Desfragmentación edáfica, social y cerámica. Proyecto artístico centrado en el diseño de platos a partir de restos cerámicos encontrados en el agro de Casabermeja, Antequera y Orce

The main objective of this study is the creation of an artistic ceramic project that reflects the current situation of the rural world as a consequence of industrial agriculture. Current agricultural and livestock production systems have negative environmental consequences, such as erosion and pollution, and cultural consequences, such as rural exodus or the extinction of indigenous germplasm. Through the study of the rural world in the municipalities of Casabermeja, Antequera and Orce, it has been possible to verify the detriment of these lands and their culture and, at the same time, the remains of ceramic plates found in these lands reflect this reality. The methodology used is theoretical-practical: through scientific references, the destruction of pre-industrial agricultural practices is exposed against industrial agriculture; experimentation with agricultural production techniques, both traditional and modern, show their compatibility; and, finally, artistic research, which recovers ceramic remains from the past to design three plates. The artistic work is proposed as an information and awareness means of a world problem, showing the compatibility between production and biodiversity, Nature as a source of culture, and human society as a dependent part of Nature. Este estudio tiene como objetivo fundamental la creación de un proyecto artístico de cerámica que refleje la situación actual del mundo rural como consecuencia de la agricultura industrial. Los actuales sistemas de producción agrícola y ganadera tienen consecuencias negativas medioambientales como la erosión y la contaminación, y culturales como el éxodo rural o la extinción de germoplasma autóctono. A través del estudio del mundo rural en los municipios de Casabermeja, Antequera y Orce, se ha podido comprobar el detrimento de estas tierras y su cultura y, al mismo tiempo, en los restos de platos cerámicos hallados en estos terrenos se encuentra el reflejo de esta realidad. La metodología usada es teórico-práctica: mediante referentes científicos se expone la destrucción de las prácticas agropecuarias preindustriales frente a la agricultura industrial; la experimentación con técnicas de producción agrícola, tanto tradicionales como modernas, evidencian su compatibilidad; y, finalmente, la investigación artística, que recupera restos cerámicos del pasado para diseñar tres platos. La obra artística se propone como medio divulgativo y de concienciación de un problema mundial, evidenciando la compatibilidad entre producción y biodiversidad, la Naturaleza como fuente de cultura, y la sociedad humana como parte dependiente de la Naturaleza.

Agriculture and Biodiversity in Latin America in Historical Perspective

Latin America is thought to be the world’s most biodiverse region, but as in the rest of the world, the number of species and the size of their populations is generally in sharp decline. Most experts consider agriculture to be the most important cause of biodiversity decline. At one extreme of policy argument regarding biodiversity conservation are those who argue that the only path to species protection is the establishment of many more and larger “protected areas” in which human activities will be severely restricted. On the remaining land agriculture will be carried out largely with the presently prevailing methods of “industrial agriculture,” including heavy reliance on synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, heavy machine use, large-scale irrigation schemes, limited crop diversity, and crops genetically engineered to maximize returns from these tools and techniques. Those who argue for these policies largely accept that industrial agriculture of this sort is severely hostile to biodiversity, but argue that the high productivity of such methods makes it possible to limit agriculture to a relatively small land base, leaving the rest for protected areas and other human activities. On the other side of the argument are those who argue that agricultural techniques are either available or can be created to make agricultural areas more favorable to species survival. They argue that even with a desirable expansion of protected areas, such reserves cannot successfully maintain high biodiversity levels if protected reserves are not complemented by an agriculture more friendly to species survival and migration. The policy arguments on these issues are of major human and biological importance. They are also very complex and depend on theoretical perspectives and data that do not provide definitive guidance. One way to enrich the debate is to develop a specifically historical perspective that illuminates the relationship between human actions and species diversity. In Latin America, humans have been modifying landscapes and species composition of landscapes for thousands of years. Even in areas of presently low human population density and extraordinarily high species diversity, such as remaining tropical rainforests, humans may have been active in shaping species composition for millennia. After 1492, human population levels in Latin America plummeted with the introduction of Old-World diseases. It is often assumed that this led to a blossoming of species diversity, but the historical evidence from 1492 to the present strongly suggests the combination of European technologies and the integration of agriculture into world markets meant more damaging use of soils, widespread deforestation, and subsequent decline in species numbers. The exploitation and consequent despoliation of Latin American resources were integral to colonialism and intensified later by national governments focused on rapid economic growth. High species diversity remained in areas that were too difficult to exploit and/or were used by indigenous populations or smallholders whose production techniques were often favorable to species survival. Many of these techniques provide clues for how agriculture might be reshaped to be more friendly both to biodiversity and social equity.

Re-forming property to address eco-social fragmentation and rift

Two concepts that bridge the nature-human divide may help to diagnose and address some of the present and future problems of eco-social change in a legal context. ‘Fragmentation’ refers to loss and degradation of the habitat of nonhuman life. It is also a useful concept for understanding the fracturing of the material conditions for human life in a modern globalised world. The notion of ‘metabolic rift’, derived from Marx by John Bellamy Foster, refers to a break in the human-nonhuman circulation of natural materials, brought on by industrial agriculture and urbanisation. These related ideas provide a frame for exploring the connections between social and environmental justice and the role played by legal forms such as private property. In keeping with the imperative to re-form legal concepts to account for eco-social existence, the article presents a view of property as human and nonhuman habitat. This approach aims to use law to help recreate the conditions for the constructive inter-dependence of social and environmental goods.

Land Use and Ecological Change: A 12,000-Year History

Human use of land has been transforming Earth's ecology for millennia. From hunting and foraging to burning the land to farming to industrial agriculture, increasingly intensive human use of land has reshaped global patterns of biodiversity, ecosystems, landscapes, and climate. This review examines recent evidence from archaeology, paleoecology, environmental history, and model-based reconstructions that reveal a planet largely transformed by land use over more than 10,000 years. Although land use has always sustained human societies, its ecological consequences are diverse and sometimes opposing, both degrading and enriching soils, shrinking wild habitats and shaping novel ones, causing extinctions of some species while propagating and domesticating others, and both emitting and absorbing the greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. By transforming Earth's ecology, land use has literally paved the way for the Anthropocene. Now, a better future depends on land use strategies that can effectively sustain people together with the rest of terrestrial nature on Earth's limited land.

SISTEMAS AGROALIMENTARES E FRATELLI TUTTI

A Pandemia de Covid-19 suscitou discussões em torno da temática central da valorização da vida em detrimento da busca desenfreada por lucro. Revelou a precariedade dos sistemas agroalimentares baseados na agricultura industrial.Garantir que todos tenham as mesmas oportunidades, conviver em comunidade e partilhar o excedente são valores cultivados pelas primeiras comunidades cristãs. Este artigo se propõe a revisitar os valores cristãos de solidariedade e partilha, propondo alternativas de habitação planetária pautadas por eles, relembrando, principalmente, a Carta Encíclica Fratelli Tutti, do Papa Francisco, de 2020. Trata-se de priorizar o bem-estar das pessoas e não o capital. Palavras-chave: Sistemas Agroalimentares. Pandemia de Covid-19. Fratelli Tutti. Abstract The Covid-19 Pandemic raised discussions around the central theme of valuing life at the expense of the unbridled search for profit.It revealed the precariousness of agri-food systems based on industrial agriculture. Ensuring that everyone has equal opportunities, living in community and sharing the surplus are values cultivated by the first Christian communities. This article proposes to revisit the Christian values of solidarity and sharing, proposing alternatives for planetary living based on them, recalling mainly the 2020Pope Francis’ Fratelli TuttiEncyclical Letter. It's about prioritizing people's well-being over capital. Keywords: Aagri-food Systems. Covid-19 Pandemic. Fratelli Tutti.

Derrida, Heidegger and Industrial Agriculture: The Holocaust, Suffering and Compassion

Martin Heidegger notoriously linked industrial agriculture and the Holocaust in a lecture given at Bremen while he was still banned from teaching under denazification measures. What has largely been overlooked is that Derrida also compared the two: in 1997, in an address given at the third Cerisy conference devoted his work. This apparent repetition will be understood within the broader framework of his reading of Heidegger and, in particular, with what the latter says concerning technology. It will be argued that while Derrida views industrial agriculture as a series of technical issues, each demanding of particular attention, Heidegger sees its only as an instance of Technik. Most significantly, while the latter’s philosophy offers no resources for treating it as demanding an ethical response, for Derrida our relation to animals should be guided by compassion.

From Standard to Region-specific Monocrops

Industrial agriculture has promoted the expansion of monocrops around the world, aided by the circulation of highly standardized plant varieties. However, given the adverse environmental effects of this agricultural approach (such as genetic erosion) and the challenges posed by climate change, some biotech companies are trying to complexify industrial agriculture’s relationship to “place”. They are beginning to consider local particularities in the design of seed products. Focusing on the experience of an Argentinian biotech company, this article explores the creation of microbial seed treatments that claim to be “region-specific” and whose production is mediated by novel meta-genomic techniques. Through the notions of association and mediation, the article reflects on the diverse meanings of region-specificity (geographical, environmental, relational) that are mobilized in the creation of these products. In this way, the article highlights the role of computational technologies, plants, and microorganisms in the shaping of scientific and corporate meanings of place.

Agrarian Frontier Expansion and Conflicts over Labor

This article explores large-scale industrial agriculture and related conflicts over labor in Brazil. It does so through an analysis of the industrial transformation of the sugarcane sector in São Paulo state, a representative case of recent agricultural changes and their effects on wage workers, trade unions and their struggles.