Josefina Lehnen wins the Eugene Havas Memorial Prize 2024

Josefina Lehnen of St Antony’s College won the Eugene Havas Memorial Prize from the Oxford Department of International Development, the prize for the best overall performance.

Josefina’s thesis examined the competing visions of a green state between state actors and local communities in the context of a popular consultation against mining in Quito, Ecuador. The rise of Green New Deals and net-zero policies suggests the emergence of green states as ecological stewards. However, current proposals focused on decarbonisation require an increased amount of minerals, leading to the emergence of green extractivism.

Josefina’s thesis also examined how this global pressure for decarbonisation is appropriated by the mining industry and subsequently by Ecuadorian state officials to justify the expansion of mining. It also illustrated forms of greening the state beyond decarbonisation such as alternative lifeworlds and ecological democracy promoted by social movements. Based on document analysis, participant observation, and interviews with state actors, activists of the campaign ‘Quito without Mining’, and researchers, her thesis outlines an emerging dispute between a ‘Green Extractivist State’ and ‘Transformative Green State’ in Ecuador.

After graduation, Josefina will join the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) to support the formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships to work towards the SDGs. She looks forward to bringing these practical experiences into the DPhil project on just transitions that she is currently developing.

Find more here: Josefina Lehnen, Sive Gaudy, Angus Williams and Adam Sparkes win 2024 MPhil prizes | Oxford Department of International Development