Fwd: GS Colloquium 3/4: Morosin | Mines, “Matriarchy” and Mother Earth

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Undergrad Advising Global Studies

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Feb 26, 2026, 3:17:07 PM (6 days ago) Feb 26

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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Vitória Moreira <vit...@ucsb.edu>
Date: Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Subject: GS Colloquium 3/4: Morosin | Mines, “Matriarchy” and Mother Earth
To: Global Studies Department ALL <globa...@global.ucsb.edu>

Dear Global Studies community,

It is my pleasure to invite you all to next Wednesday's (03/04) Global Studies Colloquium talk with Prof. Alessandro Morosin titled Mines, “Matriarchy” and Mother Earth: Gendered Resistance to Extractivism in Oaxaca, Mexico. Below are the event's flyer and details:

UCSB Global Studies Colloquium Winter 2026

Matriarchy” and Mother Earth: Gendered Resistance to Extractivism in Oaxaca, Mexico

Alessandro Morosin

Wednesday, March 4th

12:30 - 1:30 pm

In-person: SSMS 2001
Zoom: bit.ly/gscolloquium

Description:

As rural and indigenous movements organize against the external threats posed by megaprojects—such as Canadian mining companies, industrial wind energy farms, and now the so-called Mayan Train—indigenous feminists within these movements also negotiate, reimagine, and re-appraise the gendered social order of their own communities. In Oaxaca’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, resistance organizations lay claim to indigenous forms of maternalism. They revere “Mother Earth” and they oppose “extractivism” as a quintessentially masculine economic model that unsustainably exploits the natural commons. At the same time, this romantic matriarchal ideology renders it challenging for radical indigenous women to tackle the different forms of capitalist patriarchy that continue to exist in the Isthmus—as well as in "movement" spaces. Drawing on examples and vignettes over several years of participant observation fieldwork, this talk will center the testimonies of indigenous feminists on how they navigate machismo in their daily lives while participating in anti-mining movements.

Speaker's Bio:

Alessandro Morosin is an Assistant Professor of Sociology & Criminology at the University of La Verne. His research focuses on global inequalities, indigenous social movements, megaprojects and mining companies. Morosin is grateful to all the communities and land defenders in Mexico he has walked with.

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Future colloquium talks are listed on the flyer below (and attached). I hope to see you there.