Format/Structure

Round table discussion with about 6 participants from diverse geographies, backgrounds, and career stages

Long Abstract

Critical movements from the Global South have increasingly gained visibility in shaping the field of Political Ecology (PE), bringing to the fore questions of epistemic diversity, situated knowledge, and decolonial practice. Alongside this trend, the concept of decoloniality has become a centerpiece. Yet, academia itself often reproduces power dynamics rooted in colonialism—privileging evidence-based approaches validated through peer review processes dominated by Global North or Euro-American institutions, while marginalizing other ways of knowing. Through intersectional lenses, we can see how identity categories interact and redefine what is considered dominant/peripheral within academic spaces. As researchers, we are inevitably entangled in these dynamics of power and recognition.

This panel invites critical reflections on how we enact and construct positionality within research while engaging with the politics of power and decoloniality in the practice of PE.

We seek contributions that explore diverse research journeys—from early encounters with PE as students, to the development of research frameworks as senior scholars. We are particularly interested in how our positionalities shape the contexts we choose (or are able) to study, what motivates our work in specific territories, the limitations or possibilities that our presence may entail, and how we define and practice decolonial values in our work.

We understand positionality not only as a methodological reflection, but as a political tool—one that can help repoliticize PE and push the field toward more coherent, embodied, situated, and transformative practices.

We welcome presentations grounded in stories, experiences, theory, reflection, or methodology that:

• Explore the tensions and negotiations of conducting PE research in/from specific contexts (e.i. Global South, Global North, Indigenous Peoples)

• Address the challenges of engaging with decolonial values in practice.

• Examine how identity, privilege, and context shape our research approaches and decisions.

• Propose frameworks for understanding positionality as a critical and transformative practice.

This Roundtable has 6 pending paper proposals.
Propose paper