Public Political Ecology: a community of praxis for earth stewardship

Abstract

Political ecology is a powerful framework for analyzing the underlying causes of environmental change, yet underutilized for guiding an ethical response to the Anthropocene. In this article, I introduce Public Political Ecology as an approach for practicing engaged scholarship in this moment of ecological crisis. A political, ethical and educational project, public political ecology is influenced by Antonio Gramsci's work on the philosophy of praxis. It therefore operates from the understanding that ideas are a material force capable of transforming society in revolutionary ways, and through a community of praxis within which academics can play important roles by engaging more actively with broader publics. Innovations from public geographies such as participatory action research and mapping, service learning, and social media offer important methodologies and tools for this approach. Public political ecology, then, is a means by which political ecologists can serve as earth stewards and thus finally make good on the field's emancipatory claims. Keywords: Political ecology, engaged scholarship, earth stewardship, public geography, praxis Résumé L'écologie politique est un cadre puissant pour analyser les causes sous-jacentes du changement environnemental, mais sous-utilisé pour guider une réponse éthique à l'Anthropocène. Dans cet article, je présente l'Écologie Politique Publique comme une approche pour pratiquer le travail engagé dans ce moment de crise écologique. Un projet politique, éthique et éducatif, l'écologie politique publique est influencée par le travail d'Antonio Gramsci sur la philosophie de la praxis. Cela implique donc que les idées sont une force matérielle capable de transformer la société de manière révolutionnaire et à travers une communauté de praxis dans laquelle les universitaires peuvent jouer un rôle important en s'engageant plus activement avec des publics plus larges. Les innovations du domaine des «géographies publiques» telles que la recherche et la cartographie participative, l'apprentissage en cours d'emploi et les médias sociaux offrent des méthodologies et des outils importants pour cette approche. L'écologie politique publique est donc un moyen par lequel les écologistes politiques peuvent servir de «intendants de la terre» et ainsi, finalement, se substituer aux revendications émancipatrices de l'écologie politique. Mots-clés: écologie politique, travail académique engagé, intendants terrestres, géographie publique, praxis ResumenLa ecología política es un marco poderoso para analizar las causas subyacentes del cambio ambiental. Sin embargo se ha utilizado poco para guiar una respuesta ética al Antropoceno. En este trabajo, presento la Ecología Política Publica como una forma de practicar la escolaridad comprometida en este momento de crisis ecológica. Un proyecto político, ético y educacional, la ecología política publica es inspirado por el trabajo de Antonio Gramsci en la filosofía de praxis que propone que las ideas sirven como una fuerza material capaz de transfor...

Learning and Teaching Through the Online Environmental Justice Atlas: From Empowering Activists to Motivating Students

“…The Atlas offers a platform that students and educators can use to help bridge these gaps—by providing a way for students to tangibly engage with important environmental resistance movements, visibilizing diverse, frontline voices and experiences, and connecting the theoretical to the practical via a range of opportunities for promoting environmental justice work outside of the classroom including advocacy, documentation, networking, and solidarity‐building (Weber and Hermanson 2015). In this vein, Osborne (2017; 852) describes the atlas as a tool for what she terms “Public Political Ecology,” in that it “builds a community of praxis by using theories of environmental justice and PAR methodologies to unite scientists, activist organizations, and policymakers around issues of ecological distribution while rendering resource struggles visible to broader publics.”…”

Left Coast Political Ecology: a manifesto

“…From a keynote lecture by Dr. Jade Sasser (Sasser 2018), to workshops highlighting cross-institutional mentorship, methods, and future directions, the gathering highlighted articulations of race, gender, more-than-human, anti-capitalist, and activist concerns within and beyond political ecology, and explored how political ecology could inform and come together around a praxis of resistance. Notably, the workshop supported the growth and strengthening of connections with other institutional and community-based efforts, including insight and inspiration drawn from the Public Political Ecology Lab at the University of Arizona and the open access Journal of Political Ecology (Osborne 2017). 13 In addition to the expansion of our network and the collective's ongoing informal dialogue, at least three tangible outcomes have emerged from these workshops.…”

“…Tracey Osborne (2017) proposes the idea of a community of praxis toward engaged scholarship. Osborne defines this "Public Political Ecology" as "the theoretically-informed practice of a diverse set of actors (which include an important role for academics) who share environmental concerns, collaborate, and co-produce knowledge in order to guide ethical action for earth stewardship" (p. 849).…”

Political ecology and decolonial research: co-production with the Iñupiat in Utqiaġvik

“…Engaged research attempts to move beyond academic or institutional spheres by emphasizing active involvement of stakeholders and participants throughout the research process (Harney et al 2016;Osborne 2017). One of the key features of engaged research design is the co-production, or the integration of different knowledge systems to create new knowledge or, in the case of some decolonial approaches, a "two-eyed" way of seeing (Alhojärvi and Sirviö 2018;Iwama et al 2012;Rodriguez 2017;Tengö et al 2014;Gallopín and Vessuri 2006;Zanotti and Palomino-Schalscha 2016).…”