Possible moral ecologies, the function of everyday curation, and the experience of regions

Abstract

Investigating the political ecologies of everyday engagements with environments-including material as well as policy and ideological interactions-requires consideration of the moral economy at play, as well as the political economy and social ecology. A.V. Chayanov (1966A.V. Chayanov ( /1925), E.P. Thompson (1971), and Jim Scott (1976 have provided useful ways to think about moral economy. They framed moral economy as a way of enacting understandings of just commons, subsistence entitlements, and desirable economic relations based on social struggle. This framing can be particularly useful in combination with political ecology approaches to investigate 'moral ecologies.' These are society-environment assemblages that are often more aspirational than enacted, but toward which considerable effort is expended, and whose moral and ecological dynamics are functionally linked, perhaps as best illustrated in recent attention to agroecology as a powerful mechanism for ensuring rights to food (De Schutter 2011a, 2011b. Given political ecology's focus on power relations, moral ecologies that do not exercise considerable power are often overlooked by political ecologists. However, even if particular understandings may not be highly efficacious in exercising power, they may have considerable influence on relational conceptualizations. This mismatch between habitual inattention to moral ecologies and their potential importance contributes to tensions within contemporary society-environment scholarship between structuralist and poststructuralist modes of engagement. Given the value of both modes, particularly for understanding what Peet and Watts (1993) describe as liberation ecologies (and the regional discourse formations that shape them), I argue that political ecology provides useful frameworks for documenting and analyzing the socio-ecological experience of regions-in terms not only of the functions of society and environment, but also of the performance and curation of knowledge about those functions. Keywords: moral economy, food systems, curation, critical regional studies, land use planning, participatory action research, environmental justice, integrated natural resource management science RésuméEnquêter sur les écologies politiques des interactions quotidiennes avec l'environnement -en incluant aussi bien les interactions matérielles que celles idéologiques et politiques -exige souvent un examen de l'économie morale, ainsi que de l'économie politique et l'écologie sociale, en jeu. A.V. Chayanov (1966A.V. Chayanov ( /1925), E.P. Thompson (1971), et Jim Scott (1976 nous ont fourni des moyens utiles pour penser l'économie morale. Ils ont présenté l'économie morale comme un moyen de promulguer la compréhension de relations économiques bénéfiques et ordinaires, permettant la subsistance, en se basant sur des luttes sociales. Cette définition peut être particulièrement utile lorsqu'elle est combinée avec des approches liées à l'écologie politique pour enquêter sur «les écologies morales». Ces dernières sont des...

How regions do work, and the work we do: a constructive critique of regions in political ecology

“…Regions are also experienced, performed and mobilized by various parts of and members of society. Political ecologists may find it useful to understand how knowledge within civil society is developed, assembled and circulated within, and with respect to, regions (Cadieux 2016), or how social activists -such as those associated with the environmental justice movement -leverage regional problems, networks and allegiances to articulate and advance their political goals (London 2016). Moreover, regions present a useful scale and analytic space through which practices and strategies of care, coexistence and reciprocity can be examined and theorized (Larson 2016).…”

Does the region still have relevance? (Re)considering "regional" political ecology

“…The contributions of Cadieux (2016), London (2016), and Larsen (2016), all highlight their commitment to working with informants rather than extracting knowledge from communities. These cases highlight how working within community-defined regions and building upon community-developed…”

“…Moreover, regional political ecology, as re-conceptualized in this Section, is explicitly post-colonial, feminist, and focused on working with both human and non-human actors within region (Larsen 2016;London 2016;Cadieux 2016). Such an approach involves breaking down the binary between "the field" and the researcher's home region and engaging with informants to co-produce knowledge, moral ecologies, and regions of care.…”

“…Using an example from his work with the Cheslatta-Carrier nation in north-central British Columbia, he advocates using the indigenous concept of "regions of care" to negotiate the tensions in working with and writing about environmental engagements that are inherently in flux. Cadieux (2016) focuses similarly on the potential of regional political ecology approaches to breach the gaps between political ecology, applied environmental science/management, and activism. She points to the emerging, contingent region as the place where the ideals of localism and community meet with the challenges of working across difference.…”

“…Most prominently, the articles demonstrate a commitment to working towards normative standards (variously defined) of social and environmental justice. Second, these essays reflect an awareness of the socially constructed nature of regions, leading several of the contributors (Cadieux 2016;Larsen 2016 andLondon 2016) to suggest new ways of understanding the processes that construct regions. These articles suggest pathways through which political ecologists might conduct analyses that extend beyond local studies and engage with policy makers, activists, and community members, deepening understandings of how regions and regionalization impact questions of sustainability and justice.…”