Goldstein VtP Collaboration Biography

The specificity of Madre de Dios as a “place” comes from its geographical position between the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazonian borders, where “tribes living in voluntary isolation” (PIACI) seek to remain invisible as well as its rich mineral stores. I work in collaboration with the indigenous federations on both sides of the Peruvian and Brazilian borders. Their concern is that the mercury contamination is affecting upstream communities, among them the PIACI. So on the one hand, making mercury’s toxicity “visible” has multivalenced effects – politically, socially, environmentally, whereas succeeding in advocacy efforts for the PIACA is to not see people who wish never to be seen.