This week the Energy and Social Science Reading Group will meet online to discuss Maron E. Greenleaf’s book Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon (2024):
Date: Friday, January 16, 2026
Time: 1400h – 1530h CET (or 1300h – 1430h GMT, 8:00-9:30 AM EST)
Discussant: Nikita Taniparti
Moderator: Erin Victor
With Forest Lost, we enter into a ethnographic exploration of what “market-based” climate change mitigation looks like in practice. Greenleaf’s work takes us to the Amazon Rainforest in the state of Acre, Brazil, and allows us to consider carbon and carbon offsetting policies through empirical ethnographic study of economy and ecology. Carbon is a keyword for contemporary policy and governance; and Greenleaf’s book conveys both the importance attributed to nature preservation through deliberate international governance, and also the surprising ways that the carbon offsetting market becomes entwined with diverse social goals. By portraying the implementation of a carbon offset market from the late 2000s to 2024, she allows to consider the complexities of social inclusion into international economic forms–inclusion that is motivated partially through idealism and the desire to expand norms of value to include, for example, forests left standing as a modality of international service. Attendees are expected to read a specific reading selection before the call. In this case, we are keeping it brief, with the following selections emphasized: Introduction, Chapter 2 (“Producing the Forest”), and the Interludes (four in total, each only a handful of pages). Time permitting, we would also recommend reading Chapter 4 (“Beneficiaries and Forest Citizenship”). Nikita Taniparti (Princeton University) will be offering discussant remarks at the beginning of the call and Erin Victor (University of Maine) will moderate the call.
The reading group is a network of scholars who convene virtually around every 6 weeks during the academic year to debate and discuss the latest publications focused on political ecology, political economy, and energy transitions. Participation is open to anyone interested in reading and discussing these texts. We will use the last five minutes of our call to vote on the next reading. Please feel free to contact us with any questions ([email protected]) to receive the Zoom link.
