“This channel is actually a river”: challenging green hegemonies through territorial environmental practice

Urban communities and social movements in Latin America that sustain deep relationships with the natural environment - whether through ancestral traditions or the daily challenges of inhabiting environmentally sensitive areas - face ongoing struggles in their pursuit of the Buen Vivir. These struggles are intensified by environmental policies that, rather than addressing local complexities, reproduce colonial structures and promote green hegemonies aligned with private interests. While detached from territorially grounded practices, such initiatives tend to undermine and even not consider communities’ existence in decision making. Focusing on Fortaleza, Brazil, this thesis examines how urban development and municipal policy internalize global North-South dynamics, translating them into local actions that, through the prerogative of sustainable development, prioritize private profit and often exclude the very groups capable of offering sustainable alternatives. By highlighting the impacts of these policies on marginalized populations, this work advances through theoretical and practical pathways toward rooted spatial knowledge building. It emphasizes place-based environmental praxis as powerful sources of resistance and transformation, offering insights into how locally grounded practices can challenge the commodification of land and reimagine urban futures.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.U.P.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Urban Planning

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Fernandes Vieira Da Ponte, Luisa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Miraftab, Faranak
• Greenlee, Andrew J.

• Green Hegemonies
• Territorial Knowledge
• Social Movements
• Environmental Policy
• Fortaleza (brazil).

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Luisa Fernandes Vieira Da Ponte

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129960

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129960