4
1
same with the Penan. Logging companies are chopping down our big trees and polluting our rivers, and the animals we hunt are dying’ (Survival International 2010).
The San people, or Bushmen as they call themselves in Botswana, are a huntergatherer people who live in the dry areas of southern Africa. Jumanda Gakelebone,
is a spokesperson for the organization First People of the Kalahari. He said: ‘We
the Bushmen are the first inhabitants in southern Africa. We are being denied
rights to our land and appeal to the world to help us. “Avatar” makes me happy as
it shows the world about what it is to be a Bushman, and what our land is to us.
Land and Bushmen are the same.’ (Survival International 2010).
Mikkel Berg-Nordlie is a researcher and a Norwegian Sámi who works on questions about indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. He emphasizes that Pandora
and Norwegian Sápmi are two completely different places. Yet, he believes that the
Sámi people can recognize themselves in the Na’vi: ‘We have also experienced discrimination and forced intervention in our areas that have been to our disadvantage’.
The release of the first Avatar movie sparked off extensive web debates among
academics. Some critiques pointed out that the hero of the film is white. Blogger
Annalee Newitz (2009) argued that Avatar belongs to a category of films based on
‘white guilt fantasy’:
» It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against
people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's
a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive,
white) outside.
Moreover, the depiction of the Na’vi has been criticized for being based on a stereotype that white people in the West have of indigenous peoples. Van der Horst
(2010) argues that the Na’vi constitute a reversed mirror image of Americans: ‘The
more rational, technological, calculative and materialist the Americans/Westerners
are, the more irrational, spontaneous, mystical and backward the Na’vi are.’
This discussion also relates to recent debates about ‘decolonization’ in general
and of decolonization of environmental conservation in particular (Adams and
Mulligan 2003; Martin et al. 2016), which is about whose worldviews, values, and
knowledge are taken into account in academic, artistic and journalistic presentations
as well as in practical politics related to environmental conservation. Or put differently, the discussion about decolonization is for instance about on whose terms stories are told. In the case of Avatar, this is a contested question.
What Political Ecologists Study
Scholars in the field of political ecology often start out their studies at the local level.
Early in the history of political ecology, the focus was mainly on people and
environments in rural areas of the Global South. In the last decade or two, however,
political ecology has also moved North, as well as included the study of urban issues.
In this book, we emphasise the importance of political ecology case studies that are
conducted in the Global North and South and reveal ways that spaces in different
parts of the world are interconnected and influenced by powerful actors of both the
North and the South.
Chapter 1 · Political Ecology on Pandora
1
same with the Penan. Logging companies are chopping down our big trees and polluting our rivers, and the animals we hunt are dying’ (Survival International 2010).
The San people, or Bushmen as they call themselves in Botswana, are a huntergatherer people who live in the dry areas of southern Africa. Jumanda Gakelebone,
is a spokesperson for the organization First People of the Kalahari. He said: ‘We
the Bushmen are the first inhabitants in southern Africa. We are being denied
rights to our land and appeal to the world to help us. “Avatar” makes me happy as
it shows the world about what it is to be a Bushman, and what our land is to us.
Land and Bushmen are the same.’ (Survival International 2010).
Mikkel Berg-Nordlie is a researcher and a Norwegian Sámi who works on questions about indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. He emphasizes that Pandora
and Norwegian Sápmi are two completely different places. Yet, he believes that the
Sámi people can recognize themselves in the Na’vi: ‘We have also experienced discrimination and forced intervention in our areas that have been to our disadvantage’.
The release of the first Avatar movie sparked off extensive web debates among
academics. Some critiques pointed out that the hero of the film is white. Blogger
Annalee Newitz (2009) argued that Avatar belongs to a category of films based on
‘white guilt fantasy’:
» It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against
people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's
a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive,
white) outside.
Moreover, the depiction of the Na’vi has been criticized for being based on a stereotype that white people in the West have of indigenous peoples. Van der Horst
(2010) argues that the Na’vi constitute a reversed mirror image of Americans: ‘The
more rational, technological, calculative and materialist the Americans/Westerners
are, the more irrational, spontaneous, mystical and backward the Na’vi are.’
This discussion also relates to recent debates about ‘decolonization’ in general
and of decolonization of environmental conservation in particular (Adams and
Mulligan 2003; Martin et al. 2016), which is about whose worldviews, values, and
knowledge are taken into account in academic, artistic and journalistic presentations
as well as in practical politics related to environmental conservation. Or put differently, the discussion about decolonization is for instance about on whose terms stories are told. In the case of Avatar, this is a contested question.
What Political Ecologists Study
Scholars in the field of political ecology often start out their studies at the local level.
Early in the history of political ecology, the focus was mainly on people and
environments in rural areas of the Global South. In the last decade or two, however,
political ecology has also moved North, as well as included the study of urban issues.
In this book, we emphasise the importance of political ecology case studies that are
conducted in the Global North and South and reveal ways that spaces in different
parts of the world are interconnected and influenced by powerful actors of both the
North and the South.
Chapter 1 · Political Ecology on Pandora