Phylogeographic evidence of crop neo-diversity in Sorghum : [Abstract W101]

We report here a study on sorghum, using a well characterized sample of diverse cultivars that we resequenced for portions of six genes possibly involved in grain quality variation. Our study was based on 1.7 Mbp sequence data enabling a comparison between 129 to 184 accessions of sorghum for six genes and 1008 to 3771 bp per gene. A total of 170 polymorphisms, including 141 SNPs and 29 Insertion/Deletion Polymorphisms, were recorded within a total of 11279 bp scored. We analysed the distribution of polymorphisms by comparing the area of origin of sorghum and areas where sorghum migrated in the course of domestication and subsequent human migrations. We observed an array of situations. On one hand we have polymorphisms which are distributed in agreement with a neutral hypothesis, on the other extreme we have Opaque2, for which new polymorphisms have appeared in areas outside the area of origin. This, we argue, is novel diversity which was selected by man in the course of domestication: crop neo-diversity. Documentation of the extent of crop neo-diversity is very important. In breeding it might explain how narrow-based populations can be improved in the long term; in germplasm management it implies reformatting concepts and approaches, whereby diversity is not just reduced from wild to landraces and to improved materials; it may stimulate studies which investigate patterns of diversity in regions where crops were 'adapted' by man, in the search for adaptive neo-diversity. (Texte intégral

Technical vs. Grassroots Experts in Global Water and Forests Governance

Since the 2000s, facing the increasing globalization and commodification of common-pool resources, community-based organizations managing water and forests at the local level started to create transnational networks. Their main goal is to get direct representation in global governance arenas and to transform languages of expertise around governance norms and the scales at which they operate. The international involvement of grassroots organizations raises several interrogations: who are grassroots experts and to what extent are they different from technical experts dominating international arenas? At what scale and in what field is grassroots expertise constructed as legitimate? Finally, is transnational grassroots expertise based on a harmonization or a diversification of knowledge and practices

The Production of Meaning, Economy and Politics. Intercultural Relations, Conflicts, Appropriations, Articulations and Transformations

The work of Nestor Garcia Canclini was, and still is, an important source of inspiration and learning for research in Latin America. In this article by Daniel Mato and translated by Emilie Dupuits, the author comments on some key aspects of his work that are of particular importance and usefulness for contemporary social research. The title of this post tries to name synthetically some of these aspects, or, more accurately, his interpretation of them

The multiple forms of racism and the challenges it poses to higher education systems

Racism is an ideology according to which human beings are classifiable into "races" and some of them are "superior" to others. This ideology is not only expressed and exercised through "visible" social practices, which is what the application of the expression "racial discrimination" is usually limited. It also operates through disadvantages accumulated over centuries, the existence of which has been "naturalized". These disadvantages are the result of inequities and forms of inequality and exclusion of an economic, political, and socio-cultural nature, which are reproduced and multiplied through both prejudices and forms of "common sense", as well as institutional norms, devices, and practices. The idea of ​​"structural racism" is useful for referring to this set of factors in a comprehensive way. However, it is analytically insufficient in serving as a basis for the design of concrete intervention initiatives that are potentially effective in eradicating racism from Higher Education systems. This article seeks to contribute to the analysis of the different ways in which racism operates in Higher Education systems and the challenges it poses

La biodiversité, outil d’intégration transnationale des discours et pratiques de gestion forestière communautaire et territoriale

Since the 1990s, forest governance is increasingly inserted into globalization processes in the framework of international policies aiming at reducing deforestation, conserving biodiversity and fighting climate change. Facing these issues and the relative absence of local communities into international arenas, community forestry organizations created national and transnational networks. An example of such networks is the Mesoamerican alliance of people and forests (AMPB), created in 2010 and gathering at the same time indigenous peoples and forest communities. One of its main challenges is the construction of common claims among highly heterogeneous actors with often opposed traditions, especially regarding the issue of biodiversity. To what extent transnational community networks contribute to articulate biodiversity scales? Based on a discursive analysis, this paper studies how AMPB’s leaders articulate the diversity of representations on biodiversity among its members through the transnational harmonization of community and territorial forest management practices. The analysis is based on direct observations led in Mexico, Guatemala and Peru, and semi-structured interviews with AMPB’s leaders and partners. This paper seeks to renew the debate around the place of biodiversity in environmental governance as an integration tool in the light of a new actor, transnational community networks. It aims at bringing a renewed perspective on the possible articulations between biodiversity scales, actors and sectors.  Depuis les années 1990, la gouvernance des forêts fait l’objet d’une globalisation croissante dans le cadre des politiques internationales de réduction de la déforestation, puis de conservation de la biodiversité et de lutte contre le changement climatique. Face à ces enjeux et à la relative absence des communautés locales au sein des arènes internationales, des organisations communautaires forestières se sont regroupées sous forme de réseaux nationaux et transnationaux. C’est le cas de l’Alliance mésoaméricaine des peuples et forêts (AMPB), réseau créé en 2010 qui regroupe à la fois des peuples autochtones et des communautés forestières. L’un de ses principaux défis est la construction de revendications communes parmi des acteurs hétérogènes aux traditions parfois opposées, notamment concernant l’enjeu de la biodiversité. Dans quelle mesure les réseaux transnationaux communautaires contribuent-ils à articuler les échelles de la biodiversité ? À travers une analyse discursive, cet article étudie comment les leaders de l’AMPB intègrent la diversité des représentations sur la biodiversité parmi ses membres par l’harmonisation transnationale des pratiques de gestion forestière communautaire et territoriale. L’analyse repose sur la réalisation d’observations directes au Mexique, Guatemala et Pérou, et d’entretiens semi-directifs avec les représentants de l’AMPB et ses alliés. Cet article tente de renouveler le débat sur la place de la biodiversité au sein de la gouvernance environnementale en tant qu’outil d’intégration au prisme d’un nouvel acteur : les réseaux transnationaux communautaires. Il vise à porter un regard nouveau sur les possibles articulations entre échelles, acteurs et secteurs de la biodiversité. &nbsp

Critical Perspectives on Water Governance in Latin America

Book Review Essay   –  ' Grassroots Global Governance: Local Watershed Management Experiments and the Evolution of Sustainable Development', Edited by Craig Kauffman, Oxford University Press, 2016. –   'Water Justice', Edited by Rutgerd Boelens, Tom Perreault and Jeroen Vos, Cambridge University Press, 2018. –   'Drip Irrigation for Agriculture. Untold Stories of Efficiency, Innovation and Development', Edited by Jean-Philippe Venot, Marcel Kuper and Margreet Zwarteveen, Routledge, 2018

Feeling, acting and connecting rivers: the experience of the San Pedro River Rescue Collective in Ecuador

The San Pedro River Rescue Collective was born in 2021 as a citizen group whose goal is to restore the San Pedro River and its banks, which flow from the Illiniza volcano through Quito and its valleys towards the Pacific Ocean. One of the main dreams of its members is to bathe again in the river, as the past generation of their fathers and mothers did thirty years ago. The San Pedro River is facing multiple sources of contamination, from intensive cattle production at its watershed to wastewater and trash discharges in the city of Quito and Los Chillos valley, a densely populated area. From a political ecology perspective, this article examines the river imaginaries, knowledge co-creation and justice mobilized by the San Pedro River Rescue Collective as a river movement. The analysis is based on feminist epistemologies and ecologies of care mobilizing qualitative data gathered between January to April 2025. We explore how the San Pedro River Rescue Collective not only strives to revitalize a river, but to transform the relationship between society and nature at the very heart of the city. As a main result of this study, we conclude on the power of feelings and emotions to enact citizen action for the protection of urban rivers

Introduction to dossierCommunity strategies for confronting socio-environmental conflicts: beyond resistance

Introduction to dossierCommunity strategies for confronting socio-environmental conflicts: beyond resistanc

Coproduciendo el desarrollo territorial: estrategias público-comunitarias por el agua y los alimentos en Imbabura-Ecuador

This article focuses on the alliances established by the State on the territories with a view to becoming the articulating axis of community processes, in a vertical structure under the guise of participatory and inclusive models. From the experiences of water management and short food commercialization circuits models in Imbabura, this work analyzes, how knowledge is negotiated in the processes of territorial governance and public-community alliances? What are the implications of knowledge co-production processes for the territories? From a perspective of political ecology and territorial development studies, this article analyzes how peasant organizations participate in alliances with public authorities. We found that in a context of water injustice, several community movements in the province seek to participate in and benefit from local and regional development projects. However, these community organizations are forced to negotiate their initial demands to be included in these projects. In parallel, the modernizing ideal, of achieving territorial development from technical notions of modernization, efficiency and professionalization, faces resistance and adaptations from the organizations themselves. A more horizontal negotiation depends on the historical roots of knowledge co-production, according to the actors with whom they are linked.Este artículo se enfoca en las alianzas que el Estado ha buscado establecer en los territorios como eje articulador de los procesos comunitarios, en una estructura vertical bajo los ropajes de modelos participativos e inclusivos. Desde las experiencias de alianzas para manejo del agua y de circuitos cortos de comercialización de alimentos en Imbabura este trabajo analiza ¿cómo se negocian los conocimientos en los procesos de gobernanza territorial y de alianzas público-comunitarias? Qué implicaciones tienen los procesos de coproducción de conocimientos para los territorios? Se analiza, desde una perspectiva de ecología política y estudios del desarrollo territorial, cómo participan organizaciones campesinas en alianzas con organizaciones del Estado. Encontramos que en un contexto de injusticia hídrica, varios movimientos comunitarios en la provincia buscan participar en y beneficiarse de proyectos de desarrollo local y regional. Sin embargo, esas organizaciones comunitarias se ven obligadas a negociar sus demandas iniciales para estar incluidas en esos proyectos. En paralelo, el ideal de desarrollo territorial desde nociones técnicas de modernización, eficiencia y profesionalización, se enfrenta con resistencias y adaptaciones desde las propias organizaciones. Una negociación más horizontal depende de las raíces históricas de coproducción de conocimientos, de acuerdo a los actores con quienes se vinculan