Unwoven Ecologies : On the Politics of Relational Design

This book addresses the urgency of rethinking coexistence through urbanism. In the face of contemporary global crises, it argues that modern thought and its dichotomies are insufficient to grasp current territorial conflicts. Instead, it proposes viewing coexistence as a field of friction among beings, knowledges, and economies intertwined within a relational ecology, suggesting that these connections serve as the very point of departure for urbanism. Grounded in research from the Ecuadorian Amazon, the work situates local conflicts within global dynamics of the coloniality of power. Methodologically, it pairs socio-spatial analysis with the microhistories of Kichwa women, bringing to light living spatial configurations. Informed by cannibal thought and the bodyterritory continuum, these practices reframe urbanism as cosmic diplomacy and predation, while the ch’ixi framework offers a way to conceive coexistence without assimilation. Unwoven Ecologies: On the Politics of Relational Design is intended for scholars, postgraduate students, urban planners, and activists in political ecology and decolonial theory who are seeking relational methodologies to foster resilient models of dwelling on Earth.