In this webinar, Sabrina Fernandes and Raj Patel discuss ecological sovereignty, extractivism, planetary boundaries, and the political and economic challenges of navigating today’s polycrisis.

The conversation follows the publication of Alameda’s first Working Paper, Towards a Concept of Ecological Sovereignty, in which Sabrina Fernandes examines how contemporary notions of sovereignty remain tied to extraction, competition, and endless growth, and explores alternative frameworks grounded in ecological responsibility, internationalism, and collective survival.

Together, Fernandes and Patel reflect on the relationship between capitalism, ecological breakdown, resource governance, climate politics, and the possibilities for building societies capable of flourishing within planetary limits.

Sabrina Fernandes is a Brazilian political economist with a PhD in Sociology. She is part of the Ecosocial and Intercultural Pact of the South, a member of the editorial committee of the NACLA Report, a columnist at The Intercept Brasil, and a Senior Research Advisor to the Oxford Technology & Industrialisation for Development (TIDE) Centre. Her research focuses on political ecology, just transitions, Latin America, and internationalism.

Raj Patel is a Research Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He has testified on food and hunger before governments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. His books include Stuffed and Starved, The Value of Nothing, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things (with Jason W. Moore), and Inflamed (with Rupa Marya). He is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and co-director of the documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper.