Urban resistance in the outskirts of Lima (PE) in the face of socio-environmental injustice

Abstract

Latin American metropolises face increasing environmental vulnerability processes, with few truly ecological initiatives. The natural elements of cities are often instrumentalized to favor market interests, to the detriment of urban sustainability and the most vulnerable populations. The context of socio-environmental injustice reinforces conflicts but also drives collective resistance that sees nature as a social and even cultural factor. This work seeks to deepen the reflection on the multiple forms of resistance that emerge in response to the commodified conformation of cities. In this urban model, each component is capable of being appropriated and shaped to optimize capital flows. The research focuses on the analysis of a peripheral area of Lima, in Peru, where typical characteristics of the capitalist city intertwine, such as social segregation, environmental degradation and social tensions. By exploring local dynamics, it becomes clear that the various forms of response in the peripheries of the capitalist system consist of initiatives to confront and contest environmental injustice through alternative systems such as the Commons and ecofeminism.