Brainstorm Week 8 - Natalie Stagnone

Natalie Stagnone


This past summer I had the privilege of traveling to the Galapagos, the area with some of the highest standards for clean energy, keeping nature wild and reducing pollution. Before traveling there, we were told about the plastic band on the islands. However, upon arrival, we were greeted with plastic water bottles. The government and the island population do not necessarily connect on social issues. While the government wanted to reduce plastic waste and ensure that it didn’t end up in the waters around the Galapagos, the people were still selling water bottles. The Galapagos is part of Ecuador and as the New York Times article states: The Ecuador constitution says that mother earth “has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.” This analogy to plastic water bottles connects to the feminist movement trying to make space and gain a following in Ecuador. The Feminista Movement often runs contrary to the very traditional views of the Catholic Church practiced in Ecuador. This means that many young women live with their families until they are married, so Feministas have gathered resilience practices for times when they are isolated from society. The Indigenous struggles connect to these resilience practices in that they also fight to have their rights and beliefs heard in a government that is unrepresentative and corrupt. Walsh explains the imbalance in the article, Afro And Indigenous Life-Visions In/And Politics. (De)Colonial Perspectives In Bolivia And Ecuador. She says “the struggle between, on the one side, the extractivist model that sees the exploitation and export of natural resources as income, progress, and development and, on the other, perspectives grounded in the harmonious relation of humans and nature” (65). The lack of connection between laws and the people they govern has forced many resilience practices to be developed and showcases the differences in social practice and laws.

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