New Book Examines How America's Growth Obsession Is Poisoning Its Own Water Supply
A public discussion in Aarhus brought together researchers from México, Brazil, Denmark, and the US around Daniel Mains's new book on water, politics, and infrastructure in urban Oklahoma.
Nourishing Growth and Suffocating Life: Water, Politics, and Infrastructure in Urban Oklahoma was the centerpiece of a book launch and public discussion held on 4 June at Café Mellemfolk, Mejlgade 53, Aarhus C. The event was co-sponsored by CEBRAGA (Center for Brazilian and Global Affairs), the Departments of Global Studies and Anthropology, and the AU Water Cluster — with LACUA also participating.
Author Daniel Mains, Professor at the University of Oklahoma, argued that subsidised economic growth carries self-destructive consequences for drinking water and stormwater infrastructure.
Ciara Kierens, Professor at Aarhus University and leader of the FILTERSCAPE project, brought perspectives on water politics in Denmark and Mexico. Léa Lebeaupin-Salamon contributed from her research on water politics in Brazil. The event was moderated by Derek Pardue, co-founder of CEBRAGA.
LACUA opened its 2026 programme with its first gathering of the year, featuring presentations by Steffen Köhn on digital culture in Cuba and Andrés Chaur on memory and post-conflict communities in Colombia.
The Latin American Centre at Aarhus University opened its 2026 programme with its first gathering of the year, bringing together colleagues from across disciplines: culture and communication, anthropology, linguistics, memory studies, and intercultural studies.
Digital networks and grassroots culture in Cuba
Steffen Köhn, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Aarhus University, shared ethnographic work from his forthcoming book Island in the Net: Digital Culture in Post-Castro Cuba, exploring how Cuban society has navigated digital technology — foregrounding agency, creativity, and everyday resistance through grassroots networks.
Memory, care, and post-conflict communities in Colombia
Andrés Chaur, Visiting PhD Scholar at Aarhus University and co-coordinator at LACUA, presented his doctoral research on the Salón del Nunca Más in Granada, Antioquia — a memory site built by survivors and victims' families as an act of collective witness and civic repair. The research advances the concept of cuidado de la diferencia.
LACUA as a platform for dialogue
The meeting reaffirmed LACUA's purpose as a sustained, multidisciplinary hub where Latin American cases speak productively to questions that matter in the Danish and Scandinavian context. Researchers interested in engaging with LACUA's programme are warmly encouraged to reach out.
