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Rishworth A, Wilson K, Adams M, Galloway T. Landscapes of inequities, structural racism, and disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of immigrant and racialized populations in Canada. Health Place 2024; 87:103214. [PMID: 38520992 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected immigrant and racialized communities globally and revealed another public health crisis - structural racism. While structural racism is known to foster discrimination via mutually reinforcing systems, the unevenness of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths across societies has precipitated attention to the impacts of structural racism. Research highlights the inequitable burden of COVID-19 among immigrant and racialized groups; however, little is known about the synergistic impacts of structural racism and COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of these groups. Fewer studies examine how structural racism and COVID-19 intersect within neighbourhoods to co-produce landscapes of disease exposure and management. This article examines the pathways through which structural racism shapes access, use, and control of environmental resources among immigrant and racialized individuals in the neighbourhoods of the Peel Region and how they converged to shape health and disease dynamics during the height of Canada's COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from in-depth interviews reveal that mutually reinforcing inequitable systems created environments for COVID-19 to reinscribe disparities in access, use, and control of key resources needed to manage health and disease, and created new forms of disparities and landscapes of inequality for immigrants and racialized individuals. We close with a discussion on the impacts for policy and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Rishworth
- Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
| | - Kathi Wilson
- Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
| | - Matthew Adams
- Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
| | - Tracey Galloway
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
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2
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Mohammed K, Batung E, Kansanga MM, Luginaah I. Alcohol misuse as a social determinant of food insecurity among smallholder farmers. Soc Sci Med 2024; 340:116489. [PMID: 38091854 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
The availability and affordability of alcohol in smallholder communities have surged the misuse of alcohol. Misusing alcohol has dire health and nutrition consequences in smallholder communities. Alcohol misuse can divert household resources from essential household needs such as food and also hinder local food production. In the context of multiple stressors on smallholder farmers' livelihoods, it is crucial to assess the relationship between alcohol consumption and smallholder farmers' experience of hunger. Therefore, we used data from a cross-sectional survey involving 1100 smallholder farmers in the Upper West region of Ghana to examine the association between alcohol consumption and household food insecurity. Results showed that daily (OR = 3.81; p ≤ 0.001) and weekly/frequent (OR = 2.32; p ≤ 0.001) consumption of alcohol was significantly associated with higher odds of household food insecurity compared to no consumption. The relationship between alcohol and food insecurity was bidirectional. The experience of food insecurity was also significantly associated with higher odds of occasional or frequent alcohol consumption. While alcohol misuse can transition smallholder households into food insecurity, the household heads of food insecure households may resort to alcohol to cope with underlying stressors such as climate change and food insecurity. This calls for policy interventions to mitigate alcohol misuse through regulations, surveillance, economic disincentives and improving the social mechanisms of resilience to climate change and food insecurity in smallholder communities. However, policy approaches must be cautious not to disrupt the livelihoods of vulnerable smallholder farmers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamaldeen Mohammed
- Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, 151 Richmond St, London, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Evans Batung
- Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, 151 Richmond St, London, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Isaac Luginaah
- Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, 151 Richmond St, London, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Nwankwo CF. The Moral Economy of the Agatu "Massacre": Reterritorializing Farmer-Herder Relations. Society 2023; 60:1-13. [PMID: 37362039 PMCID: PMC10243266 DOI: 10.1007/s12115-023-00860-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The Agatu "Massacre" is a conflict between pastoralists and farmers in the Agatu area of Benue State, Nigeria. The conflict is significant because of the event's gravity, but no scholarly inquiry that involves thoughtful and reflective methodological and theoretical approaches has been made. This paper investigates how the farmer-herder relations in Agatu became a violent crisis and situates it within relevant literature to fill gaps in farmer-herder conflicts literature in Africa. Existing literature demonstrates the pertinence of moral economies for resource use, spatial pattern, and manifestations of conflicts in developing and developed worlds. However, studies have yet to use the moral economy concept to explore the African farmer-herder conflicts from a political ecology perspective. This paper demonstrates that the Agatu crisis emerged due to reterritorializations in the moral economy of farmers and herders, disrupting their social ties. It further illustrates that the violence in Agatu was caused by the deviation from the traditional approach to addressing the damage done to crops by herding livestock. Nevertheless, the paper argues that this deviation is the consequence of modifications in the moral economy of farmers and herders driven by the aspiration for financial gain rather than the subsistence of agro-pastoral relations. The paper argues that changes in moral economies can disrupt social relations and lead to farmer-herder conflicts, leading to the exclusion of pastoralists from resource access through policy and legislation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cletus Famous Nwankwo
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester, England
- Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
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4
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Mosquera GM, Hofstede R, Bremer LL, Asbjornsen H, Carabajo-Hidalgo A, Célleri R, Crespo P, Esquivel-Hernández G, Feyen J, Manosalvas R, Marín F, Mena-Vásconez P, Montenegro-Díaz P, Ochoa-Sánchez A, Pesántez J, Riveros-Iregui DA, Suárez E. Frontiers in páramo water resources research: A multidisciplinary assessment. Sci Total Environ 2023:164373. [PMID: 37244621 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Interdisciplinary knowledge is necessary to achieve sustainable management of natural resources. However, research is still often developed in an exclusively disciplinary manner, hampering the capacity to holistically address environmental issues. This study focuses on páramo, a group of high-elevation ecosystems situated around ∼3000 to ∼5000 m a.s.l. in the Andes from western Venezuela and northern Colombia through Ecuador down to northern Peru, and in the highlands of Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. Páramo is a social-ecological system that has been inhabited and shaped by human activity since ∼10,000 years BP. This system is highly valued for the water-related ecosystem services provided to millions of people because it forms the headwaters of major rivers in the Andean-Amazon region, including the Amazon River. We present a multidisciplinary assessment of peer-reviewed research on the abiotic (physical and chemical), biotic (ecological and ecophysiological), and social-political aspects and elements of páramo water resources. A total of 147 publications were evaluated through a systematic literature review process. We found that thematically 58, 19, and 23 % of the analyzed studies are related to the abiotic, biotic, and social-political aspects of páramo water resources, respectively. Geographically, most publications were developed in Ecuador (71 % of the synthesized publications). From 2010 onwards, the understanding of hydrological processes including precipitation and fog dynamics, evapotranspiration, soil water transport, and runoff generation improved, particularly for the humid páramo of southern Ecuador. Investigations on the chemical quality of water generated by páramo are rare, providing little empirical support to the widespread belief that páramo environments generate water of high quality. Most ecological studies examined the coupling between páramo terrestrial and aquatic environments, but few directly assessed in-stream metabolic and nutrient cycling processes. Studies focused on the connection between ecophysiological and ecohydrological processes influencing páramo water balance are still scarce and mainly related to the dominant vegetation in the Andean páramo, i.e., tussock grass (pajonal). Social-political studies addressed water governance and the implementation and significance of water funds and payment for hydrological services. Studies directly addressing water use, access, and governance in páramo communities remain limited. Importantly, we found only a few interdisciplinary studies combining methodologies from at least two disciplines of different nature despite their value in supporting decision-making. We expect this multidisciplinary synthesis to become a milestone to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue among individuals and entities involved in and committed to the sustainable management of páramo natural resources. Finally, we also highlight key frontiers in páramo water resources research, which in our view need to be addressed in the coming years/decades to achieve this goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanny M Mosquera
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador.
| | - Robert Hofstede
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador; Ecopar Corporation, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Leah L Bremer
- University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA; Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Heidi Asbjornsen
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Aldemar Carabajo-Hidalgo
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Rolando Célleri
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; FFacultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Patricio Crespo
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; FFacultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Germain Esquivel-Hernández
- Stable Isotopes Research Group and Water Resources Management Laboratory, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica
| | - Jan Feyen
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven-Heverlee, Belgium
| | - Rossana Manosalvas
- EcoCiencia, Quito, Ecuador; Department of Environmental Science, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Franklin Marín
- Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Carrera de Ingeniería Agronómica, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Department of Environment, CAVElab - Computational and Applied Vegetation Ecology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Patricio Mena-Vásconez
- EcoCiencia, Quito, Ecuador; Department of Environmental Science, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Paola Montenegro-Díaz
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador; Departamento de Posgrados, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador; TRACES & Escuela de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Ana Ochoa-Sánchez
- TRACES & Escuela de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Juan Pesántez
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
| | - Diego A Riveros-Iregui
- Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Esteban Suárez
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales/Instituto Biósfera, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
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Egge M, Ajibade I. Water struggles and contested use: A capabilities assessment of household water security in marginalized communities. J Environ Manage 2023; 341:118047. [PMID: 37141720 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we apply a capabilities approach to analyze a water consolidation project and water security outcomes following a severe drought in East Porterville, California. By combining hydro-social theory with the capabilities approach, we provide a holistic approach to household water security that is historically situated, considers residents' needs, and accounts for areas of life beyond hydration and domestic use. In addition, we offer a critical analysis of water system consolidation, a process of combining water systems physically and/or managerially as a solution to water insecurity in small towns. Drawing on interviews with residents, local experts, and government officials as well as archival research and participant observation, we find that the water consolidation project has mixed results for the East Porterville community, with beneficial, limiting, and contested effects on residents' social, cultural, and economic life. Although residents now have a consistent source of water in their homes, they find themselves limited in their ability to use water for drinking and cultural and economic purposes. Water negotiations and contestations also affected property values, independence, and livability. Through this empirical application of the capabilities approach, we demonstrate the need to expand the concept of water security and consolidation outcomes through needs-based perspectives. Furthermore, we show how the coupling of capabilities approach with a hydro-social framework provides descriptive, analytical, and explanatory tools for understanding and addressing household water security.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Egge
- Department of Geography, Portland State University, USA
| | - Idowu Ajibade
- Department of Geography, Portland State University, USA.
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Ayilu RK. Limits to blue economy: challenges to accessing fishing livelihoods in Ghana's port communities. Marit Stud 2023; 22:11. [PMID: 36974141 PMCID: PMC10032261 DOI: 10.1007/s40152-023-00302-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The blue economy concept has drawn global attention to the maritime economy, recognising expanding maritime industries such as shipping as crucial drivers of economic growth. In recent decades, seaports have correspondingly witnessed significant expansion, allowing them to play a substantial role in achieving blue growth. This study examines the challenges faced by small-scale fishing actors in gaining access to fishing livelihoods in coastal fishing communities close to Ghanaian ports. Drawing on political ecology, the study demonstrates how securitisation in port areas and dispossession has resulted in unstable fishing livelihoods in port communities. The study shows that the growth-oriented goals of port expansions and port security measures have restricted fishing communities' access to coastal fishing spaces and caused congestion in the canoe bays of Ghana's fishing harbours. In addition, the urbanisation around the ports has impacted fishers' ability to meet the rising cost of living in fishing communities with fishing incomes. Furthermore, the study discusses how the new Jamestown fishing harbour complex project has displaced small-scale fishing actors and become a site of contestation between a coastal fishing community and local government authorities. In conclusion, as coastal fishing actors lose their only source of livelihood, resistance may escalate into different forms of maritime conflicts in the blue economy. The study recommends addressing the marginalisation and exclusion of traditional coastal fishing livelihoods to ensure a more equitable blue economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raymond K. Ayilu
- Climate, Society & Environment Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007 Australia
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Bontempi A, Del Bene D, Di Felice LJ. Counter-reporting sustainability from the bottom up: the case of the construction company WeBuild and dam-related conflicts. J Bus Ethics 2023; 182:7-32. [PMID: 36567693 PMCID: PMC9768011 DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04946-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Controversies around large-scale development projects offer many cases and insights which may be analyzed through the lenses of corporate social (ir)responsibility (CSIR) and business ethics studies. In this paper, we confront the CSR narratives and strategies of WeBuild (formerly known as Salini Impregilo), an Italian transnational construction company. Starting from the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), we collect evidence from NGOs, environmental justice organizations, journalists, scholars, and community leaders on socio-environmental injustices and controversies surrounding 38 large hydropower schemes built by the corporation throughout the last century. As a counter-reporting exercise, we code (un)sustainability discourses from a plurality of sources, looking at their discrepancy under the critical lenses of post-normal science and political ecology, with environmental justice as a normative framework. Our results show how the mismatch of narratives can be interpreted by considering the voluntary, self-reporting, non-binding nature of CSR accounting performed by a corporation wishing to grow in a global competitive market. Contributing to critical perspectives on political CS(I)R, we question the reliability of current CSR mechanisms and instruments, calling for the inclusion of complexity dimensions in and a re-politicization of CS(I)R accounting and ethics. We argue that the fields of post-normal science and political ecology can contribute to these goals. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10551-021-04946-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Bontempi
- Geography Department, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Building B, Campus UAB, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniela Del Bene
- Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Building ICTA-ICP (Z), Campus UAB, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Louisa Jane Di Felice
- Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Building ICTA-ICP (Z), Campus UAB, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
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8
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Pichler M, Schmid M, Gingrich S. Mechanisms to exclude local people from forests: Shifting power relations in forest transitions. Ambio 2022; 51:849-862. [PMID: 34424496 PMCID: PMC8847472 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-021-01613-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Forest transitions may significantly contribute to climate change mitigation but also change forest use, affecting the local people benefiting from forests. We analyze forest transitions as contested processes that simplify multifunctional landscapes and alter local livelihoods. Drawing on the Theory of Access, we develop a conceptual framework to investigate practices of multifunctional forest use and the mechanisms that exclude local forest use(r)s during forest transitions in nineteenth century Austria and twenty-first century Lao PDR. Based on historical sources, interviews and secondary literature, we discuss legal, structural and social-metabolic mechanisms to exclude multifunctional forest practices, marginalizing peasants and shifting cultivators. These include, for example, the increasing enforcement of private ownership in forests or the shift from fuelwood to coal in Austria and restrictive land use planning or the expansion of private land concessions in Laos. By integrating political ecology and environmental history in forest transitions research we unravel shifting power relations connected to forest change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Pichler
- Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin Schmid
- Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna, Austria
| | - Simone Gingrich
- Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna, Austria
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Schoderer M, Karthe D, Dombrowsky I, Dell'Angelo J. Hydro-social dynamics of miningscapes: Obstacles to implementing water protection legislation in Mongolia. J Environ Manage 2021; 292:112767. [PMID: 33991832 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Waterscapes with mining activities are often sites of water resource degradation and contestation. To prevent this, policy-makers deploy an increasing number of measures that purportedly align the interests of different water users. In Mongolia, mining-related protests led to the prohibition of mining in and close to rivers. However, implementation of these regulations has been slow. In this paper, we investigate why that is the case, drawing on an extended elaboration of the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to disentangle the web of formal and informal rules, incentive structures, discourses, and other elements that characterize Mongolian miningscapes. We find that i) a combination of insufficient resources for lower-level actors, large areas to cover and high mobility of extractive operations, ii) a lack of information among implementing entities, combined with time pressure on decision-making and a lack of involvement of local actors, and iii) cultural norms and political context conditions that privilege the pursuit of private interests are key obstacles. Irrespective of these challenges, the prohibition of mining in riverbeds entrenches a social imaginary in the Mongolian governance framework that prioritizes water resources protection over resource extraction, offering a counterweight to dominant discourses that cast mining as a necessary requirement for social and economic development. Our analysis illustrates the usefulness of looking at implementation processes through the lens of mining- and waterscapes to identify how social power is embedded in social-political artifacts and impacts hydro-social outcomes. Strong discrepancies between the formal description of governance processes and interactions on the ground support the need to look at how processes play out in practice in order to understand implementation obstacles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirja Schoderer
- Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute, Germany; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), the Netherlands.
| | - Daniel Karthe
- German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology (GMIT), Mongolia; United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), Germany
| | - Ines Dombrowsky
- Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) - German Development Institute, Germany
| | - Jampel Dell'Angelo
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), the Netherlands
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10
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Matuszczak A, Kryszak Ł, Czyżewski B, Łopatka A. Environment and political economics: Left-wing liberalism or conservative leftism - Which is better for eco-efficiency? Evidence from Poland. Sci Total Environ 2020; 743:140779. [PMID: 32673923 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The American literature on political ecology suggests that there is a significant link between the rule of a given political party (Republicans or Democrats) on both national and local level and the environmental policy pursued. When the latter party is in power, environmental budget is larger and local governments are more likely to adopt environmentally sustainable policies. However, the political context of European countries is usually much more complex, as there exist different hybrids of economic views and core social values which so far have gathered a little attention with regard to its impact on eco-efficiency. There is a need to analyse which types of political beliefs are correlated with higher level of environmental performance. Hence, the main goal of this paper is to estimate the impact of long-term political preferences on the eco-efficiency levels of Polish country districts. Eco-efficiency was calculated as a ratio of economic development and environmental pressure in four dimensions: soil pollution, water pollution, air pollution, and bio-uniformity. Double bootstrapped truncated regression was used to capture the effects of the political views proxied by electoral decisions and individual willingness to adopt agri-environmental schemes. The analysis was complemented with spatial autoregressive modelling. The most important finding was that local authorities from large parties are more eco-efficient than local committees. Simultaneously, left-wing (but market liberal) views were correlated with higher eco-efficiency levels in relation to other political options. Higher share of councillors with university degrees and subsidies under common agricultural policy were further positive determinants of eco-efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Matuszczak
- Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Macroeconomics and Agricultural Economics, al. Niepodległości 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Łukasz Kryszak
- Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Macroeconomics and Agricultural Economics, al. Niepodległości 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Bazyli Czyżewski
- Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Macroeconomics and Agricultural Economics, al. Niepodległości 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Artur Łopatka
- Department of Soil Science and Land Protection, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation-State Research Institute, ul. Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
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11
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Purwins S. Bauxite mining at Atewa Forest Reserve, Ghana: a political ecology of a conservation-exploitation conflict. GeoJournal 2020; 87:1085-1097. [PMID: 32989342 PMCID: PMC7512217 DOI: 10.1007/s10708-020-10303-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Atewa Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region of Ghana represents one of only two reserves with upland evergreen forests in Ghana but is also a possible site for bauxite mining. The Government of Ghana deployed an infrastructure in anticipation for a refined bauxite agreement with China. Ghana's Government seeks to develop an integrated Bauxite-Aluminum Industry; however, several NGOs try to protect the Atewa Forest and propose that the area should be upgraded to a National Park. In this study, this conservation-exploitation conflict is analyzed from a political ecology perspective elaborating on who are the involved key actors, their relations and what strategies are used. Political ecology is about recognizing the power that actors have at the moment of deciding what, how, and where to conserve nature. Based on interviews done during fieldtrips in 2018, 2019 and 2020 complemented by an analysis of political documents, the identified strategies the NGOs are using in this conflict, can be described as demonstration and upscaling. The aim of this paper is to draw attention on the politicization of nature, in particular Atewa forest reserve and its bauxite resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Purwins
- Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
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12
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Abstract
Much agricultural production in the United States and Europe since the 1930s, and in Asia, Africa, and Latin America since the 1970s, can be called "industrial" to describe how aspects of farm production resemble processes in industrial manufacturing. This shift in agricultural logic moved millions of people out of rural communities and into cities, increasing total agricultural production while creating new markets for agricultural technologies and consolidating agricultural work through vertically integrated agribusiness. Meanwhile, food insecurity and rural distress have remained stubbornly persistent. In this paper, I explore the disjuncture of increased production and increased precarity through the theoretical framework of political ecology. I present data from ethnographic fieldwork in on genetically modified (GM) cotton farms in India to argue that solutions to precarity in the contemporary globalized agricultural system will require political and social change, not merely the addition of new technologies and new choices. In fact, increases in new branded products may exacerbate underlying risk and insecurity for farmer producers.
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Tănăsescu M, Constantinescu S. The human ecology of the Danube Delta: A historical and cartographic perspective. J Environ Manage 2020; 262:110324. [PMID: 32250805 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We present a case of environmental transformation, in the Romanian Danube Delta, driven by the interplay of state power, technological intervention, geomorphological processes, and local practices. Through the presentation of a cartographic archive (1856-2017), together with participant observation and historical research, we detail the various stages of transformation in the deltaic environment and show the relative interplay of driving forces. We show that each transformation of the Delta is at the same time an imposition from without and an adaptation from within, a move of consolidation of state power and a resistance to being fully incorporated. We show how in the history of this particular environment, the main drivers of change pass from being of a geomorphological nature to being related to the use of state power. We detail three stages in the transformation of the delta, through which the conceptualization of, and interventions in, the environment, go from a borderland to be secured, to a rich exploitation ground, to an ecological marvel to be protected. We argue that this kind of analysis can be particularly relevant for the governance of protected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihnea Tănăsescu
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Political Science, Pleinlaan 5, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Stefan Constantinescu
- University of Bucharest, Department of Geography, Bl. Nicolae Balcescu 1, Bucharest, Romania.
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14
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Namin S, Xu W, Zhou Y, Beyer K. The legacy of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and the political ecology of urban trees and air pollution in the United States. Soc Sci Med 2019; 246:112758. [PMID: 31884239 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2019] [Revised: 11/15/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
This study examines the persistent impacts of historical racebased discriminatory housing policies on contemporary urban environments in the United States. Specifically, we examine the relationships between Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) grades assigned to neighborhoods in the 1930s and the current distribution of tree canopy and level of exposure to air pollution hazards. Our results indicate a clear gradient in tree canopy by HOLC grade, with better neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher percentage of tree canopy coverage. The pattern also exists for airborne carcinogens and respiratory hazards, with worse neighborhood grades associated with significantly higher hazards exposure. Our findings indicate that early 20th century discriminatory housing policies exert a contemporary influence on patterns of green space exposure in American cities, with implications for health and health inequities. Our findings suggest that, in order to achieve equitable access to the benefits of urban greenspace, we must acknowledge these historical influences and consider policies and practices that directly counter these influences, for example, through targeted greenspace development in areas historically identified as unfit for investment.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Namin
- Institute for Health & Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
| | - W Xu
- Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Y Zhou
- Institute for Health & Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - K Beyer
- Institute for Health & Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
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15
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Harris ML, Carter ED. Muddying the waters: A political ecology of mosquito-borne disease in coastal Ecuador. Health Place 2019; 57:330-338. [PMID: 31152971 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The mosquito-borne arboviral diseases dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are major public health burdens in Latin America. To analyze the socio-environmental dynamics of these diseases, we apply a political ecology of health and disease framework that is attentive to local etiological frameworks, structural sociopolitical conditions, processes of identity construction, and the contested, politicized nature of public health work. We use multiple qualitative methods to analyze perceptions and interactions with the local environment in relation to mosquito-borne disease across three small communities in Manabí Province, Ecuador. We find that participants' perceptions and practices are complex and multilayered: subjects possess a mixed theory of causation, where these diseases are caused not only by mosquitoes, but also by people's interactions with a changing environment; most environmental management to control vector mosquitoes is carried out informally by women as part of domestic routines; and contrary to public health messaging that stresses the importance of individual agency, participants prefer some of the most invasive techniques for mosquito control (i.e. fumigation with insecticides). However, individual agency in disease control is constrained by poor water infrastructure and lack of public health coordination. Our approach advocates for recognition of local knowledges and sociopolitical constraints in the development of public health messages and interventions.
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16
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Abstract
The spread and varied impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic demonstrate the complex and reciprocal relationships between the socio-political and biophysical dimensions of human health. Yet even with increasing research and policy attention there remain critical gaps in the literature on how HIV-positive households manage health through their engagement with social and ecological systems. This is particularly urgent given improvements in the global response to the epidemic, whereby expanded access to antiretroviral therapy has extended the possibility for survival for years or decades. Because many HIV-positive families and communities in the Global South remain dependent upon a diverse set of resources to generate income and meet subsistence needs, the impacts of disease must be understood within a mix of social processes, including the maintenance of land and collection of natural resources. Similarly, biophysical systems disrupted by HIV/AIDS vary depending upon resource use and locally-specific dynamics that influence opportunities for agrarian production. This paper reports on the findings from a structured survey completed in three communities in northeast South Africa in 2013 that is integrated with focus group discussions and qualitative interviews conducted from 2012-2016. We concentrate upon the diverse ways that individuals and families experience HIV through livelihood systems that are reliant on economic and natural resources. Because the access and use of these resources are mediated by existing social, cultural, and institutional systems, as well as historical spatial economies, we analyze how this produces differential lived experiences for HIV-positive individuals and households in the age of expanded access to antiretroviral therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian King
- Department of Geography, Population Research Institute Associate, The Pennsylvania State University, 302 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
| | - Margaret S Winchester
- Department of Health Policy and Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, Donald H. Ford Building, 604 Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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17
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Chitewere T, Shim JK, Barker JC, Yen IH. How Neighborhoods Influence Health: Lessons to be learned from the application of political ecology. Health Place 2017; 45:117-123. [PMID: 28342425 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2016] [Revised: 02/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
AIM This paper articulates how political ecology can be a useful tool for asking fundamental questions and applying relevant methods to investigate structures that impact relationship between neighborhood and health. Through a narrative analysis, we identify how political ecology can develop our future agendas for neighborhood-health research as it relates to social, political, environmental, and economic structures. Political ecology makes clear the connection between political economy and neighborhood by highlighting the historical and structural processes that produce and maintain social inequality, which affect health and well-being. These concepts encourage researchers to examine how people construct neighborhood and health in different ways that, in turn, can influence different health outcomes and, thus, efforts to address solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tendai Chitewere
- San Francisco State University, Department of Geography & Environment, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA.
| | - Janet K Shim
- University of California, San Francisco, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Judith C Barker
- University of California, San Francisco, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine, USA
| | - Irene H Yen
- University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, USA
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18
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vonHedemann N, Robbins P, Butterworth MK, Landau K, Morin CW. Managing mosquito spaces: Citizen self-governance of disease vectors in a desert landscape. Health Place 2016; 43:41-48. [PMID: 27894018 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2013] [Revised: 08/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Public health agencies' strategies to control disease vectors have increasingly included "soft" mosquito management programs that depend on citizen education and changing homeowner behaviors. In an effort to understand public responses to such campaigns, this research assesses the case of Tucson, Arizona, where West Nile virus presents a serious health risk and where management efforts have focused on public responsibility for mosquito control. Using surveys, interviews, and focus groups, we conclude that citizens have internalized responsibilities for mosquito management but also expect public management of parks and waterways while tending to reject the state's interference with privately owned parcels. Resident preferences for individualized mosquito management hinge on the belief that mosquito-borne diseases are not a large threat, a pervasive distrust of state management, and a fear of the assumed use of aerial pesticides by state managers. Opinions on who is responsible for mosquitoes hinge on both perceptions of mosquito ecology and territorial boundaries, with implications for future disease outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolena vonHedemann
- School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
| | - Paul Robbins
- School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, 550 North Park Street, 122 Science Hall, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
| | - Melinda K Butterworth
- School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Environmental and Earth Sciences, Willamette University, 900 State Street, Salem, OR 97301, USA.
| | - Katheryn Landau
- School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board, 1001 I St., Sacramento, CA 95814, USA.
| | - Cory W Morin
- School of Geography and Development, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; Department of Global Health, University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE #100, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
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Lanckriet S, Rucina S, Frankl A, Ritler A, Gelorini V, Nyssen J. Nonlinear vegetation cover changes in the North Ethiopian Highlands: Evidence from the Lake Ashenge closed basin. Sci Total Environ 2015; 536:996-1006. [PMID: 26117500 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Vegetation cover changes in African drylands are often thought to result from population growth, social factors and aridification. Here we show that long-term vegetation proxy records can help disentangling these main driving factors. Taking the case of North Ethiopia, we performed an integrated investigation of land cover changes over the last four centuries around the endorheic Lake Ashenge, as derived from pollen analysis and repeat photography complemented with information from historical sources. Pollen and sediment analysis of radiocarbon-dated lake deposits shows a phase of environmental destabilization during the 18th century, after a more stable previous period. This is evidenced by decreases of tree pollen (Juniperus, Olea, Celtis, Podocarpus<5%), increases in Poaceae (>40%) and deposition of coarser silt lake sediments (>70%). Quantitative analysis of 30 repeated landscape photographs around the lake indicates a gradual decline of the vegetation cover since a relative maximum during the mid-19th Century. Vegetation cover declined sharply between the 1950s and the 1980s, but has since begun to recover. Overall, the data from around Lake Ashenge reveal a nonlinear pattern of deforestation and forest regrowth with several periods of vegetation cover change over the past four centuries. While there is forcing of regional drought and the regional land tenure system, the cyclic changes do not support a simplified focus on aridification or population growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sil Lanckriet
- Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Stephen Rucina
- National Museum of Kenya, Earth Science Department, Palynology Section, P.O. Box 40658 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Amaury Frankl
- Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Alfons Ritler
- Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 10, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Vanessa Gelorini
- Department of Geology and Soil Science, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jan Nyssen
- Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
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Abstract
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or 'drones', appear to offer a flexible, accurate and affordable solution to some of the technical challenges of nature conservation monitoring and law enforcement. However, little attention has been given to their possible social impacts. In this paper, I review the possible social impacts of using drones for conservation, including on safety, privacy, psychological wellbeing, data security and the wider understanding of conservation problems. I argue that negative social impacts are probable under some circumstances and should be of concern for conservation for two reasons: (1) because conservation should follow good ethical practice; and (2) because negative social impacts could undermine conservation effectiveness in the long term. The paper concludes with a call for empirical research to establish whether the identified social risks of drones occur in reality and how they could be mitigated, and for self-regulation of drone use by the conservation sector to ensure good ethical practice and minimise the risk of unintended consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Sandbrook
- United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK.
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Fu M, Exeter DJ, Anderson A. "So, is that your 'relative' or mine?" A political-ecological critique of census-based area deprivation indices. Soc Sci Med 2015; 142:27-36. [PMID: 26282706 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2015] [Revised: 07/29/2015] [Accepted: 07/30/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Census-based deprivation indices have been widely used in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada and UK to measure area-based socio-economic inequalities. This paper examines the indicators used in census-based area deprivation indices using a political ecology approach. We question whether the current indicators of deprivation derived from census data are meaningful for the all age groups and minority groups in the population, with a particular focus on deprivation indicators used in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. We comparatively reviewed methodological papers and reports that describe the indicators of deprivation in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada and the UK from 1975 to 2014. We consider the relationship between the notion of standards of living and measurements of deprivation and explore how hegemonic cultural constructs are implicit in measures of deprivation that privilege a Eurocentric, ageist and gender normative construction of statistics. We argue for more political ecological analyses to studying the relationship between social inequalities, geographies, health inequities and political economy to transform structures of oppression and inequality. This requires turning the analytical gaze on the wealthy and privileged instead of defaulting into deficit models to account for inequality. Studies of deprivation and inequality would benefit from understanding the processes and operations of power in the (re)production of socio-economic and health inequities to inform holistic strategies for social justice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengzhu Fu
- School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019 Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Daniel J Exeter
- School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019 Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
| | - Anneka Anderson
- Te Kupenga Hauora Maori, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019 Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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Abstract
How to manage the impact of free-ranging cats on native wildlife is a polarizing issue. Conservation biologists largely support domestic cat euthanasia to mitigate impacts of free-ranging cat predation on small animal populations. Above all else, animal welfare activists support the humane treatment of free-ranging cats, objecting to euthanasia. Clearly, this issue of how to control free-ranging cat predation on small animals is value laden, and both positions must be considered and comprehended to promote effective conservation. Here, two gaps in the free-ranging cat—small-animal conservation literature are addressed. First, the importance of understanding the processes of domestication and evolution and how each relates to felid behavioral ecology is discussed. The leading hypothesis to explain domestication of wildcats (Felis silvestris) relates to their behavioral ecology as a solitary predator, which made them suited for pest control in early agricultural villages of the Old World. The relationship humans once had with cats, however, has changed because today domesticated cats are usually household pets. As a result, concerns of conservation biologists may relate to cats as predators, but cat welfare proponents come from the position of assuming responsibility for free-ranging household pets (and their feral offspring). Thus, the perceptions of pet owners and other members of the general public provide an important context that frames the relationship between free-ranging cats and small animal conservation. The second part of this paper assesses the effects of an information-based conservation approach on shifting student’s perception of a local Trap–Neuter–Return (TNR) program in introductory core science classes at the University of North Texas (UNT). UNT students are (knowingly or unknowingly) regularly in close proximity to a TNR program on campus that supports cat houses and feeding stations. A survey design implementing a tailored-information approach was used to communicate what TNR programs are, their goals, and the “conservationist” view of TNR programs. We gauged favorability of student responses to the goals of TNR programs prior to and after exposure to tailored information on conservation concerns related to free-ranging cats. Although these results are from a preliminary study, we suggest that an information-based approach may only be marginally effective at shifting perceptions about the conservation implications of free-ranging cats. Our position is that small animal conservation in Western societies occurs in the context of pet ownership, thus broader approaches that promote ecological understanding via environmental education are more likely to be successful than information-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Dombrosky
- Department of Geography, University of North Texas , Denton, Texas , USA
| | - Steve Wolverton
- Department of Geography, University of North Texas , Denton, Texas , USA
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Waylen KA, Fischer A, McGowan PJK, Milner-Gulland EJ. Deconstructing Community for Conservation: Why Simple Assumptions are Not Sufficient. Hum Ecol Interdiscip J 2013; 41:575-585. [PMID: 23956483 PMCID: PMC3744651 DOI: 10.1007/s10745-013-9594-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Many conservation policies advocate engagement with local people, but conservation practice has sometimes been criticised for a simplistic understanding of communities and social context. To counter this, this paper explores social structuring and its influences on conservation-related behaviours at the site of a conservation intervention near Pipar forest, within the Seti Khola valley, Nepal. Qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires and Rapid Rural Appraisal demonstrate how links between groups directly and indirectly influence behaviours of conservation relevance (including existing and potential resource-use and proconservation activities). For low-status groups the harvesting of resources can be driven by others' preference for wild foods, whilst perceptions of elite benefit-capture may cause reluctance to engage with future conservation interventions. The findings reiterate the need to avoid relying on simple assumptions about 'community' in conservation, and particularly the relevance of understanding relationships between groups, in order to understand natural resource use and implications for conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerry Ann Waylen
- The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK
- Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, UK
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