Constructing lifelines, not pipelines: Pemón uses of Internet and Communication Technologies in Extraction Zones

Abstract

My research project traces how Pemón peoples living in and around Canaima National Park in Venezuela use Internet and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and what can we learn about technology, natural resource extraction, and Pemón resistance from these uses of technology. Far from staying victim to a dominant application of technology that facilitates extraction for profit, Pemón people living in extraction zones have leveraged ICTs, such as blogs (Movimiento Pemón and Consejo de Caciques Generales), social media (Instagram and YouTube) and the infrastructure that supports them, to extend networks of resistance across Pemón and other Venezuelan Indigenous groups, to re-fashion tribal practices to attract younger generations of Pemón to reconnect with their ancestral lands, as well as to promote continuance of traditions. To do this, I use methods inspired from Community-Engaged Scholarship, Amazonian Studies, Environmental Humanities and Digital Methods.

Digital engagements with this topic:

Twine game exploring different agendas of Pemón tourist communities in Canaima National Park

Topic modeling of Instagram posts originating from Canaima National Park