This month we had a compelling conversation with Manuela Picq, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Political Science and Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies at Amherst College (USA). However, this academic work is just part of Manuela’s life as she lives between Massachusetts and Ecuador where she is an activist defending the water and Indigenous livelihoods. Manuela blends academics, activism, legal action, and land defense. Manuela gives us insight into what it means to be a water defender and what the struggle means over time and the duration of a life. She highlights the importance of building a community and complimenting each other within the wider fabric of a resistance effort. We are reminded that nothing can be defended that is bigger than ourselves on our own. Manuela gives us insight into her experiences and the things that have happened to her within working against extractivist forces. 

Interested to learn more about Manuela’s work? https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/mpicq 

You can watch her keynote talk from the Development Days 2025 conference on the Finnish Society for Development Research’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRuAL7qgxxw&list=PLbjidPMU6Z_Hhtlq1H1sWY-LiK7TPn2rK&index=3