University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Geography with minor in Development Studies and Social Change, 2004, PhD

Biography

I am most interested in gender, inequality and justice in relation to environment and development (from a feminist political ecology perspective), as well as intersections of gender, citizenship, narrative, and environmental change. Past projects include: state-led developmental and environmental change in Turkey (with focus on gender and ethnicity in relation to transformation of the Tigris-Euphrates rivers); everyday water access, narrative and citizenship in urban areas of Ghana and South Africa; Indigenous water governance in British Columbia; non-material dimensions of water insecurity experiences (with colleagues in the HWISE Network); and storytelling and arts-based approaches for the climate/nature crisis.  I am a founding editor of the journal Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, and serve on the executive committee for UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, among other roles.

Trained as a socio-cultural and political geographer, my work examines social, cultural, political-economic, and equity dimensions of environmental and resource issues, with focus on water politics and governance. My work has highlighted water politics, use, and access in contexts from Turkey to South Africa, as well as socio-spatial difference and narrative as key dimensions of environmental politics and citizenship. My current SSHRC Insight grant investigates non-material dimensions of water insecurity experiences with a collaborative team, with multi-sited work in Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa.

Prospective graduate students should refer to the website for the EDGES Collaborative: Environment and Development: Gender, Equity and Sustainability Perspectives, for more information on my work and that of my students, including recent publications and descriptions of ongoing projects.  All students contacting me with interest in applying for graduate work at UBC should write with specifics on your proposed research questions.

Research

UBC Humanities Hub, led by S. Walsh. Documentary, Visual Methods, and Social Justice.

UBC Centre for Climate Justice, led by N. Klein, J. Dempsey. Research Cluster, UBC.

PWIAS Catalyst Maker Space Lab for Artist-Researcher Collaboration to respond to the Climate/Nature Emergency. 2023.

International WaTERS Research and Training Network.

SSHRC Insight, “Beyond Access: Non-material Dimensions of Water Insecurity” 2018-2024.

https://hwise-rcn.org/projects/collaborative-projects/beyond-access-comparative-analysis-of-non-material-dimensions-of-water-insecurities/

SSHRC Insight, “Experiences of Shifting Water Governance: Comparative Study of Water Access, Narrative, and Citizenship in Accra Ghana and Cape Town South Africa.” 2013-2016.
http://edges.sites.olt.ubc.ca/research/edges-comparative-water-governance-in-africa-research-project-cwgar/

Selected Publications

Journal articles and editorials

Lesnikov,N. Kunz, L.M. Harris, et al (2023) Gender and Sustainability Reporting-Critical analysis of gender approaches in mining. Resources Policy.

Shah, S. L.M. Harris, et al. Variations in household water affordability and water insecurity: an intersectional perspectives from 18 low-and middle-income countries. Environment and Planning F.

Boelens, R., A. Escobar, K. Bakker, L. Hommes, E. Swyngedouw, … L.M. Harris, …et al. (2022) Riverhood: political ecologies of socionature commoning and translocal struggles for water justice, The Journal of Peasant Studies,  https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2022.2120810

1. Wilson… L. Harris…. et al (2022) From ‘trust’ to ‘trustworthiness’: Retheorizing Dynamics of Trust, Distrust, and Water Security in North America Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space.

Sengupta, M. and L. Harris (2022), Interrogating Differences: Intersectionality and Participatory Livelihood Development in the Upland forest of Tripura. Geoforum  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.02.002

Tremblay, C. and Harris, L.M. (2022) ‘Water governance in two urban African contexts: agency and action through participatory video’. Research for All, 6 (1), 4, 1–19.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/RFA.06.1.04

Harris (2021) Everyday Experiences of Water Insecurity: Insights from Underserved Areas of Accra, Ghana. Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), 150 (4): 64-8

L.M. Harris (2021) Towards Enriched Narrative Political Ecologies EPE Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space  https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848621101010677

Harris, L. (2020) Assessing States and Evaluating Publics: Perspectives on water service delivery and evolving state-society relations in Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa, Environment and Planning C 38: 2: 290-311 https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654419859365

Please refer to my IRES website for full list of publications and abstracts.

EDGES Research Collaborative   https://edges.sites.olt.ubc.ca/