Pipelines & Settler-Colonial Extractivism w/ Liam Fox

Pipelines & Settler-Colonial Extractivism w/ Liam Fox

Author: youssef bouchi March 11, 2024 Duration: 1:20:28

Liam is a PhD researcher in Geography at the University of Toronto and a volunteer tenant organizer in Vancouver. He’s interested in labor, community, and movement organizing strategy, and the politics of reproduction under capitalism.

In this episode, we sit with Liam Fox to discuss the extractivist paradigm of pipelines ripping through Indigenous land in so-called Canada. Specifically, we discuss the regulatory regime in which oil and gas extraction (and the infrastructures required to move it) is articulated and applied. This inevitably entails the engagement with ‘Canada’ as a settler-colonial, extractivist state, bringing to the fore an engagement with the expropriation and dispossession of Indigenous peoples as well as Indigenous resistance. 

We also discuss Liam’s PhD research, which focuses on the history and future of political and class consciousness in and around Alberta’s tar sands. Projects like Liam’s are incredibly important for those of you who are thinking about things like the Just Transition, Climate Justice, and/or a Green New Deal. 

We land in a space of thinking about solidarity and class consciousness; specifically, building unlikely alliances as an essential strategy for anti-capitalist futures. 

From there, we conclude with some thoughts on organizing/mobilizing in our immediate communities as a means of achieving said solidarity across difference. This is where Liam’s role as community organizer with the Vancouver Tenants Union comes in. 


Main pieces discussed/mentioned in this episode:

Further recommendations:


Hosted by Youssef Bouchi, geopolitical ecology is a podcast that digs into the complex and often unseen connections between political power, global systems, and the natural world. Each episode moves beyond simple environmental discussion to examine how borders, resources, and international relations are fundamentally shaped by-and in turn shape-our planet's ecology. We look at the stories behind the headlines, from water conflicts and energy corridors to the politics of conservation and extraction. The conversations aim to unravel how control over nature is exercised, contested, and reimagined across different landscapes and communities. This isn't just about science or policy in isolation; it's about their messy, fascinating intersection. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that frames the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity as deeply geopolitical issues, revealing the intricate webs where environment and power meet. You'll find this podcast sits at the crossroads of critical social science and ecological thinking, offering a necessary lens for understanding the forces structuring our contemporary world.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 17

geopolitical ecology
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