Alex Latta

  • Alex Latta
  • Associate Professor at BSIA
  • Global Studies (Laurier)
  • Office Location: DAWB 5-116
  • E-mail Address: alatta@wlu.ca
  • Phone Number: 519.884.0710, ext. 3115
  • Personal Website

Background

My research examines debates and conflicts over environmental issues as key sites where the shape of contemporary citizenship is constructed,  challenged and reshaped by a diverse array of actors. With a focus on the Latin American region, and a particular specialization in energy and water politics in Chile, I work with the theoretical and methodological tools of political ecology to chart the way that political agency within socio-ecological assemblages takes shape at different scales and in relation to competing visions of nature, society, the nation, and the globe. This approach is complemented by my effort to take up questions related to the very particular kind of collectivities and identities associated with the Western institution of citizenship, along with linked conceptual spheres such as politics and subjectivity. In normative terms, my research seeks to identify openings towards more egalitarian, inclusive and just political engagements, institutions and public policies.

Select Publications

  • Latta, Alex and Wittman, Hannah. Environment and Citizenship in Latin America: Natures, Subjects and Struggles, 2012, New York: Berghahn.
  • Latta, Alex and Cid, Beatriz. "Testing the Limits: Neoliberal Ecologies from Pinochet to Bachelet." Latin American Perspectives, 39 (4), 2012, 163-180.
  • Latta, Alex and Wittman, Hannah. "Environment and Citizenship in Latin America: A New Paradigm for Theory and Practice." European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 89, 2010, 107-116.
  • "Between Political Worlds: Indigenous Citizenship in Chile’s Alto Bío Bío". Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 4(1), 2009, 47-71.
  • "Citizenship and the Politics of Nature: The Case of Chile’s Alto Bío Bío". Citizenship Studies 11(3), 2007 229-246.
  • "Locating Democratic Politics in Ecological Citizenship". Environmental Politics 16(3): 2007, 377-393.