The focus of Chris Hesketh’s article “Clean development or the development of dispossession? The political economy of wind parks in Southern Mexico “is an issue of emerging cognitive and material inequities associated with clean development technology. I think that this study provides a different look at the trend of the introduction of green technologies in developing countries. Taking care of the ecology, class, and racial problems of subaltern groups, having realized on the concrete example of Mexico the existence of various forms of exploitation of the indigenous population through innovative technologies, one must understand the importance of combating the domination of colonialism and capitalism.
Synopsis
The author of the article is concerned about the perception of wind energy as flawless in all areas of energy development. Wind power is thus considered as one of the clean development projects. In the author’s view, this branch of energy reproduces colonial power relations. An empirical analysis of the specific location of wind farms leads to a global reflection on the essence of environmental justice in the modern world. In my opinion, the importance of the text lies in its attempt to rethink the traditional view of the colonial policy of introducing new technologies of the Nordic countries. The author emphasizes the need to consider the south indigenous population’s voices in making such decisions. Mainly focusing his attention on the situation in Oaxaca, the author nevertheless brings the research into the level of discussion of current global environmental problems. The text asks many inconvenient questions for the owners of capital, calling for an end to the imperialist policy of imposing the only possible path of development, in their opinion. The purpose of the work seems to me, in addition to actualizing the environmental problems of Mexico, is an attempt to propose a draft solution to the impending threats, taking into account the lifestyle and desires of the local inhabitants of the region.
Comments
I agree with the author in his position on the policy pursued in Mexico. Indeed, the denial of indigenous views as irrelevant to the dominant colonial ideas is unacceptable if we want to combat the oppression of developing countries by capital-rich countries. Before reading the article, I did not critically consider the impact of clean development projects on the local population where such technology projects are being implemented. While making seemingly environmentally sound decisions, it did not seem evident to me that the state does not care about the well-being of the living people but rather about the possibility of extracting additional profit. However, the author’s evidence of the CMD’s unfairness convinced me that the state often acts as an agent for promoting the policy of imperialism.
I do not entirely agree with the approach chosen by the author to follow from the particular to the general. Still, his train of thought and the accompanying argumentation convinced me that this approach is fully justified, both theoretically and practically. The author demonstrated how wind power turns out to be evil, as it provokes the seizure of land of indigenous Mexicans under the “green” cover.
In my opinion, it is essential to note that the author actualizes the question of why third-world nations are perceived as nature-exploiting societies. Among the reasons for such an attitude towards these countries is the basing of industrial enterprises in southern countries, where labor and raw materials are cheap. This formulation of the problem is inconvenient for the owners of giant energy corporations, but this is the research task, which attracted me personally when reading the text.