant and Le Bill
 ion 2019)\, few have considered how and why the rural poor emerge as activ
 ists\, the role of NGOs in the process and how defenders negotiate activis
 m with everyday life and livelihood.  This paper fills this gap by examini
 ng the role of NGOs in forging networks\, mobilizing communities and drivi
 ng social movements that recruit\, invest in\, and shape defender practice
 s on Palawan Island.  I focus on how NGOs facilitate rural networks among 
 indigenous defenders\, why defenders do what they do\, and how they negoti
 ate life and livelihood as threats mount against them\, their loved ones\,
  and their comrades.  I elaborate on defenders’ lived experiences and na
 rratives of survival that emerged before and during Duterte’s rule and w
 hat these killings mean for the rule of law and activism in the Philippine
 s.
LOCATION:Delivered online via Zoom
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR