CULTIVATING WELLBEING IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: TOUCH-BASED AGROECOLOGY AS A POLITICAL ACT IN SOUTHERN ECUADOR

Founded on a methodology that draws attention to sensory experiences and embodied knowledge, this project complements burgeoning research examining how non-Western ontologies offer insights into effectively reversing socioecological crises in the Anthropocene. My focus is the sense of touch: how the particular reciprocity this sense creates - we cannot touch others without simultaneously being touched - brings humans into a more intimate, reciprocal relationship with more-than-humans and other humans. I will build on my previous research with RAA, a peasant agroecological network in Ecuador's biodiverse Andean region. I will explore how RAA's 'touch-based agroecology' (agroecology centred on direct physical contact and reciprocity between humans and nature) and distinctive ontology centred on holistic notions of 'well-being' can: 1) Produce caring masculinities that embrace values of interdependency and relationality. 2) Challenge prevailing power relations in Ecuador characterised by gender inequities and extractive relations towards nature, including industrial agriculture. 3) Transcend the 'coloniality of senses': a term I propose to help explore how the senses might mediate reciprocal relationships. In addition to stimulating anthropological debate around gender disparities and extractive socioecological relationships in the Anthropocene, a public, sensory exhibition will disseminate my findings to a wider audience.