Indigenous-Inspired Peace ecology

Public lecture Alert! Come and attend Dr. Alberto Gomes’ talk on Indigenous-Inspired Peace ecology on August 9 at 9:00 AM Philippine Time via Zoom and You tube livestream.

You can register here to get the Zoom link

https://forms.gle/XZ7nbU285oPMEupQ8

1. PRESENTATION ABSTRACT

We live in a world stricken with multiple interlocking crises. While the Covid pandemic, economic precarity, and violent conflicts continue to wreck the lives and livelihoods of many people around the world, climate change and ecological degradation remain the biggest challenges of our times. Based on the premise that out of crises can emerge opportunities for social transformation, my presentation offers one such pathway or possibility for change, namely peace ecology, and it is inspired by the time-honoured philosophy and practice of the Orang Asli (Malaysia’s First Peoples). Orang Asli peace ecology is an articulation (in the two senses of the term: amalgamation and expression) of their well-known peace system (comprising of prosocial cooperation, reciprocity, sharing, egalitarianism, non-violent ethos etc) and their social ecology (which includes inter alia eco-centrism, biomimicry, regenerative practices, relationality, ecological ontology, respect for nature, and living within nature’s limits). What is specifically appealing about Orang Asli ecological-to-epistemologies is that it reconciles the problematic Cartesian-inspired nature-culture disconnect or rift which is now increasingly recognised as one of the key root causes of the compounding ecological crisis and calamity.

SPEAKER PROFILE

1. ALBERTO GOMES. His research has been on the impact of state-sponsored development, capitalism and modernity on Indigenous communities, particularly the Orang Asli (Malaysian Aborigines).  Publication projects have focused on what we can learn from Indigenous peoples and their epistemologies rather than merely learning about them. Current projects include (1) the nexus between equality (or egalitarianism), sustainability and peace and (2) Indigenous forms of conflict transformation, dialogue and empathetic engagement. Selected publications:

• ‘Lessons from the margin: Indigenous peace ecology’. Organicom 15 (28): 149-166.
• ‘Semai ecological epistemologies: Lessons for a sustainable future’. In Malaysia’s“Original People”: Past, Present and Future of the Orang Asli (edited by Kirk Endicott). Singapore University Press.