Rafael Hernández Westpfahl

As a doctoral researcher at the HCIAS, Rafael Hernández Westpfahl is a member of the HCIAS doctoral research group "Communication and Society in Ibero-America", the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), and the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences. He holds a scholarship from the State of Baden-Württemberg. His field research in Mexico is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Rafael's dissertation project investigates the ambivalent role of the state in relation to mining in Mexico. He focuses on the policies implemented by the federal government between 2018 and 2024, their emergence and their socio-spatial implications at different scales. Rafael's thesis is supervised by HCIAS Jun. Prof. Dr. Rosa Lehmann.

Rafael Hernández Westpfahl studied Sociology and Ethnology in Frankfurt am Main. He completed his M.A. in Political Science in Freiburg. He has worked in the field of human rights in Chiapas and Chihuahua, Mexico, gaining in-depth knowledge of Mexico's social and political structures.

Doctoral Research Group Communication and Society in Ibero-America

Recent Publications

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Hernández Westpfahl, R. (2024). Mining for a Low-Carbon Economy? Articulations of the Mexican Corporate Sector. In S. Müller, M. Schmidt, & K. Twelbeck (Eds.), Ecological Ambivalence, Complexity, and Change. Perspectives from the Environmental Humanities (pp. 157–173). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032627984-13 .
Binetsch, J., Bun, H., Hernández Westpfahl, R., Krug, J., Lehmann, R., Sulca Bravo, E., Walter, C., & Weise, T. (2023). sustainable future for small-scale farming? HCIAS Working Papers on Ibero-America, HCIAS Working Papers on Ibero-America, Volume II (2023).

Recent Presentations and Media Contributions

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Presentation: Selectivities of the state towards the San José mining conflict in Oaxaca (Mexico)" Rafael Hernández Westpfahl presented at the International Conference on Historical Materialist Policy Analysis at the University of Vienna, which was held from October 10th to October 11th, 2024.
Presentation: Conflictos en torno a una 'transición justa': dinámicas socioespaciales y políticas en torno a la transición energética en Mexico y Ecuador. Rosa Lehmann, Rafael Hernández Westpfahl, and Pedro Alarcón of Heidelberg University participated in the ADLAF 2023 meeting with a presentation on equity in the energy transition.
Review: Lithium in Latin America. Global demand vs. socio-environmental harm Review on the edited volume “Litio en América Latina. Demanda global contra daño socioambiental” published in May 2023, in the Alma Reviews Blog by the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute.
Presentation: Mitos y realidades de la transición energética. El extractivismo, de lo global a lo local The presentation was held as part of the dialog series “Diálogos Geográficos en la Normal” at the Escuela Normal Superior de México on March 30th, 2023.

Complete list of publications and presentations

Contact

Rafael Hernández Westpfahl

Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies | HCIAS
Brunnengasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg

Email: rafael.hernandez_westpfahl(at)uni-heidelberg.de

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