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Contribution short abstract

How does one engage with concepts of power and justice in practicing Political Ecology as a Global South researcher studying in a Global North context?

Contribution long abstract

How does one engage with questions of power and justice in practicing Political Ecology as a Global South researcher studying in a Global North context? I am a PhD candidate from Nepal, employed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), studying adaptive water governance of a Norwegian lake. With a background in intersectional gender studies and political ecology, issues of power, justice and equality have been central to my work. Thus, researching a context that is often portrayed as one of the closest realizations of an egalitarian society poses interesting possibilities. While Nordic Political Ecology has been discussed and practiced since mid-2000s by primarily Nordic scholars, in this presentation, I want to explore how a researcher of my identity and positionality can engage with PE in a Global North context. This includes reflections on how my embodiment and situated knowledge affects the research questions I choose to ask, the methodologies I choose to answer them with, and the power dynamics involved in the interactions with my informants which can diverge from traditional researcher–informant hierarchy. I also want to explore how I work with feminist research philosophies in my doctoral research without engaging with concepts of gender. Lastly, I want to examine how my practice of PE may create possibilities of challenging hegemonic academic knowledge production. In addition to presenting my thoughts and ideas, I look forward to learning how other researchers have engaged with the topics I am grappling with.