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It was my first visit ever to the neighborhood association – in February 2017 – and the phone rang again in the contiguous room. “I’m sorry” apologized José Luis “but our colleagues are not here yet and I need to answer the phone”. Manolo, who stayed with me, responded to my curious look: “we just sent the monthly invoice of the cooperative committee of funerals and this month is higher than usual. Three people died only last week. The neighbors are calling to check if the invoice is right, and some of them are trying to postpone the payment. But we try not to do exceptions, it’s the only way to keep working”. When José Luis came back, they both explained to me what exactly was the cooperative committee of funerals. Facing an increase in the number of deceased people and the high expense that is usually incurred by families in burial services, in 1987 the neighborhood association came up with the idea of creating a group of people that would share those costs. The project, though, would only make sense with widespread support from the community. Despite the strict age limit of 50 years old, almost 4.000 people responded when the call was launched, and the number of associates has remained steady through the years. This anecdote reflects very well the identity of the Can Sant Joan community, to which José Luis and Manolo passionately introduced me during that first meeting. The two men talked straight about the many social and environmental problems that the neighborhood had faced during the years and the ways in which the community had organized to confront them. Yet, they did not speak in a plaintive way, their speech challenged corporate and institutional power and claimed fearlessly for social justice. The Can Sant Joan community – not unlike many others in the Vallès region – has faced many adversities of different kind since its very creation, but its inhabitants have always confronted them and have restlessly fought for improving the living conditions in the neighborhood. Can Sant Joan stands out among other sacrifice zones in the Vallès area because of the long list of locally unwanted land uses that is burdened with, but especially because of its strong subaltern identity that has led the community to partially revert their condition. My research is grounded on the acknowledgment of Can Sant Joan’s environmental and social burdens, as a representation of all those communities around the world whose livelihoods are contaminated and impoverished in the name of neoliberal capitalism, and especially to those that decide to stand up and fight against power inequalities and social injustices. I foresee my research not just as an intellectual exercise, but as a process grounded in real life experiences of contamination and neglect that ultimately seeks to make a difference in the community, where it starts. This study is, thus, a transdisciplinary – almost antidisciplinary – piece where different disciplines with ambitions of challenging the sociopolitical status quo in order to achieve social and environmental justice intertwine. My research is built on existing literature in the fields of subaltern environmentalism – and other forms alternative environmentalism – political ecology and environmental humanities. Much have been written about polluted communities in different fields, but there are still crucial gaps that need to be filled. My ambitions are to better understand the sociopolitical processes that lead to the creation of sacrifice zones, to expand the definition of violence by uncovering different forms of slow violence that take place in them, to analyze the environmental movements embraced by affected communities, and to evaluate the potential benefits 1 that a subaltern environmental movement could have to those communities. The outcome of my research will be shared with the movement against waste incineration of Can Sant Joan and with the community in an attempt to realize the main aspiration of my research: to inform and enhance the activist movement in the neighborhood. This will be done by co-organizing at least one public event in the neighborhood together with members of the movement against incineration, in which the outcomes of my research will be presented to the local audience. Additionally, I keep personal relationship with the key informants, who have been integrated in the activist-scholar circle of the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory. If successful, this study could be the first stage of an action research in which local activists would not only be treated as a group of study, but their needs and actions would reframe the questions and scope of my research. In turn, the local movement against incineration would make use of the research outcomes in order to reach its goal, eventually creating a symbiotic feedback process potentially fruitful for both parts. This study is organized in seven chapters and six interludes. In chapter 2 I present the rationale behind the choice of case study as a research methodology, introduce the writer to the case study design, and share the ethical considerations at stake. Chapter 3 contains the theoretical toolbox where I conduct a literature review of the material that serves as theoretical frame for this study. I start with different visions on subalternity to later define subaltern environmentalism, and pointing out to some commonalities among different forms of alternative environmentalism. Then, I explore the concept of sacrifice zone and present the street science process that is being used by affected communities in order to uncover the infliction of slow violence in a variety of forms. In chapter 4 I introduce the reader to the case study through a short historical revision of the origins of Can Sant Joan and the development of the neighborhood until our days. Thereafter I thoroughly analyze the socio-political positionality of the community in different terms to verify if Can Sant Joan is a subaltern community. Chapter 5 is dedicated to discussing the neighborhood of Can Sant Joan as a sacrifice zone, as well as different forms of slow violence that the community has suffered. First, I revise the long list of locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) that the community has been burdened with and uncover a pattern based on political criteria for the placing of those LULUs. Thereupon, I analyze the different forms of slow violence that Can Sant Joan is being inflicted, including environmental, structural and narrative violence. In chapter 6, I document the movement against waste incineration in the cement plant that is taking place in Can Sant Joan, present the main forms of activism that the movement is using, and discuss the features that make it fit into the frame of subaltern environmentalism. Then, I discuss the central role of street science and forming coalitions: while the former is used to contest narrative violence and legitimize the claims of the community, the latter enhances public visibility and helps to forge a common subaltern identity that goes beyond the borders of the neighborhood. The study concludes with chapter 7, where I summarize the outcomes of this thesis by answering the research questions posed in chapter 2. Finally, I briefly present potential future research in Can Sant Joan that could keep contributing to the mobilized scholarly fields and to the movement against incineration as well, and close with a short update of the last months of struggle. The study is complemented with a series of six 2 interludes inspired by the Toxic Bios1 project, which compiles in an interactive open access online platform toxic autobiographies from communities affected by environmental injustices in several European countries and beyond. In the interludes the scale of the unit of analysis shifts from the community of Can Sant Joan to the individuals affected by the studied phenomena and thus, I use storytelling in order to complement my research with insights from a different perspective. In the first interlude, I highlight the importance that bodily experiences of toxicity can have in contesting narrative violence through toxic storytelling and I discuss the new guerrilla narrative methodology. The rest of the interludes comprise six toxic autobiographies by six different members of the local community that are to different extents active in the movement against waste incineration in Can Sant Joan.

Bangladesh is known as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, especially the southwest coastal region. This area frequently experiences extreme weather such as cyclones, storms, waterlogging, droughts, and high levels of salinity. These events are projected to intensify further with climate change. Moreover, scholars have emphasized that women in Bangladesh bear the heaviest burden from environmental challenges in terms of vulnerability, exposure, and adaptation. This study aims to illustrate the reality and everyday life of emotions and thoughts of women living under these kinds of circumstances. To do so, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women living in three different villages in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. The purpose investigates how environmental challenges affect women living in this region in terms of health, mobility, livelihood, and social- and economic security. In addition, this study explores how these women look at the future as well as how they live their everyday life in an area affected by environmental challenges. The ambition was not to find comparable answers, rather to illustrate a variety of women’s realities and challenges. The gathered material was analyzed through previous research and the theoretical frameworks of IPCC’s Conception of Risk and Feminist Political Ecology (FPE).     The results show that women are affected in several ways by environmental challenges because of socially constructed gender roles that are governed by patriarchal principles in the society of Bangladesh. These principles further state the positioning of women and that they hold reproductive-, domestic-, and productive roles that further enhance their vulnerability, exposure, as well as ability to cope and adapt to environmental challenges. Moreover, geographical location and poverty are also two key factors that play a crucial part in how women experience environmental challenges and ability to cope and adapt to these.

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<p>Policies for the control of dengue fever often construct the mosquito-borne virus as a disease of poverty, and call for disease control through “development” to meet the needs of poor populations and impoverished or unsanitary spaces. However, exceptions to the narrative of a rich/poor dengue divide persist in non-poor urban environments across the world. One example is Malaysia's new administrative capital city of Putrajaya – a wealthy and centrally planned new city with among the highest rates of dengue in the country.</p> <p>This dissertation drew on theories of ecosocial epidemiology and urban political ecology to investigate and contextualize the geography of dengue and development in Putrajaya. Key informant interviews and critical discourse analysis found that infectious disease control fell well below other urban priorities for the city, and that globally dominant dengue control strategies targeted toward poor populations were inappropriately transferred to Putrajaya's non-poor local environment. A systematic review of the research literature found no clear evidence showing an association between dengue and conditions of poverty. These findings challenge conventional thinking by policy makers about epidemiological transition and the social determinants of health.</p> <p>The dissertation addresses the dearth of research into the world's neglected tropical diseases (NTDs); in particular, gaps in our understanding of the biopolitical and socioecological contexts (sites of urban governance, sites of health policy development and implementation, and sites of academic research) in which policies for NTDs like dengue are determined, enacted and justified. The dissertation further identifies non-poor urban environments – in particular those undergoing rapid development, such as Putrajaya – as key spaces for future geographic and political ecological research related to epidemiological transition, economic development and the social and environmental determinants of health.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Der Übergang vom fossilen Zeitalter hin zu einer kohlenstoffarmen Zukunft mit erneuerbaren Energien erfordert eine tiefgreifende Transformation, Reorganisation und Neukonfiguration des sozio-ökologischen Stoffwechsels, der insbesondere eine tiefgreifende raumzeitliche und politische Veränderung darstellt. Diese Arbeit analysiert diesen Wandel, indem sie die Rolle thermodynamischer Narrative untersucht, die im Zusammenhang mit der Elektrifizierung des Kapitalismus im Deutschland des endenden 19. Jahrhunderts aufgekommen sind. Sie geht der Frage nach, welche Bedeutung diese thermodynamischen Narrative für die lokale Umstrukturierung der Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehung in der kohlenstoffarmen Energiewende weiterhin haben. Anhand eines neuartigen Analyserahmens, genannt ‚kritische Thermodynamik‘, der diese miteinander verbundenen Beziehungen in einem historisch-materialistischen Kontext analysiert, werden drei Hauptargumente vorgebracht. Erstens führt eine thermodynamische Narration mit ihren materiellen Implikationen das menschliche Streben nach "grüner" Energie in einen gegenwärtigen Zustand, auf dem die wissenschaftlichen und politischen Einzelheiten eines zukünftigen Natur-Energie-Beziehung aufbauen. Zweitens, in der gegenwärtigen Phase der Energiewende produziert das Kapital aufgrund des Fokus auf die effiziente Verteilung erneuerbarer Energien neue ökonomische Formationen in Prozessen der ökologischen Modernisierung. Dabei wird die Energieflexibilität als zentrales Terrain für die Aufrechterhaltung eines Status Quos als Ausgleich infrastruktureller Defizite herausgearbeitet. Drittens steuert der Staat die Energiewende durch experimentelle Ansätze, die dem Kapital einen technokratischen Raum für seine notwendigen socio-ecological fixes bieten sollen. / The transition from the fossil fuel era to a low-carbon future of renewable energy requires profound transformation, reorganisation, and reconfiguration of the socio-ecological metabolism. Since this metabolism was initially built upon centralised thermal power plants, the move to a future system that predominantly lives of ‘green megawatts’ from decentralised renewable energy sources represents a major spatiotemporal and political shift. This thesis analyses such a shift by investigating the role of thermodynamic narratives, which emerged in the context of electrification of capitalism in Germany at the end of the 19th century. It addresses the question of how these thermodynamic narratives continue to matter for the localised restructuring of the human-environmental relationship in the low-carbon energy transition. Through a novel framework of ‘critical thermodynamics’, which analyses these interconnected relations through a historical materialist framework, the thesis makes three main arguments. First, a thermodynamic narrativity along with its material implications guides the human quest for abundant ‘green’ energy into the contemporary conjuncture on which the scientific and political specificities of the future nature-energy relationship are built. Second, because of a focus on the efficient distribution of renewable energy in the current phase of the energy transition, capital produces new economic formations in wider processes of ecological modernisation. Here, energy flexibility is exposed as a central terrain for maintaining a status quo despite infrastructural shortcomings. Third, the state guides the energy transition through experimental approaches, intended to provide a technocratic space for capital to perform its necessary socio-ecological fixes.

Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier les représentations et les récits liés aux aménagements controversés que peuvent être les barrages hydrauliques. Si la fonction symbolique des barrages a souvent été soulignée par la littérature scientifique, peu de travaux sont réellement consacrés à leurs représentations et à leurs trajectoires spatiales et temporelles. En s’inspirant d'études issues de la géographie sociale et culturelle sur les représentations et de la political ecology sur les discours, la thèse confronte différentes sources (presse, entretiens et archives), terrains (France et Australie) et approches méthodologiques (quantitatives et qualitatives) pour retracer l’évolution discursive des infrastructures hydrauliques. Les points de vue de différents acteurs sont aussi considérés: les habitants, les ingénieurs et les institutions hydrauliques, les opposants aux barrages, les administrations en charge de la protection de la nature ou encore les scientifiques qui produisent des connaissances sur l’environnement. D'un point de vue méthodologique, la thèse révèle les biais de certains matériaux et souligne l'intérêt de poursuivre leur croisement. Les résultats montrent l’évolution de waterscapes, d’espaces et de cycles hydrosociaux, par exemple les concessions progressives faites aux environnementalistes aux dépens des hydrocraties ; ils mettent aussi en avant, plus généralement, la production et la circulation de discours, notamment à l’occasion de conflits et de controverses, qui conduisent au délitement du discours prométhéen sur la nature et à la diffusion de représentations concurrentes de l'environnement. / The aim of this PhD thesis is to study representations and narratives on dams, which are often controversial infrastructures. If the symbolic role of dams has been underlined in the literature, few studies actually focus on the perception of dams and their spatial and temporal trajectories. Building on the literature of social and cultural geography on representation, and the writings of political ecology on discourse, this thesis confronts different sources (newspapers, interviews and archives), study areas (in France and Australia) and methodological approaches (quantitative and qualitative) in order to follow the discursive evolution of hydraulic infrastructure. The points of view of various stakeholders are also considered: inhabitants, engineers and hydraulic institutions, opponents to dams, administrations in charge of nature protection and scientists who produce environmental knowledge. From a methodologicial perspective, the dissertation highlights the limits of certain material and illustrates the necessity to consider different sources in parallel. The results show the evolution of waterscapes, hydrosocial spaces and cycles---the gradual concessions made to environmentalists at the expense of hydraulic bureaucracies---but they also illustrate, on a broader perspective, the production and the flow of discourses on the environment---the disaggregation of a Promethean discourse on nature and the multiplication of different and sometimes opposing representations of the environment---particularly during conflicts and controversies.

Cette recherche s'intéresse aux matériaux de construction et aux architectes. Elle explore les circuits le long desquels circulent les matériaux et étudie les dispositifs dont ils sont munis pour rendre cette circulation possible. Elle se penche sur les rôles que jouent et sur ceux que pourraient jouer les concepteurs au sein de ces circuits et en regard de ces dispositifs.<p>Ce travail s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une réflexion sur les pratiques de l'aménagement de l'espace bâti. Au cours de son trajet entre son site de production et celui de sa mise en œuvre (c'est-à-dire le chantier de construction) – et même au-delà, lorsqu'une transformation libère des éléments constructifs – un matériau passe par de nombreuses étapes. Parmi toutes celles-ci, le passage par le moment de la conception est un élément central de cette recherche (même si d'autres étapes seront également explorées au fil de pages de ce travail). Quels rôles les concepteurs jouent-ils au sein de ces vastes assemblages d'acteurs et de dispositifs qui se déploient le long des trajectoires des matériaux de construction ? Comment les concepteurs sont-ils affectés par ces assemblages et comment peuvent-ils les affecter en retour ?<p>Répondre à ces questions engage une exploration des principales trajectoires des matériaux de construction et un examen attentif des dispositifs dont ils sont munis au fil de ce processus. C'est ce à quoi s'attache la première partie de cette recherche, dont la portée est plutôt descriptive. Mais elle ne s'arrête pas à ce stade. Elle comporte également une seconde partie, plus prospective et critique. Cette recherche propose en effet d'explorer certaines pistes de reconfiguration au sein de ces assemblages. Elle examine plusieurs questions touchant aux limites des circuits de l'économie matérielle : par quelles modifications faudrait-il en passer pour que des matériaux actuellement exclus des circuits les plus courants de l'économie matérielle puissent malgré tout y circuler ? D'autres arrière-plans axiologiques pourraient-ils être mis en jeu dans les circuits de l'économie matérielle ?<p>La présente recherche repose sur l'hypothèse que les concepteurs peuvent effectivement contribuer à la transformation progressive des circuits de l'économie matérielle. Ils ont vraisemblablement un rôle à jouer dans la possibilité d'ouvrir ces circuits à de nouveaux matériaux, et de contribuer ainsi à établir des pratiques plus à même de répondre aux enjeux écologiques et politiques auxquels sont confrontés notre planète et ses habitants. Bien sûr, les concepteurs n'ont pas l'exclusivité de tels changements. D'autres acteurs peuvent, et même doivent, participer à de tels efforts. Ce sont pourtant principalement les concepteurs qui retiendront l'attention de cette recherche. Il s'agit dans ce cadre d'explorer les conditions d'un tel changement, et ce tant d'un point de vue méthodologique que d'un point de vue pratique.<p>/<p>This research investigates the relation between construction materials and architects. It examines the circuits along which the materials circulates and it studies the devices that are embedded in the materials in order to render this circulation feasible. It looks into the roles that are played, and those that could be played, by the designers within these circuits and in regard with these devices.<p>This work is part of a reflection on the practices of designing and constructing the built environment. During its journey between its production site and that of its implementation (i.e. the construction site) – and even beyond, when a transformation frees again constructive elements – a construction material travels through many steps. Among all these, the passage through the design process is a key element. What role do the designers perform within these networks of actors and devices? How are they affected by these assemblages and how can they affect them in return?<p>Answering these questions undertakes an exploration of the main trajectories of construction materials and of the devices that are embedded throughout these processes. This is the topic of the first part of the research. At this point, the scope is mainly descriptive. But the research goes further: it also involves a more critical and prospective dimension. It proposes indeed to discuss several possible reconfigurations within these assemblages. What would be necessary in order to include new materials that are currently excluded from the main circuits of material economy? Could other axiological backgrounds be represented within these circuits?<p>This research is based on the assumption that designers can effectively contribute to the gradual transformation of the circuits of material economy. They can probably help alternative materials to circulate in more standard circuits, and thus help to establish new practices that are more likely to respond to environmental and social issues. Of course, the designers do not have a monopoly on such changes. Other actors may, and even must, participate in such efforts. Yet, the main focus of this research is the designer. It explores the conditions of such a change, both from a methodological and practical perspective. / Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Quoi de plus naturel qu’une clôture ? Parmi les images d’Epinal qui nous viennent spontanément à l’esprit, le bocage avec ses haies bien ordonnées, évoque une relation apaisée, rationnelle, arcadienne avec une nature nourricière et bienveillante. Pourtant, la prolifération des clôtures en milieu rural depuis un siècle a suscité la curiosité de nombreux chercheurs dans des disciplines variées. Qu’il s’agisse de protéger la nature de dégradations engendrées par les populations humaines - dans le cas d’espaces protégés -, ou à l’inverse de protéger les humains contre des dangers « naturels » - comme dans le cas de la prévention routière, ces clôtures semblent répondre à une nécessité absolue de ségrégation spatiale entre les hommes et la nature : Quoi de moins naturel qu’une clôture ? Vu sous cet angle, le conflit politico-environnemental engendré par la propagation récente des engrillagements forestiers en Sologne reflète assez bien l’ambiguïté de nos perceptions vis-à-vis du caractère naturel ou non de ces clôtures. La Sologne est une région naturelle Française couvrant près de 500 000 hectares délimitée au nord par la vallée de la Loire et au sud par la vallée du Cher. Fruit d’une occupation humaine attestée depuis le XIe siècle, conjuguée à des contraintes écologiques spécifiques, le paysage Solognot est aujourd’hui caractérisé par son couvert boisé important (environ 50% de la surface) et ses populations importantes de grand gibier, qui entretiennent la longue réputation cynégétique de cette région ; la propriété privée y est largement majoritaire (plus de 90% de la surface forestière). En 2012, une agitation médiatique (film, articles de presse, sites internet) cristallisent un conflit environnemental latente, faisant intervenir des éléments écologiques – les effets supposés bénéfiques ou néfastes de ces engrillagements sur la grande faune, mais aussi politiques – la nécessité de réglementer les engrillagements, et culturels - la sauvegarde du « paysage Solognot ». Afin d’analyser ce conflit, une approche interdisciplinaire de type Political Ecology a été menée, mêlant travail d’enquête auprès de la population et étude du fonctionnement écologique des espaces engrillagés. Ces travaux ont montré que les engrillagements modifient la répartition spatiale des cerfs. La recherche d’effets cascades sur les oiseaux forestiers - résultants des surdensités locales de cerfs en espace engrillagé - n’a cependant pas mis en évidence d’effet négatif. A partir des enquêtes, il apparaît que le conflit est pluridimensionnel et que l’aspect écologique – bien réel – ne suffit pas à lui seul pour comprendre l’enjeu de ce débat au sujet des engrillagements. Ces résultats génèrent une réflexion sur la complexité des conflits environnementaux, et la nécessité d’envisager ces conflits sous des angles différents. Cela implique d’utiliser des outils et des approches issues de plusieurs disciplines, mais aussi et surtout de parvenir à mettre en résonance le matériel hétérogène ainsi obtenu, afin de proposer une approche multifacette mais cohérente. Dans ce cas d’étude, les résultats sur les effets cascades se sont par exemple révélés extrêmement marginaux, alors qu’une étude parallèle sur le comportement du sanglier en milieu engrillagé aurait probablement été très pertinente. Cela amène plus largement à réfléchir sur le « cadrage » des problèmes environnementaux, et sur les choix conscients ou non que nous faisons lorsque nous décrivons une situation comme problématique pour « la nature ». Plus généralement, ces résultats incitent à (re)placer le politique au cœur de nos réflexions sur ce qu’est la « nature », y compris dans la façon dont nous écologues posons nos questions de recherches. / What could be more natural than a fence? Among the traditional images in our collective heritage, a pastoral landscape with well maintained hedges evokes a calm, rational, Arcadian relationship between man and a benevolent, sustaining ature. Yet the century-long proliferation of fences in our rural landscapes has attracted the curiosity of numerous researchers from a variety of disciplines. Whether the goal is to protect nature from the degradations caused by human populations - as in the case of natural protected areas, or inversely, to protect humans from “natural” dangers – as in the case of accident prevention and road safety, fences seem to respond to a primordial necessity to segregate man and nature in space: What could be less natural than a fence? With this in mind, the political/environmental conflict over the recent propagation of forest fences in Sologne reflects quite well the ambiguity of how we perceive such fences – or they “natural” or not? The Sologne is an officially designated “natural region” in France. It extends over nearly 500,000 hectares bordered on the North by the Loire valley and on the South by the Cher valley. The Sologne landscape is the fruit of human occupation, certain since the XI century, combined with specific ecological constraints. Today, Sologne is characterized by extensive forest cover (around 50% of the surface area) and by large populations of big game animals, maintaining the region’s a long history of hunting. Furthermore, land ownership in Sologne is mainly private and more than 90% of the forested area is in private holdings. In 2012, some media excitement (film, newspaper articles, internet sites) crystallized an environmental conflict calling on ecological arguments – the supposed beneficial or detrimental effects of the fencing networks on big game, but also on political arguments – the need to regulate these networks, and on cultural arguments – preserving the Sologne landscape. In order to disentangle the structural lines of this conflict, we applied an interdisciplinary, Political Ecology approach; we combined opinion polls among the inhabitants with the study of ecological functions within the fenced zones. We observed that fences induced modifications of deer habitat use. However, our investigations into a possible cascade effect on forest birds resulting from localized deer over-population in fenced areas revealed no evidence of any negative impact. From our opinion polls, we found that the conflict seems to be multi-dimensional and that the ecological aspect – whose existence is indeed supported by fact – is not sufficient alone to understand what is at stake in this fencing dispute. Our results highlight the complexity of environmental conflicts, and the importance of viewing these conflicts from many different angles. Apprehending this complexity implies using tools and approaches from several different disciplines, but also – and above all – making the heterogeneous results obtained resonate together, in order to propose a coherent, multi-facetted approach. In this study for example, the results obtained for potential cascade effects on birds were extremely marginal, whereas a parallel study on wild boar behavior patterns in an environment with a fencing network would probably have been very pertinent. This leads us to the broader question of the “framework” of environmental problems and to the question of the choices we make – whether consciously or not – when we describe a situation as detrimental to “Nature”. More generally, the results from this study encourage us to put politics (back) into the center of our reflections surrounding the question: What is nature? – and to keep this in mind when we as ecologists define our research hypotheses.

This dissertation examines how confusion and lack of access to information about subsurface property rights facilitates the rapid acquisition of mineral rights by mining interests, leaving those who live 'above the surface' to contend with complicated corporate and bureaucratic apparatuses. The research focuses on the first proposed state-run large scale mining project in Ecuador, believed to contain copper ores, and on the natural gas hydrofracking industry in three counties in north central West Virginia. Qualitative and visual methods, including mapping, are employed to determine (i.) how the geography of subsurface ownership patterns is changing, (ii.) links between changes in subsurface ownership and surface ownership, and (iii.) how these changes are facilitated or impeded by institutional and governance practices. Rights and permit acquisitions are facilitated by state institutions, which often have strategic interests in mineral development. Accordingly, this research also considers the role of state strategy with respect to the establishment, bureaucratic management, and enforcement of vertical territory, which reflects the state’s interest in and sovereign claim over subterranean resources to benefit the nation. The research finds that the historical separation of subsurface property rights from the surface is associated with a persistent weakening of surface holder claims to land in favor of mining development, and that this weakening has contributed to the long-term persistence of absentee ownership and control over land in Ecuador and West Virginia. Viewing subsurface land deals from the perspective of those whose lives are disrupted on the surface, I conclude from this work that mundane practices such as deed transfers and local micropolitics about land use are significant factors in the lead up to larger scale violences and silences, such as forced displacement and even political imprisonment of activists opposed to extraction.