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Oliver D. Liebig, M.A.

Oliver D. Liebig, M.A.

Doctoral Candidate

Areas of research and interest

Environment and society, ontologies of nature, anthropology of energy, assemblage theory

Regional focus: Mexico, South America

Contact

Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Oettingenstr. 67
80538 München


Work group

Fellow employee in the DFG-Project “The Ikojts and the Wind. Indigenous Perspectives on Renewable Energies in Mexico”, funded by the DFG DU 209/ 21-1 (2016-2018), directed by Prof. Dr. Eveline Dürr

 

The study contributes empirically and theoretically to a newer research field in social anthropology, that investigates indigenous perspectives on “renewable energy” and “wind”. The project aims to make visible the dynamic indigenous conceptualisations of the natural phenomena and their transformation to renewable energy. Furthermore it examines ontologically grounded conceptualisations of their character and composition. Thereby, it opens a new perspective on the conflicts within resource use and the correlation of Weltanschauungen, nature and renewable energy. The projects examines the ontological assumptions and world-view-specific references, that lie on the ground of these perceptions. At the same time, multiple ontologies are recognised as equal, and “modernity” as “right” and “obligatory” is questioned.

Academic Profile

  • since February 2016
    Fellow employee in the DFG-Project “The Ikojts and the Wind. Indigenous Perspectives on Renewable Energies in Mexico”, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology (LMU)
  • September 2015 – February 2016
    Research Associate and Tutor, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology (LMU)
  • March – July 2015
    Research Associate, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society Munich
  • May – July 2014
    Research Assistant, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society Munich
  • September 2013 – February 2014
    Research Associate and Tutor, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology (LMU)
  • since May 2013
    Doctoral Studies in Social Anthropology, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology (LMU) “The Ikojts and the Wind. Energy Assemblages and Indigeneity in Mexico.”, Supervisor: Prof. Eveline Dürr
  • October 2006 – July 2012
    Theatre Studies, Spanish Philology and Social Anthropology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität; Degree M.A.


Field Work

  • since May 2013
    Mexico (Oaxaca), Perceptions of Nature, Renewable Energies and Indigeneity, funded by DAAD, Prosa.lmu, Faculty for Cultural Studies (LMU), Mesoamerican Society Hamburg e.V.
  • November – December 2012
    Mexico (Oaxaca), Cocoa Commerce between Canada and Mexico
  • August – September 2010
    Mexico (Chiapas), Social Movements
  • February – July 2009
    Argentina (Buenos Aires), Transcultural Body Aesthetics
    Young Scholars Grant by the Goethe Institute Munich


Lectures and Conferences

  • October 2015: “Wind” in a Transenvironmental Perspective: A Case Study from Mexico. Conference Trans-Environmental Dynamics: Understanding and Debating Ontologies, Politics, and History in Latin America (Rachel Carson Center Munich).
  • September 2015: The Wind of the Ikojts. New Conceptualisations of Nature, Resources and Territory in the Field of Renewable Energies. Conference of the German Anthropological Association, Workshop 18. Der Ressourcenboom und seine Folgen. Rekonfigurierungen von Landschaften, Territorien und symbolischen Bezugssystemen (University of Marburg).
  • July 2015: Fish, Wind Energy and the Ikojts. Challenged Conceptions of Nature and Renewable Energy in Mexico. Americas Colloquium (Institute for Social Anthropology LMU)