Mariachiara Boldrini

The project examines the historical evolution of environmental mobilisations in Ghana, taking as its case study the socio-environmental conflict surrounding 'galamsey' (informal artisanal goldmining).
Challenging the post-materialist assumption famously articulated by Ronald Inglehart that populations in economically disadvantaged regions of the Global South are “too poor to be green” and have little incentive to engage in environmentalism, the project investigates how political mobilization around environmental issues has progressively taken shape through locally grounded repertoires of collective action that may not be fully captured by the category of “environmental social movements” as conceptualised in Euro-American political science.
From a theoretical perspective, the project explores the extent to which these mobilisations articulate conceptions of human–nature relations that exceed the dominant sustainability paradigm in the international debate, instead engaging with perspectives that integrate indigenous or traditional knowledge and approaches associated with decolonial ecology.
With the secondary aim of fostering interaction between local actors, NGOs and international environmental networks, the research also examines the growing role of digital advocacy strategies employed by environmental movements; tools that have played a crucial role in several instances of youth political mobilization across the African continent.