Joana Vaz Sousa
Biography
I am currently an Assistant Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, where my work is situated at the intersection of environmental anthropology, environmental history, and political ecology. My research trajectory has been shaped by ecology and anthropology, as well as by the questions, critiques, and collaborative experiences that have emerged from working across diverse socio-ecological and political contexts in Ecuador, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, and Portugal. My research has focused on critical perspectives on nature conservation and postcolonial ecologies, the history and memory of rice technologies across the Atlantic, the production and circulation of agricultural knowledge in regional rural contexts, and the memory of fire and wildfires. Methodologically, I have engaged in long-term ethnographic fieldwork, narrative walks, visual anthropology collaborations, and archival research. These approaches have enabled me to examine historical and contemporary socio-environmental processes from multiple perspectives and positionalities. I coordinated the MARGINS project (2022-2024), "People, Rice and Mangroves at the Margins: A Hybrid and Contested Interface in a Changing World", which brought together researchers from the social sciences, ecology and political science from Portuguese and Guinean institutions. I also taught at higher education institutions in Guinea-Bissau (2016-2019) and collaborated with rice farmers in southern Guinea-Bissau on the production of the documentary "Maboan" (2015), focusing on rice technology. In addition, I have co-produced policy briefs, science communication materials and educational resources for schools.
ORCID
Projetos
EJMapping
Counter-mapping environmental just conflicts in the European periphery: The case of Portugal
BIOASSEMBLER
Integrating bio-inspired assembly into semiconductor manufacturing technology for biosensors
ATHENE
Citizen Science as a methodology for promoting development skills in children and young people
Latest Publications
Article in Scientific journal
Sousa, Joana Vaz; Ventura, Ricardo; Carmo, Miguel (2025), "The Colour of Rice: Rice Production Policies and Agrodiversity Loss in Colonial Brazil", e-Journal of Portuguese History, 23, 2, 361-385
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Luz, Ana Luísa; Sousa, Joana Vaz (2025), "The politics of hiding and experiences of decentering development in mangrove rice farming in Guinea-Bissau", Development in Practice
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Campos, Rita; Sousa, Joana Vaz (orgs.) (2025), Nas margens: recortes de um estudo na interface entre mangais e arrozais na Guiné-Bissau. Coimbra: CES-UC
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