PhD Mid Term Seminar: The fabric of the forest: scaling-up Amazonian native rubber technologies in fashion value chains
The presentation is part of a PhD research in progress in the fields of Social Studies of Technology, Development Studies, and Production Engineering
I am happy to invite my colleagues for this seminar about my thesis “The fabric of the forest: scaling-up Amazonian native rubber technologies in fashion value chains”, on the 13th October 2022, from 14.00 to 15.00, at room 4.39, at the International Institute of Social Studies.
There will be a 20min presentation, followed-up by a discussion and evaluation with the supervisors and invited professors.
A Zoom link will be sent by e-mail. (dossantosduarte@iss.nl)
Professors
- Eliane Superti (Universidade Federal da Paraíba – Brazil)
- Andrew Fischer (International Institute of Social Studies)
- Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue (Radboud University)
- Fábio de Castro (University of Amsterdam)
- Julien-François Gerber (International Institute of Social Studies)
Date
13th October 2022
14.00 – 15.00
Local
Room 4.39
International Institute of Social Studies
Kortenaerkade 12, 2518AX, The Hague, The Netherlands
Title
The fabric of the forest: scaling-up Amazonian native rubber technologies in fashion value chains
Author
Luciana dos Santos Duarte
Abstract
Two case studies are analyzed in this interdisciplinary research in the field of Social Studies of Technology: the “Vegetal Leather”, used in Company 1 luxury bags, and the “Smoked Liquid Sheet”, used in the soles of Company 2 shoes. Both materials are produced in the Brazilian Western Amazon, by rural workers (some are rubber tappers) and indigenous peoples (Kashinawás, Yawanawás, Shanenawás). The cases are connected by the same actors, and have other aspects in common, like connections with NGOs and practices of neocolonialism. When the materials are scaled-up to attend the increased demand from the fashion consumers, in the first case we have a decrease in quality and the company fails, while in the second, there is a downgrade of the technology, and the production expands from 40 to 800 families. Giving this context, this double-degree PhD research in Production Engineering (UFMG/Brazil) and Development Studies (ISS/EUR) seeks to critically understand what happens when scaling up the artisanal production of rubber social technologies to mass production in fashion value chains in the Amazon, how the paradigms of the working conditions, the social technologies, and the sociotechnical systems change. Some controversies and paradoxes are analyzed using dense descriptions and discourse analysis. The preliminary results show that, for instance, although both initiatives received investments from national and international funds in the name of sustainable development, the deforestation rate had increased in the localities studied. At the end, future scenarios are presented using a framework in Speculative Design.
