Should some political ecology be useful? The Inaugural Lecture for the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, April 2010

Blaikie, Piers

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.08.010

Cited by 45 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…With the relevant call of Blaikie (2012) in mind, we give emphasis to two authors whose ideas have contributed to issues of political ecology : Ramos Filho (2005) and Capra (2002). Boeira (2002) draws a parallel between Capra (2002) and branches (2005), based on criticism by both modern companies born of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century.…”

Section: -666mentioning

confidence: 99%

Abordagem grassroots e resistência: atualizando a concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável

et al. 2017

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A critical body of literature has emerged focusing on the spectrum of resistance against impositions engendered by the modus operandum of western capitalism, including the nuances of the productive patterns considering the environment as a device attached to the triple bottom line of the traditional view of sustainable development. Regarding the theory, solidarity economy (economic pillar), social movements (social pillar), political ecology (environmental pillar), and cultural roots (cultural pillar) are important apparatus that cannot be left behind if an alternative concept of sustainable development is to be structured. This article considers such apparatus as having elements of resistance, since they have different characteristics when compared to the standard features of the pillars that form the base of the criticized conception of sustainable development. Therefore, the main goal of this article is to conceive alternative elements to the standard concept of sustainable development, considering aspects of the grassroots approach. This study is relevant as it offers alternative and complementary elements in order to provide an understanding of the updated conjectures. The prospects of grassroots development, involving less developed communities worldwide, are being used as practical guidelines in local development actions. They have rarely been conjectured as conceptual elements to offer a new format for the conception of sustainable development. This article concludes that the traditional version of sustainable development can be upgraded with the alternative elements emerging from the grassroots approach.Keywords: Sustainable Development. Grassroots Approach. Resistance. Abordagem grassroots e resistência: atualizando a concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável ResumoEm contrapartida às especificidades impositivas do modelo de produção capitalista -incluindo-se nesse modelo os meandros de arranjos produtivos que inserem o meio ambiente enquanto alinhado à versão tríplice da concepção tradicional de desenvolvimento sustentável -, tem surgido uma massa crítica de literatura focada na resistência ao modo de funcionamento do capitalismo ocidental. Em relação à teoria, economia solidária (pilar econômico), movimentos sociais (pilar social), ecologia política (pilar ambiental) e raízes culturais (pilar cultural) são aparatos importantes que não devem ficar à margem na estruturação de uma concepção alternativa do desenvolvimento sustentável. Tais aparatos são considerados elementos de resistência, visto terem fatores diferenciados quando comparados com as características tradicionais dos pilares da criticada concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável. Assim, o objetivo do presente ensaio teórico é conceber alternativas à concepção padrão do desenvolvimento sustentável, considerando aspectos da abordagem grassroots importantes para esse propósito. A contribuição é relevante tendo em vista a consideração de aspectos alternativos e complementares envolvidos na leitura da atualização conjecturada. Os prospecto...

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Section: -666mentioning

confidence: 99%

Abordagem grassroots e resistência: atualizando a concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável

et al. 2017

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“…Critical realism emerged in the 1980s as a scientific alternative to both positivism and constructivism (Fletcher, 2017), through the work of Roy Bhaskar (1975). Critical realism accepts that there is a single reality, but multiple interpretations (Sayer, 2000) and acknowledges discourse, language and the unequal power that produces it and is produced by it (Blaikie, 2012). Critical realists seek to explain and critique social phenomena, by engaging in explanation and causal analysis.…”

Section: Challenging Normsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notable political ecologist Blaikie (1985,1995) conducts much of his research using the critical realist lens on the basis that he seeks to achieve some level of scientific progress in a world where knowledge claims reflect current and historic power relations. More recently, he argues that a critical realist approach to political ecology enables more successful engagement with a wider range of actors than a strongly social constructionist approach (Blaikie, 2012).…”

Section: Challenging Normsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Political ecology places emphasis on understanding the changes to the environment and how resources are controlled and used. As noted by Blaikie (2012), in "almost all discussions of the field of political ecology, environmental (in)justice is central" (p. 232) as the control for resources and changes to the environment often result in an unequal distribution of environmental ills and benefits. While Fraser's theory of social justice aims to determine injustices and highlight how they are manifested in the frame of participation parity, political ecology aims to reveal the relationships of power by exploring and exposing the distribution of power to situate injustices across scales.…”

Section: Political Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of Blaikie's work focus on the linkages between political ecology and policy and practice in the development context and focus on the social construction of environmental change (Blaikie, 1985(Blaikie, , 1995(Blaikie, , 2012Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987). Forsyth (2008) reviews much of Blaikie's analyses and surmises that a key theme in Blaikie's writing is a strong political imperative and desire to correct social injustices.…”

Section: Political Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social impact assessment, social justice and scales of knowledge: exploring the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands

Ash¹

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This thesis examines power relations in the context of social impact assessment (SIA) as it is applied in the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands. While the social impacts of large-scale mining in the Global South are well documented, little is known about how and why adverse social impacts continue to occur in the presence of numerous 'best practice' policy and planning tools, including SIA. This raises questions on the efficacy of SIA in identifying, contextualising and mitigating potential social impacts on communities affected by mining activity, particularly on traditional lands inhabited by indigenous peoples.This thesis presents a critical analysis of SIA to provide insight on this disparity in policy and practice, and to enhance sociological understanding on the interplay of globally-driven mining projects, the identification of social impacts, and the role of policy and institutions in cross-cultural contexts. The proposed extraction of nickel in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, serves as the case study for this analysis. Employing the conceptual frameworks of social justice and political ecology, and drawing on six months' fieldwork in Solomon Islands, qualitative data from individual and group interviews (n=33) and document analysis (n=11) was collected across geopolitical scales -international, national, provincial and local -to compare and analyse perspectives of documents, institutions and people towards SIA and socially just development in the context of potential mining activity. Analysis of these perspectives exposed the extent to which SIA produces, reinforces and/or exacerbates, social injustices.Research findings identified the limits of SIA in: 1) recognising and accounting for indigenous identities and gender roles; 2) the unequal distribution of economic and other resources associated with the development of mining, including the privatisation of land and employment; and 3) representation of project-affected communities through consultation activities associated with SIA, including Free, Prior and Informed Consent. With political ecology as the foundation of this thesis, this thesis argues that these social injustices materialise as a result of a disparity, or mismatch, between knowledge frames across scales.While SIA is bounded to the rhetoric of social justice, consent and participation, this thesis demonstrates that Western expert knowledge and norms are interwoven into the SIA regime, rendering local experiential knowledge marginal. Reflecting this, a multiscale SIA approach is proposed to include consideration of different scales of knowledge systems, iii with outcomes that might assist to mitigate social injustices, such as those identified in this

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Developing Soil Conservation Strategies with Technical and Community Knowledge in a Degrading Sub‐Humid Mountainous Landscape

et al. 2017

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Worldwide, soil erosion has greatly decreased agricultural productivity and continues unabatedly despite decades of developing sustainability and soil conservation strategies. Current strategies need integrated interdisciplinary perspectives to develop more effective measures, especially in degrading mountainous landscapes where rising sediment concentrations persist. By comparing spatio‐temporal field observations and community perceptions with the Geographic Information System (GIS)‐based universal soil loss equation (USLE), this study critically examined theorized erosion patterns (by USLE) in a degraded landscape (Shanko Bahir, Ethiopia) to improve soil conservation strategy development. Daily hydro‐sedimentological data (showing 792 mm of rainfall leading to 3·2 Mg ha−1 y−1 of sediment yield) revealed mild but variable erosion patterns in 2012. Overlooking hydrology hindered the USLE's suitability for conservation planning. For instance, the median infiltration rate (33 mm h−1) was rarely exceeded (3·5% of events), meaning runoff‐induced erosion risk were not well predicted spatio‐temporally by the USLE R‐factor. Conversely, heterogeneous local perspectives explicitly considered accumulated runoff, saturation (“the water at the top level rests on the bottom”), fertility, and gullies as drivers of erosion (“black soil breaks and forms gorges”). Additionally, they designated steeper mono‐cropped lands as at risk (incidentally also highlighted by USLE). Observational evidence showed steeper midslope areas decreasing in topsoil depth by 14 mm, flatter downslope areas by 0·8 mm, and the mild upslope areas increasing 2 mm. Operationalizing effective soil conservation strategies will require expanding beyond (USLE‐based) technical knowledge to incorporate local stakeholders and consider the main hydrological processes causing erosion in sub‐humid mountainous landscapes: saturated pathways, downslope saturation, subsurface flow, and gully formation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Should some political ecology be useful? The Inaugural Lecture for the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, April 2010

Cited by 45 publications

References 24 publications

Abordagem grassroots e resistência: atualizando a concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável

Abordagem grassroots e resistência: atualizando a concepção de desenvolvimento sustentável

Social impact assessment, social justice and scales of knowledge: exploring the emerging mining industry in Solomon Islands

Developing Soil Conservation Strategies with Technical and Community Knowledge in a Degrading Sub‐Humid Mountainous Landscape

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