DISMANTLING GREEN COLONIALISM | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Apr 17, 2024 6:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Apr 17, 2024 6:00 pm
450K
The Arab region is a focus of world politics, with authoritarian regimes, significant fossil fuel reserves, and histories of colonialism and imperialism. It is also the site of potentially immense green energy resources.
In DISMANTLING GREEN COLONIALISM: ENERGY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE IN THE ARAB REGION, Katie Sandwell and Dr. Hamza Hamouchene explore a region ripe for energy transition but held back by resource-grabbing and (neo)colonial agendas. They show the importance of fighting for a just energy transition and climate justice - exposing policies and practices that protect global and local political elites, multinational corporations and military regimes. Covering a wide range of countries from Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria and Tunisia to Egypt, Sudan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine, this book challenges Eurocentrism. It highlights instead a class-conscious approach to climate justice that is necessary for our survival.
The co-editors of DISMANTLING GREEN COLONIALISM, Dr. Hamza Hamouchene and Katie Sandwell, and the Climate Justice Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies, Basav Sen, are joining us on the Busboys stage to share their knowledge about the history of green colonialism and how we should approach climate activism today. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and our guests will be signing following the program. This program is sponsored in partnership with Arab Center Washington D.C., Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), and Transnational Institute (TNI).
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of DISMANTLING GREEN COLONIALISM will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Dr. Hamza Hamouchene is a London-based Algerian researcher and activist. He is the North Africa Programme Coordinator at the Transnational Institute (TNI), and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA) and the North African Food Sovereignty Network (NAFSN). He has written and edited several books including The Arab Uprisings: A decade of struggles and The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb. His writings have appeared in Africa Is A Country, Guardian, Huffington Post, Middle East Eye, New Internationalist, Jadaliyya, openDemocracy, ROAR and other places.
Katie Sandwell is a Programme Coordinator with the Transnational Institute. She has published on global food sovereignty movements, just transition and land struggles and is co-author of From Crisis to Transformation: What is Just Transition?
Basav Sen joined the Institute for Policy Studies as the Climate Justice Project Director in February 2017. His work focuses on climate solutions at the national, state, and local level that address racial, economic, gender and other forms of inequality. Prior to joining IPS, Basav worked for about 11 years as a strategic corporate campaign researcher at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). He has also had experience as a campaigner on the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and global finance and trade issues. As a member of a grassroots neighborhood-based environmental group, he has been involved in local struggles on energy justice in Washington DC.
