Guntra Aistars
Guntra Aistars is a PhD candidate in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her dissertation research explores the cultural meanings that organic agriculture carries in the very different historical, ecological, and political contexts of Latvia and Costa Rica. She has worked closely with the Latvian Organic Agriculture Association (LBLA) and the Costa Rican Organic Agriculture Movement (MAOCO), to understand how organic farmers in both countries are experiencing, and how each movement is responding to, the very different types of regionalization and globalization brought about by European Union (EU) accession for Latvia, and the resistance against joining the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by Costa Rica. The dissertation also discusses the implications of such differences for the development of global organic agriculture movements, as led by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). Guntra’s previous experience includes several years working with local environmental activist organizations in Latvia and Hungary on issues of climate change policy, energy efficiency, and urban historic preservation projects. Beginning in September 2009, Guntra will be accepting a two year postdoctoral fellowship at the Central European University in Budapest. |
|
|
|
