Spotlight on: Gala Kumec
We’re delighted to introduce Gala Kumec as part of our PhD/ECR Spotlight Series. Gala is a PhD candidate in International Relations at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, where she researches the intersections between the climate crisis, energy transitions and global inequality from a critical political economy perspective.
Find about more about Gala and connect via LinkedIn.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My background is rooted in the cultural sector. I hold a degree in Museology and Cultural Heritage Management, and my first professional steps were in museums across different countries. There, I learned to communicate through images and understood the power of images as a tool for transformation and as a political weapon—a skill that fundamentally changed how I perceive and engage with the world. Throughout my career, I have designed and facilitated seminars where art history narrates processes of political, social and economic transformation over time.
I have over six years of experience in international project coordination and operational management in multicultural environments, working at Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and humanitarian projects in Europe. Throughout this journey, I sought to convey through art a message of ecological awareness and transformation toward a more just and beautiful world.
I later completed a Master's in International Studies at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, where my research focused on the opportunities and challenges of the energy transition for South America and Argentina in a context of a multipolar global order. I also pursued a diploma in New Energies to explore how certain historical patterns of extractivism—economic, political and resource-based—appear to be reproduced in the current energy transition.
I believe we are living in a moment of systemic change, and that there is room for utopias. I see the climate crisis as a cross-cutting issue that, in its urgency, invites us to build a more conscious transformation of how we produce and consume. If we scale that awareness globally, we can construct a fairer system for collective well-being. In that sense, academia provides me with the space to understand and create possible imaginaries. I strongly believe in cooperation and interdisciplinary dialogue to examine how power relations shape our responses to ecological challenges.
What are your research interests?
My research interests lie at the intersection of critical political economy, world-systems theory and political ecology. My work seeks to understand how structural inequalities—economic, technological and political—shape the climate crisis and are, in turn, reproduced by green transition strategies.
My doctoral thesis, 'The Visual Politics of Climate: Inequalities and Socio-Ecological Transformations of Climate Change', examines the role of resource-rich countries of the Global South in global value chains of the energy transition, with a particular focus on extractivisms, technological dependency and the visual narratives that shape climate action.
My most recent research has been accepted for publication in the Journal of World-Systems Research, where my article "The System Changes, Inequality Does Not: Green Growth, Climate Governance, and Persistent Global Inequalities" (2025) argues that climate inequality is not an unintended side effect of environmental policies but a politically produced condition reproduced through three interconnected arenas: economic, technological and political.
I have also published an article in Revista De Estudios Interdisciplinarios Sobre Desarrollo Sostenible (Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies on Sustainable Development), where I explore images as a political weapon and analyse the energy transition through two artists who propose new imaginaries.
What are three sources you’d recommend to others related to environment and climate politics?
My recommendations combine academic texts with audiovisual works and podcasts that invite critical and decolonial reflection on the ecological crisis.
Texts:
- Hickel et al.’s article, “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy”, is essential for understanding the material dimension of ecological inequality. It quantifies the net transfer of resources, energy and labour from the Global South to the Global North through international trade, showing how Northern well-being is sustained by the ecological depletion of the South. It is a must-read for anyone studying the political economy of the climate crisis.
- Maristella Svampa’s chapter, Dilemas de la transición ecosocial desde América Latina, in Transiciones Justas: Una agenda de cambios para América Latina y el Caribe, offers a lucid and necessary analysis of socio-environmental conflicts and the tensions of the energy transition in Latin America. Svampa problematises the concept of a "just transition" and proposes an agenda for ecosocial transformation from a critical perspective situated in the Global South.
- Ghosh et al.’s article, “El imperialismo climático en el siglo XXI”, dismantles the mechanisms of climate domination by the Global North: from the degradation of global commons and deceptive climate diplomacy, to the financialisation of climate action and knowledge monopolies. It is essential reading for understanding how colonialism is reproduced in the 21st century.
Films:
- “Embrace of the Serpent" (Ciro Guerra, 2015)
This Colombian film, shot in black and white, is a masterpiece that explores memory, colonialism, the destruction of the Amazon and the worldview of Indigenous peoples. Through the story of two explorers and a shaman, the film reflects on knowledge, resistance, and the relationship between humanity and nature. It is a profoundly transformative visual and narrative experience. - “The Anthropocene Project" (de Pencier, Burtynsky, Baichwal, 2018-2021)
This multidisciplinary project (film, photography, virtual reality) investigates the human footprint on the planet and proposes the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch. It is a striking work that combines art and science to visualise the scale of human planetary transformation, inviting urgent reflection on our impact.
Podcast:
- “Better Future" by Michael Mezz
A podcast that explores pathways toward a more sustainable and just future, addressing topics such as the circular economy, renewable energy and social justice. Mezz interviews activists, scientists, and thinkers who are building alternatives to the current model. It is a source of inspiration and practical tools for imagining and building a better world.
What’s next for you?
I am currently in the writing phase of my doctoral thesis, deepening my analysis of case studies on critical mineral extraction and the visual narratives that shape climate action in the Global South.
In parallel, I am developing a research-action project in Salvador, Brazil, where I currently live. The project aims to prepare the most vulnerable neighbourhoods - the favelas - to mitigate the impacts of climate change and adapt to the ravages of extreme weather, with a focus on urban planning and community resilience. Although the project is still in its early stages, it represents an important step in connecting my research with the concrete realities of vulnerable communities.
On the academic front, I plan to present my research at two upcoming conferences. In November, I will participate in the II Congreso de la Tierra, Ecología, Sociedad y Política, organised by the Universidad de Buenos Aires. I will also attend the 33rd Jornada de Jóvenes Investigadores at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, under the theme 'Producing Knowledge from the Global South: Disruptive Paradigms for the Social Sciences'.
In the long term, my goal is to continue contributing to the production of critical knowledge that informs just and sustainable transition alternatives for the Global South, both from academia and through territorial practice.
The ECP WG’s Spotlight Series provides a platform for PhD and early career researchers to introduce themselves and their work. If you are interested in participating, please get in touch at: ecp.group@bisa.ac.uk.
Top image by Paul Hudson via Flickr. Text has been added to the photo.