Pryor Placino

Honorary Research Fellow

Institute for Culture and Society

Western Sydney University

Sydney, Australia | Manila, Philippines

Degrees

PhD, Western Sydney University

MSc Geography, University of the Philippines Diliman

BSc Geography (cum laude), University of the Philippines Diliman

Honors and Awards

2024 - Community Economies Institute Teaching Fellow

2021 - Thammasat University High Caliber Postdoctoral Research Grant

2020 - Geoforum Covid Emergency Support Fund

2020 - Southeast Asian Geography Association (Ooi Giok Ling) Award

2018 - Institute for Culture and Society 3-Minute Thesis 1st Prize Winner

2017 - Philippine Social Science Council Research Award Program (PhD)

2015 - Institute for Culture and Society Postgraduate Research Scholarship

2010 - Philippine Social Science Council Research Award Program (Master's)

2008 - Challenges of Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia Graduate Research Grant

2008 - Asian Graduate Fellowship, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

Research Interests

Economic and development geography: informal labour, diverse economies of informal miners, social enterprises, agrarian transformation, agricultural and livelihood resilience, household livelihood-making

Science and technology studies: assemblages of concrete and alternative building material technologies, social innovations, co-making of commodities and livelihoods

Urban geography: tracing socionature in the context of urban architecture and alternative urban design and construction

Regional geography: community economies in the Philippines and Southeast Asia

Research methods: integrating field-based teaching into action research, hybrid research collective, socioecological profiling

Current project: Digital Health Project – Examining Digital (Mental) Health Interventions in Australia and the Philippines

Recently concluded research project: Strengthening Agricultural Resilience in Western Province, Papua New Guinea

Links

ORCID

Google Scholar

CERN Asia Symposium

3-Minute Thesis (Cracking the Concrete: Hidden Livelihoods and Building Possibi…

Publications

Making visible concrete’s shadow places: Mixing environmental concerns and social inequalities into building materials

This paper critically examines the dominant role of concrete in the modernization of Asian cities since the mid twentieth century. While builders, architects, planners and citizens have long praised the advantages of concrete, we argue that concrete can no longer be seen as socially and environmentally neutral in the Anthropocene. When concrete cracks, it does so literally and metaphorically. The cracks manifest not only in the actual material but as socioecological concerns. We employ the concept of “shadow places” to explore the underside of concrete production where those cracks emerge. Using case studies at the edges of Metro Manila, Philippines, we shed light on the precarious livelihoods of workers in an unregulated aggregate quarry and the dust pollution affecting neighbourhoods near cement plants. These two cases offer insights not only into specific socioecological issues but also into how communities negotiate them. We expose concrete’s entanglements and their implications for urban development.

Strengthening Agricultural Resilience in Western Province: Scoping Study

Executive Summary

Our research responds to the need for a different approach to improving agricultural livelihoods in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, and is intended to guide an alternative approach to development – one that emphasises assets rather than needs. This report synthesises key findings and recommendations from the scoping study ‘Strengthening Agricultural Resilience in Western Province’ and is intended to inform future research and development investments in the region.

The overall study encompasses two projects: FIS/2021/122 ‘Mapping place-based strengths and assets’, and FIS/2021/113 ‘Developing methods for strengths-based livelihoods’.

FIS/2021/122 set out to map (conceptually and geographically) the place-based strengths and assets of Western Province, thus producing a knowledge base to inform agricultural development programming strategies. The project aimed to better understand what people in the Western Province currently do in relation to economic activity and market engagement and to contribute to widening the understanding of what PNG communities have to offer the process of locally-led development, including, for example, women’s leadership abilities, Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge and the untapped potential of young people.

FIS/2021/113 aimed to identify locally appropriate livelihood development practices for the agricultural development sector working across the diverse regions of Western Province. The study aimed to identify suitable tools and methods for participatory livelihood development activities that are tailored to the different geographic, ecological and social contexts across Western Province. The tools and methods identified in the study are important resources (‘tools of the trade’) to enable practitioners to improve their practice.

These projects were commissioned by ACIAR and DFAT to inform future programming in Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Commencing during the travel restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the projects were designed as desktop studies. The findings rest upon a comprehensive literature review of the last decade's research and development programs in Western Province, discussions within our Stakeholder Reference Group, and 41 interviews with 37 expert informants. Respondents provided valuable reflections on their programmatic experiences, sharing success and failure stories along with insights into Western Province's various assets and strengths.

Download the whole document to read more about the project findings and recommendations.

Read associated final reports here:

FIS/2021/122 https://www.aciar.gov.au/project/fis-2021-122

FIS/2021/113 https://www.aciar.gov.au/project/fis-2021-113

Review of "Concrete Cities: Why We Need to Build Differently"

Read our book review here.

Accomodate diverse livelihoods

This short essay is part of the last volume in the Future Cities Laboratory Indicia Series. It contributes to the principle of 'Stimulating Diverse Economies' in designing sustainable future cities. The paper is an invitation for various social and institutional actors to accommodate diverse livelihoods. It suggests that for cities to become genuinely resilient, their design and development need to pay attention to the plural and entangled forms of work that are crucial in creating a sustainable condition for both human and earth others to flourish.

Making a living in the diverse economy of concrete: Commoning in a contested quarry

Abstract: The rapid expansion of urban development in Asia over the last 50 years has seen a rise in demand for building materials. From large construction companies to squatter settlers seeking to improve their housing, concrete is the building material of choice. In the Philippines there is plentiful supply of the limestone and aggregate (sand and gravel) required for concrete production. Alongside the large quarries owned by major corporations are small, often illegal quarries, supplying aggregate to the construction industry. In these shadow places informal miners scratch out a precarious livelihood. They are members of a vast artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) workforce that is global in extent. This paper situates informal aggregate mining in the diverse economy of concrete in the Philippines and within the context of global ASM studies. With a detailed study of one quarry on the edges of Metro Manila, it reveals how mining contributes to the survival portfolio of poor households. Without romanticising the lives of quarry labourers, we identify a range of negotiations by which informal miners create a community of commoners in a contested quarry site. This research provides insight into the capacities that informal miners could bring to designing more sustainable development pathways within and beyond the extractive industry.

Informal mining labour: economic plurality and household survival strategies

Modern-day mining is now highly mechanized and provides regular employment to highly paid workers in many parts of the world. However, there also exist millions of individuals who gain a livelihood from informal, artisanal and small-scale mining. From a diverse economies point of view, mining is as much non-capitalist as it is capitalist. The chapter aims to depart from the binary framing of informality and formality which situates informal mining labour only as ‘other’ to formal work in the capitalist mining industry. The author positions informal mining labour as part of the survival portfolio of poor and landless households to argue for a more dynamic view that opens up different possibilities for livelihood-making. The chapter draws on research with informal miners in the Philippines who quarry mundane materials including construction aggregates to underscore that informal miners are not only involved in the extraction of valuable minerals such as gold, diamonds or coal.

Community economies in Monsoon Asia: Keywords and key reflections

The paper has been collaboratively written with co‐researchers across Southeast Asia and represents an experimental mode of scholarship that aims to advance a post‐development agenda.This paper introduces the project of documenting keywords of place‐based community economies in Monsoon Asia. It extends Raymond William’s cultural analysis of keywords into a non‐western context and situates this discursive approach within a material semiotic framing. For Open Access, click here.