Coloniality, Extractivism, Solidarity and Stories of Resistance
Speaker: Dr Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation & co-founder of the NGO Environmental Rights Action - Friends of the Earth Nigeria)
Moderator: Benita Siloko (Northumbria University)
Date: Thursday, 17 June 2021
This event was held in English only.
In this talk, Dr Nnimmo Bassey will trace the colonial roots of exploitation of the South and dig into its diverse expressions in agriculture, trade, mineral extraction and power relations. It will then speak of the persistence of coloniality and how this provokes solidarity and resistance.
About the presentation (that was followed by participatory discussion):
About the Speaker:
Dr Nnimmo Bassey is a Nigerian architect, environmental activist, author and poet. In 1993, he co-founded a Nigerian NGO Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth Nigeria) in order to advocate, educate and organize around environmental human rights issues in Nigeria. Since 1996, Bassey and Environmental Rights Action led Oilwatch Africa and, beginning in 2006, also led the Global South Network, Oilwatch International. Oilwatch International strives to mobilize communities against the expansion of fossil fuels extraction. The Network works to resist destructive oil, gas and coal extraction activities, demanding an urgent shift from the dominant petroleum-fueled civilization. In 2011, Bassey founded the ecological think tank, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, promoting environmental/climate justice and food sovereignty in Nigeria and Africa. He was one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment in 2009, in 2010 he was named Laureate of the Right Livelihood Award and in 2012 was awarded the Rafto Prize. He currently serves on the Advisory Board and is Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, an environmental think tank and advocacy organization. He has written widely on extractivism and environmental rights, including his 2010 book ‘To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa’. More information on Nnimmo and his publications can be found here and he tweets @NnimmoB.
Benita Siloko is currently a PhD researcher at Northumbria University, UK. She is an environmental advocate and also a research analyst with Cloneshouse Nigeria, a monitoring and evaluation organisation within the international development sector. Her research interests are in the areas of human security, livelihoods, environmental degradation and justice. She tweets @BenitaSiloko.
About the Moderator:
Additional relevant links/materials:
