The uneven emotional geographies of rural development

Socio-environmental sciences have recently recognized the important role that emotions play in shaping the relationships between people and the environment. This is clear from the growing use of concepts such as ecoanxiety (concern about the present and future effects of climate change) or solastalgia (concern about the present and future effects of climate change), to name but a few. From a political ecology perspective, it's important to understand these experiences in relation to unequal power relations in the present and throughout history.

The goal of this lecture is to encourage a critical and ethical look at the emotional aspects of rural development. I will argue that an "emotional political ecology" perspective is particularly relevant for the subject of rural development, where emotions can play a crucial role in discourses, practices, and the unequal distribution of impacts associated with processes framed as "development".

In this lecture, I will focus on tree plantations to explain why it is important to examine their emotional aspects. I will share the results of my research in rural areas of Chile, Spain, and Sweden. Despite considerable differences, these regions are connected by the presence of robust extractive forestry sectors, increasing tendencies of wildfires, and social mobilizations in their aftermath. Focusing on wildfires as an entry point to analyse nature-society relations, and inspired mainly by qualitative research methods, I will show how these events have emotional consequences for the local communities that are subjected to them. However, my work also shows how these experiences of vulnerability can be transformed into catalysts for transformative local action, leading to more sustainable rural developments.

The findings of my research demonstrate how tree plantations and their associated socio-ecological processes generate inclusions, exclusions, and resistances, influenced by various factors, including emotional elements. This understanding enables us to explore, on the one hand, the potential of emotional factors to influence the expansion or consolidation of hegemonic rural development initiatives. This understanding may facilitate a more nuanced comprehension of why individuals or communities become committed or attached to extractive projects, even if they are worse off as a result. On the other hand, this examination can enhance our understanding of the affective dimensions of environmental injustice processes in rural areas and to establish productive discussion forums that explore avenues for environmental healing within the current context of escalating environmental and climatic changes and disasters.

In this presentation, I will also suggest a plan for future research. This plan includes collecting, learning, and systematizing the knowledge, methods, and practices that communities experiencing uneven socio-environmental changes have developed for their emotional health. I argue that in the current context of global change, where psychosocial health is increasingly threatened for this reason, it is crucial to learn from these ways of moving forward emotionally and politically.