Popular Philanthrocapitalism? The Potential and Pitfalls of Online Empowerment in “Free” Nature 2.0 Initiatives

Koot, Stasja; Fletcher, Robert

doi:10.1080/17524032.2019.1649707

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Impact investing is the primary way philanthrocapitalists engage in and facilitate the financialization of conservation, using "mission-related" or "program-related" investments that align donors' "social (charitable) and financial (portfolio maximizing) missions" (Rosenman, 2018: 147). Recent research reveals a philanthrocapitalist turn in conservation, documenting both the discourses that promote markets as the best way to improve conservation outcomes and an increase in the number of donor-based projects tied to returns-seeking activities (Holmes, 2015b;Koot and Fletcher, 2020;Mallin et al, 2019;Tedesco, 2015). Holmes (2012) argues, however, that the discursive impact of philanthrocapitalism remains greater than its financial impact because of how it reimagines the relationship between the state, the market, and civil society.…”

Section: Placing Philanthropy In Conservation Governance and Conserva...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bankrolling biodiversity: The politics of philanthropic conservation finance in Chile

Beer

2022

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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The role of philanthropic capital in biodiversity conservation is rapidly changing. Philanthropists increasingly seek to bankroll solutions to the biodiversity crisis, scaling up the size of their ambitions and gifts to help close what scientists and policymakers call the “biodiversity financing gap.” This paper interrogates the rising prominence of philanthropic capital in conservation governance, focusing on a class of actors I call “philanthro-environmentalists.” Unlike big, international NGOs and philanthrocapitalists, philanthro-environmentalists do not engage market-based, for-profit approaches to finance conservation. Rather, they engage a “dollars for policy” approach that leverages the power of their philanthropy to improve public conservation outcomes. Taking Chile as a case, I trace how a transnational network of philanthro-environmentalists is using a novel mechanism known as Project Finance for Permanence to exact substantial political and fiscal commitments from the state in exchange for substantive philanthropic support for a mega conservation initiative in Chilean Patagonia. I argue that Project Finance for Permanence targets policymaking as the primary site of philanthropic intervention, affording philanthro-environmentalists greater control over state conservation governance. Yet, I also argue that this case raises serious questions about the limits and implications of leveraging philanthropic capital to solve public environmental problems. Bridging literatures on conservation governance and conservation finance, the paper contributes new conceptual insights into the evolving dynamics of philanthropy-state relations in an age of biodiversity crisis.

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Section: Placing Philanthropy In Conservation Governance and Conserva...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bankrolling biodiversity: The politics of philanthropic conservation finance in Chile

Beer

2022

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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“…Although DN research does well at drawing attention to the political economy of conservation, as feminist scholars, we are discouraged by the tendency for DN scholarship to ignore the possibilities of other forms of power relations beyond capitalist ones and to narrowly focus on one particular type of “nature.” While there are calls to examine who owns, designs, programs, and controls digital technologies that mediate natures, these calls are generally referring to corporate or political entities and their economic gains (Koot and Fletcher, 2020; Toonen and Bush, 2020). Taking inspiration from feminist digital geographers, it is also important to consider who designs and uses these technologies in terms of identities, subjectivities, and their embodied and affective experiences.…”

Section: Emerging Contours Inspiring Fdnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feminist digital natures

Nelson

Hawkins

Govia

2022

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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This commentary proposes a research agenda for the concept of feminist digital natures (FDN). To demonstrate how we see FDN connecting existing research efforts, we review both the well-established and much-needed work in three overlapping areas of scholarship where we see the potential for productive discussions, new questions, and empirical analysis: feminist digital geographies (FDG), digital natures (DN), and feminist political ecology (FPE). We offer specific and grounded examples of topics and questions that scholars might pursue through an FDN approach. We encourage sustained, collaborative, and critical attention to the uneven consequences and political terrain of understanding natures as increasingly digitally monitored, managed, manipulated, and represented. We can and should think with digital relations, and we might benefit from new creative conversations across our areas of inquiry and action.

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“…Thus, although philanthrocapitalism is conventionally associated with the 'very rich', "the essential features of philanthrocapitalism" can today be made available "to everyone" (Bishop and Green 2010: 239). Therefore, it is "not just billionaires and their mega-foundations that command attention" (Reich 2018: 9); seen as a "movement led by these super rich" (Bishop and Green 2010: xi, emphasis added), it is followed by many others (Koot and Fletcher 2020), including wealthy tourists. The pleasure that exorbitant consumption brings about, however, can be regarded more than 'only' conventional pleasure.…”

Section: Philanthrocapitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enjoying extinction: philanthrocapitalism, <i>jouissance</i>, and 'excessive environmentourism' in the South African rhino poaching crisis

Koot¹

2021

Journal of Political Ecology

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From 2007 to 2015, rhino poaching grew rapidly in and around Kruger National Park, South Africa. And though poaching numbers have declined since then, the 'poaching crisis' and its consequences continue to influence rhetoric and practice in the area, including continuing public outcries that the rhino is close to extinction. This discourse of extinction is also prevalent among the luxurious tourist lodges on private nature reserves of the Greater Kruger Area that attract wealthy tourists. In response, some lodges started initiatives in which tourists can join the fight against rhino poaching. These tourist activities share important similarities with 'philanthrocapitalism',in which wealthy philanthropists address social and environmental challenges drawing on the same business principles that made them successful. Based on research on the tourism industry, I explore the political ecology of such high-end, 'environmentourist' activities. I argue that philanthropic environmental tourist activities are based on a reductionist articulation of the rhino poaching crisis. They de-politicize it from its socio-economic and historical context and are 'excessive', in that they produce and legitimize exorbitant forms of privatized, luxurious tourism and consumerism as a solution for social and environmental crises. Moreover,such 'excessive environmentourism' allows wealthy tourists to enjoy 'doing good'in a very specific way, best captured by the term 'jouissance.' Jouissance is a particular type of ambivalent enjoyment that includes fascination with dark and horrific elements (i.e. poached rhinos and the idea that these animals are at the brink of extinction). I conclude that jouissance functions as a core motivation for wealthy tourists to engage in touristic experiences precisely because it enables them to believe they can overcome the dark sides of their own excesses ironically by 'doing good', grounded in excessive consumption.

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Popular Philanthrocapitalism? The Potential and Pitfalls of Online Empowerment in “Free” Nature 2.0 Initiatives

Cited by 13 publications

References 40 publications

Bankrolling biodiversity: The politics of philanthropic conservation finance in Chile

Bankrolling biodiversity: The politics of philanthropic conservation finance in Chile

Feminist digital natures

Enjoying extinction: philanthrocapitalism, <i>jouissance</i>, and 'excessive environmentourism' in the South African rhino poaching crisis

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