By Kathleen Stokes
Welcome back to Rundale!
This month’s articles share a common theme of repositioning elsewhere.
At a time when fortress-mentalities are being peddled with increased fervour, it is important to recall that whatever happens in one place is never isolated, nor should it be. Just because we can’t see something within our immediate line of vision doesn’t mean it’s not affecting us.
Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn’s examination of international corporate landlords in Ireland’s private rental sector illustrates the entanglement of global capital investment with local housing development and tenancy rights.
Lynda Sullivan describes translocal struggles against mining from Indonesia to Ireland. Despite their disastrous effects on people and environment, these mining projects are justified as necessary for providing ‘critical minerals’ for the energy transition.
Finally, Louise Fitzgerald calls out mainstream environmental policy for disregarding the perspectives and experiences of rural communities where the transitions’ major infrastructural developments (including mining) are taking place.
Repositioning elsewhere starts by interrogating your vantage point. Knowing where you’re looking from grants perspective – a chance to look up and beyond what is immediately in front of you.
When we do this, what comes back to us?
Does it challenge how we see ourselves and where we invest our energies?
Out of sight needn’t mean out of mind. Distance can give perspective, but it can also be bridged through attention and solidarity.
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