Date of Award

Spring 6-10-2025

Document Type

Thesis (Undergraduate)

Department

Geography

First Advisor

Sarah Kelly

Second Advisor

Christopher Sneddon

Abstract

This thesis examines the catastrophic 2024 flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil—locally known as "The Flood"—through the lens of young environmental activists' experiences in Porto Alegre. Drawing on urban political ecology, disaster studies, and climate justice frameworks, this research examines how colonial-era urban planning and infrastructure influenced the socio-environmental conditions that led to The Flood, how the disaster affected young activists' relationships with their city, and what climate justice might entail in this context. Through (auto)ethnographic fieldwork conducted from July to August 2024, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, walk-throughs, and social media analysis, this study engages primarily with Eco Pelo Clima, the local Fridays for Future chapter, and other youth-led organizations. The research reveals how The Flood disrupted Porto Alegre's "urban metabolism"—the circulation of energy, water, materials, and waste through political, social, and economic networks that produce urban socio-natural relations. The findings demonstrate that The Flood was a violent socio-natural phenomenon rooted in centuries of exploitative human-lake relationships and capitalist urban governance that has systematically neglected flood prevention infrastructure. Young activists found themselves navigating contradictory roles as both disaster victims requiring aid and volunteers assisting their communities, filling gaps left by the state's absence in low-income neighborhoods. The disaster created "geographies of fear" and took a significant bodily and psychological toll on youth, transforming Porto Alegre into what one interlocutor described as "uncertain terrain for affections." This thesis argues against romanticizing youth responsibility for solving environmental crises caused by previous generations, instead advocating for confronting structural inequalities, challenging urban metabolic patterns that dominate nature, and amplifying youth-led initiatives as pathways toward genuine climate justice.

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