Resignificando nuestros lugares de trabajo: Invitación a co-crear espacios de solidaridad y prácticas emancipadoras en ecología

Abstract

The modern times we live in are characterized by the confluence of multiple crises cultural, ecological and political that break the relationship between nature and culture, between individual and community, and extinguish the real and potential spaces for deliberation, participation and emancipation of people. The aim of this essay is to analyze how these crises are expressed in our academic endeavors and to propose, through collective reflection, emancipatory practices in the three main activities in Argentinian academia: scientific publications, university lecturing, and science communication. Emancipation is a way of becoming aware of the power of the oppressive mechanisms and recognizing the forms of domination to which we are exposed. Emancipatory practices comprise the transfer of the ideals of solidarity, justice, and democratic participation in decision-making and self-determination of the political and economic aspects of everyday life. We used a database derived from an anonymous and online survey answered by 684 people from the agricultural, biological, and environmental science disciplines of Argentina during 2018-2019. We analyzed the comments, which were free-form and optional, with the qualitative program MAXQDA. The 195 comments received were related to feelings of frustration, anguish, and hopelessness associated with the labor environment and academic career activities. We linked these comments with the time it takes to publish manuscripts and the academic multitasking required by the system; cooperation among colleagues could alleviate these feelings. Throughout this essay, we discuss and reflect on these feelings in order to propose, through five concrete experiences, examples of emancipatory practices that can be replicated and adapted to our workspaces. These proposals are only a first step in rethinking our tasks and decisions as researchers and promoting ways of knowing and practicing ecology in a more creative, reflective, and inclusive ways to contribute to our emancipation and also to a more just world.