In February, PAScapes (Post-Authoritarian Scapes) was represented at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) through the intensive workshop Ecosocial Imagination and (Post)Authoritarian Landscapes, led by prof. Kristupas Sabolius, Head of the Ecosocial Ideas Research Group. Key themes addressed included:
- Eco-social and socio-technical imaginaries
- Environments, milieus, and landscapes
- (Post)authoritarian and postcolonial geographies
- Swamps and composibilities
During the workshop, Sabolius presented the central topics of PAScapes research, sparking rich discussions with students and scholars from philosophy, anthropology, the arts, and other disciplines. The event focused on the complex entanglements of society, politics, and the environment in (post)authoritarian contexts, with landscape explored as a temporal and symbolic marker—a way to trace how natural and cultural domains interact across historical regimes.
Case studies such as Kauno Marios, Rumšiškės, the Kakhovka Dam, Baltic hillforts, the deserts of northern Mexico, and swamps in both Mexico and Lithuania, as well as contemporary forms of the socio-technical imaginary as ecological and symbolic spaces, were examined. These examples illustrated how large-scale interventions under authoritarian regimes have left enduring environmental and cultural imprints, raising important questions from an ecocritical perspective.
In this context, the concept of milieu was introduced as a valuable framework for reconsidering the foundations of ecosocial imagination. At a time when authoritarian dynamics are once again gaining ground, this conversation underscored the urgency of understanding their ecological consequences.
Many thanks to our colleagues at UNAM, especially Sebastián Lomelí and Johannes Neurath, for their warm reception and intellectually fertile exchange.
