A Future for Amazonia

Randy Borman and Cofán Environmental Politics

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Biological Sciences, Environmental Science, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book A Future for Amazonia by Michael Cepek, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael Cepek ISBN: 9780292745728
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: November 15, 2012
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Michael Cepek
ISBN: 9780292745728
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: November 15, 2012
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

Blending ethnography with a fascinating personal story, A Future for Amazonia is an account of a political movement that arose in the early 1990s in response to decades of attacks on the lands and peoples of eastern Ecuador, one of the world's most culturally and biologically diverse places. After generations of ruin at the hands of colonizing farmers, transnational oil companies, and Colombian armed factions, the indigenous Cofán people and their rain forest territory faced imminent jeopardy. In a surprising turn of events, the Cofán chose Randy Borman, a man of Euro-American descent, to lead their efforts to overcome the crisis that confronted them.

Drawing on three years of ethnographic research, A Future for Amazonia begins by tracing the contours of Cofán society and Borman's place within it. Borman, a blue-eyed, white-skinned child of North American missionary-linguists, was raised in a Cofán community and gradually came to share the identity of his adoptive nation. He became a global media phenomenon and forged creative partnerships between Cofán communities, conservationist organizations, Western scientists, and the Ecuadorian state. The result was a collective mobilization that transformed the Cofán nation in unprecedented ways, providing them with political power, scientific expertise, and a new role as ambitious caretakers of more than one million acres of forest. Challenging simplistic notions of identity, indigeneity, and inevitable ecological destruction, A Future for Amazonia charts an inspiring course for environmental politics in the twenty-first century.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Blending ethnography with a fascinating personal story, A Future for Amazonia is an account of a political movement that arose in the early 1990s in response to decades of attacks on the lands and peoples of eastern Ecuador, one of the world's most culturally and biologically diverse places. After generations of ruin at the hands of colonizing farmers, transnational oil companies, and Colombian armed factions, the indigenous Cofán people and their rain forest territory faced imminent jeopardy. In a surprising turn of events, the Cofán chose Randy Borman, a man of Euro-American descent, to lead their efforts to overcome the crisis that confronted them.

Drawing on three years of ethnographic research, A Future for Amazonia begins by tracing the contours of Cofán society and Borman's place within it. Borman, a blue-eyed, white-skinned child of North American missionary-linguists, was raised in a Cofán community and gradually came to share the identity of his adoptive nation. He became a global media phenomenon and forged creative partnerships between Cofán communities, conservationist organizations, Western scientists, and the Ecuadorian state. The result was a collective mobilization that transformed the Cofán nation in unprecedented ways, providing them with political power, scientific expertise, and a new role as ambitious caretakers of more than one million acres of forest. Challenging simplistic notions of identity, indigeneity, and inevitable ecological destruction, A Future for Amazonia charts an inspiring course for environmental politics in the twenty-first century.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Hollywood Exile, or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Amazonian Linguistics by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book The Burden of the Ancients by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Exchange and the Maiden by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book The Sacred Landscape of the Inca by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Subversives and Mavericks in the Muslim Mediterranean by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Antbirds and Ovenbirds by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book The Senses of Democracy by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Framing a Lost City by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book The Language Parallax by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Arabian Oasis City by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988 by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Viva Cristo Rey! by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Osip Mandelstam by Michael Cepek
Cover of the book Healing Dramas by Michael Cepek
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy