Presentation Information
[1L05]But what about the Trees? Exploring Tensions in a Philippine Campus using Multispecies Ethnography and its Implications for Alternative Approaches to Development and Ecological Justice
*EMILY ROQUE SARMIENTO1 (1. ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY)
Keywords:
multispecies ethnography,more-than-human entities,ecological approaches,alternatives to development,ecological justice,sustainability
Trees have always been a point of tension among students, faculty, and the school administration in a university campus in the Philippines. New parking spaces and the expansion of the “E-jeep”, which is the campus’ shuttle service system, caused a huge clamor, mainly because of the administration's decisive stance to cut and uproot several trees. This, however, begs the question: but what about the trees? What do they have to “say” about the issue? Where is their voice and agency? Using Kirksey and Helmreich’s multispecies ethnography (2010), this study explores trees as nonhuman/more-than-human entities and their entanglements with humans’ worlds and spaces. It takes into account the silent agency of trees and the continuously threatened campus biodiversity as other kinds of living selves vis-a-vis the loudly competing constructions of environmental sustainability of the human stakeholders. Lastly, it proposes the possibilities of addressing community tensions and conflicts through a multispecies lens. In doing so, a more empathic and inclusive co-existence can be achieved in the interactions of nonhumans and human entities as they are mutually entangled in complex social, economic, and political spaces. Beyond the campus, this study reflects on the potentials and opportunities of doing multispecies ethnography in approaching development. It reviews existing ecological and environmental approaches to development and, eventually, hopes to contribute to discussions of ecological justice and alternatives to development.
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