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Geographies of Exclusion and Resistance


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This course will focus on the histories of appropriation of land, air and water and its connections to our contemporary agriculture and food systems. We will examine the underlying economic and philosophical narratives that informed movements and systems of often violent appropriation and commodification of natural resources. The purpose of this course will be to understand food regimes that have marked different epochs of time and their relationships to institutions and modes of enforcement. We will take a deeper dive to examine the stories of resistance, counternarratives and modes of organization that have always accompanied the dominant narratives and gain insight into possibilities for different ways of imagining our natural relationships.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Decolonization. Anticapitalism. Reparation. A quick scroll through Twitter or Instagram will yield no shortage of infographics and complex captions with these and other buzzwords. But what does it all mean? And why is it so important now? Why does the language that we use matter so much? From where does its power originate? Why do our geographies and inequalities look the way they do? Whose land do we live on, and how do we build a relationship to it?  Buried under layers of “the way things were” and victor narratives lie world histories that many of us do not understand and feel some shame about. Facing into these questions, unlearning and relearning from perspectives that have long been under-represented in American higher education, prepares us mitigate the various social, economic, and ecological crises we face today and build a more just world.

 

With these questions in mind, EcoGather presents its course on Geographies of Exclusion and Resistance developed in partnership with FrontLine Farming.


This course will focus on the histories of appropriation of land, air and water and its connections to our contemporary agriculture and food systems. We will examine the underlying economic and philosophical narratives that informed movements and systems of often violent appropriation and commodification of natural resources; analyze food regimes that have marked different epochs of time and their relationships to institutions and modes of enforcement; take a deeper dive into the stories of resistance, counternarratives and modes of organization that have always accompanied the dominant narratives; and imagine possibilities for different ways of imagining our natural relationships.

 

Course Benefits

  • Understand the movement of narratives that have justified the violent appropriations of land air and water

  • Learn how we can center cultural and place-based knowledge, wisdom, and responses in ways that elevate the voices and power of those who have (and whose ancestors have) long been excluded, displaced, diminished.

  • Gain insight into economic theories which underpin and dialectically inform the social and material organization of communities.

This course was created through and is part of :

 

COURSE-AT-A-GLANCE

The topical overview of the course below provides an early taste of what you can expect as you embark on this learning journey.

  • Module 1: Orientation: What is our relationship to land?
  • Module 2: Observe, Interact, and Visualize
  • Module 3: The World in 1400
  • Module 4: Movement towards Capitalism
  • Module 5: Colonialism
  • Module 6: Case Study: African Continent
  • Module 7: Case Study: The Americas
  • Module 8: Case Study: Asia and the Indian Subcontinent
  • Module 9: Case Study: The U.S. Experience
  • Module 10: Racism as a Tool of Exclusion
  • Module 11: Environmentalism as a Space of Exclusion
  • Module 12: Weaponizing Spaces as a Point of Exclusion
  • Module 13: Language and Terms of Exclusion
  • Module 14: Food Regimes and the New Wave
  • Module 15: Reparations as a Tool
  • Module 16: Histories of Resistance to Land Theft
  • Module 17: Closing Case Study: FrontLine Farming

              AUDIENCE

              This course is ideal for those of us who may have some preliminary knowledge of colonialism and capitalism and want support in learning how to transform anger over racial, economic, and environmental injustice into action; who want to know what constitutes an effective act of reparation; who want their action to be informed by a deeper historical context, both in the United States and globally. It’s the history we all need to understand as we look to cultivate and repair our relationships to the land and each other.

              For all our calls to amplify and listen to experts of color, relatively few opportunities exist in higher education spaces to do exactly that without falling back on exploitative business models. The Geographies of Exclusion and Reparation course offers an invaluable opportunity to learn from leaders in the field and support a business model that resources communities providing essential knowledge.

              COURSE FEE

              The total and regular cost for this course is $199.  This fee includes the cost of course tuition and materials.

              COURSE DEVELOPERS

              Damien Thompson, PhD

              Damien Thompson, PhD is the Sustainable Food Systems Specialization Lead in the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In addition to his training and teaching in anthropology, Dr. Thompson also holds a certification in Permaculture Design, an Advanced Permaculture Design certification as well as a Teaching Certification from the Yoga Alliance. He is a farmer and a designer of biodiverse food producing landscapes.

              In 2018 Dr. Thompson co-founded FrontLine Farming a Denver based BIPOC and women led farming non-profit organization whose mission is to create greater equity across the food system, to support and create greater leadership and access for women and people of color in our food systems.

              As an activist, public intellectual and researcher Dr. Thompson's interests are wide ranging. He has taught and spoken about food justice, food sovereignty, permaculture design, small-scale urban food production, community food systems, racial equity in the food system and urban geography. Specifically, Dr. Thompson is interested in how communities can utilize traditional and modern information and practices to build food systems, which center marginalized and oppressed peoples, restore ecosystems, build biodiversity, support cultural diversity as well as provide individuals and families with the highest level of access to the means to support their own resilience and sovereignty. He centers racial equity as a key organizing principle of his work.

              Dr. Thompson is a mayor- appointed member of the Sustainable Food Policy Council for the City of Denver, a 2021 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Fellow, a convener of the Colorado Farm and Food System Response Team and a lead convener in Project Protect Food Systems Workers. He has been recognized as the Regis University 2019 Faculty of the Year and 2020 Faculty Lecturer of the Year. Dr. Thompson graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in Sociology and received his doctoral degree from American University in Washington D.C.

               

              Joshua Yuen-Schat, MENV

              Josh brings his perspective as indigenous person living in diaspora to his work at the intersection of education and food systems. He collaborated on the development of this course while serving as the Education Programs Manager at Frontline Farming, where he previously also worked as a farmer and managed the organizations composting and vermicomposting efforts. After many years in youth education and empowerment, Josh earned his Masters of the Environment with a specialization in Sustainable Food Systems.

              DISCLAIMER: Course descriptions on this webpage are for informational purposes only. Content may be updated or changed as planning evolves. Sterling College reserves the right to alter the program specifics, including details about course content, instructors, collaborations, field trips, facilities and pricing, at any time without notice. 

              Here is the class outline:

              Welcome Page

              Welcome to Geographies of Exclusion and Resistance! On this page you'll find an overview of the class, more information about your instructors, and some helpful tips on navigating NEO.

              Module 1: Orientation: What is our relationship to land?

              We'll begin the course by exploring our immediate environments through the lens of the stories our ancestors tell about them, begin to generate and share our own stories and experiences of exclusion, and recognize that the cultural knowledge and assets immediately available to us can be as valuable as what is contained in books. 

              Module 2: Orientation: Observe, Interact, and Visualize

              In this module, we'll continue to reframe our relationships to land based on our observations, recognize the indigenous roots of permaculture design, and begin to apply permaculture principles in both observations and visualization/mapping of your immediate environment.

              Module 3: Orientation: The World in 1400

              In this module, we'll compare the history and economics of the pre-capitalist and pre-colonial world; define development and identify examples of “development” in various cultures by the year 1400; and describe the importance of a historical perspective rooted in global interconnection to the proper understanding of the ongoing impacts of colonialism.

              Module 4: Movement Towards Capitalism

              In this module, we'll identify the ways capitalism and colonialism enforce each other; explain the relationship between humans, nature, and society; and determine our roles in helping to regulate the planet's metabolic process.

              Module 5: Colonialism

              In this module, we'll explore the various forms that colonialism has taken over space and time; recognize the impact of colonialism on our current lives; explain the relationship between colonialism and displacement; and identify the ways in which colonization has disrupted our relationships to ancestral lands. 

              Module 6: Case Study: African Continent

              In this module, well identify the ways in which colonization led to displacement and diaspora in the historical context of the African continent; trace the impact of different types of colonialism on the internal and external displacement of life and "resources"; and explain how colonial extraction and exploitation led to lasting disruptions in the food systems and production of the African continent, land displacement, religion, resistance, and the enslavement of Africans.

              Module 7: Case Study: The Americas

              In this module, we'll identify the ways in which colonization led to displacement and diaspora in the historical context of the Americas; explore and define the different types of colonialism that leads to greater internal/external displacement in the Americas; explain the ways in which colonization converts land and people into resources to exploit; and outline how colonial extraction and exploitation led to lasting disruptions including genocide, land theft, ecological disruption through the introduction of European farming methods, and religion.

              Module 8: Case Study: Asia - India

              In this module, we'll identify the ways in which colonization led to displacement and diaspora in the historical context of Asia and the Indian subcontinent; explore and define the different types of colonialism that lead to greater internal/external displacement for people in Asia and the Indian subcontinent; and unpack key topics related to colonialism in South and Southeast Asia including occupation, militarism, intervention, war, statehood, diaspora, and other colonial legacies.

              Module 9: Case Study: US Experience

              In this module, we'll identify the ways in which colonization led to displacement and diaspora in the historical context of the United States; explore and define the different types of colonialism that leads to greater internal/external displacement for people in the United States; and unpack key concepts related to the experience of colonization in the United States, including land theft, genocide, the Middle Passage and Trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans, "discovery," economic exploitation, and religion.

              Module 10: Racism as a Tool of Exclusion

              In this module, we'll trace the relationship between racism and the multiple forms of exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in the U.S.; identify different frameworks for conceptualizing and contextualizing the roots and impacts of racism; articulate the often insidious ways in which racism impacts our own communities; and describe the ways in which racism is "systemic."

              Module 11: Environmentalism as a Space of Exclusion

              In this module, we'll explore and define the different types of environmentalism; describe the racist and exclusive history of environmentalism in the United States; and survey and identify the causes of underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism. 

              Module 12: Weaponizing Spaces as a Point of Exclusion

              In this module, we'll describe how the reorganization of physical space can facilitate displacement; distinguish between the various forms exclusion can take, and has taken throughout history; connect the historical and geographic processes of exclusion; and discuss key aspects of food apartheid and how it reveals the systemic nature of food insecurity.

              Module 13: Language and Terms of Exclusion

              In this module, we'll evaluate the ways exclusion is created, maintained, and contested through language; describe how language can be use as a contested space; unpack the harmful uses of language differentiating farms and farm work; and unpack the ways in which data is not neutral, but is instead leveraged as a mechanism of exclusion.

              Module 14: Food Regimes and the New Wave

              In this module, we'll define "food regimes"; identify linkages between the dominant food regime and colonialism; explain how the current food regime impacts the total food system from seed to plate; and describe the diverse and dire needs that agricultural workers face in the current food regime. 

              Module 15: Reparations as a Tool

              In this module, we'll define reparations; analyze the political, social, and economic arguments in support of reparations; and survey the breadth of actions that constitute as an act of reparation.

              Module 16: Histories of Resistance to Land Theft

              In this module, we'll identify various methods of resistance currently undertaken by Indigenous peoples around the world; recognize the cultural foundations and origins of these resistance efforts; and compare and contrast these land sovereignty movements from more whitewashed mainstream movements.

              Module 17: Closing Case Study: Frontline Farming

              In this module, we'll identify various methods of resistance currently undertaken by Indigenous peoples around the world; recognize the cultural foundations and origins of these resistance efforts; and compare and contrast these land sovereignty movements from more whitewashed mainstream movements.