| 1. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Theorizing power in political ecology: the where of power in resource governance projects
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - : University of Arizona. - 1073-0451. ; 25:1, s. 381-401
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Power and politics have been central topics from the early days of Political Ecology. There are different and sometimes conflicting conceptualizations of power in this field that portray power alternatively as a resource, personal attribute or relation. The aim of this article is to contribute to theorizations of power by probing contesting views regarding its role in societal change and by presenting a specific conceptualization of power, one which draws on both political ecology and sociotechnical approaches in science and technology studies. We review how power has been conceptualized in the political ecology field and identify three trends that shaped the current discussion. We then develop our conceptual discussion and explicitly ask where power emerges in processes of resource governance projects. We identify four locations that we illustrate empirically through an example of rural electrification in Tanzania that aimed at catalyzing social and economic development by providing renewable energy-based electricity services to people. Our analysis supports the argument that power is relational and productive, and it draws on science and technology studies to bring to the fore the critical role of non-human elements in co-constitution of society—technology—nature. This leads us to see power exercise as having contradictory and ambiguous effects. We conclude that by exploring the tension between human agency and constitutive power, we keep the politics alive throughout the analysis and are able to show why intentional choices and actions really matter for how resource governance projects play out in everyday life.
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| 2. |
- Apostolopoulou, E., et al.
(författare)
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Radical social innovations and the spatialities of grassroots activism: navigating pathways for tackling inequality and reinventing the commons
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - 1073-0451. ; 29, s. 143-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, by drawing on empirical evidence from twelve case studies from nine countries from across the Global South and North, we ask how radical grassroots social innovations that are part of social movements and struggles can offer pathways for tackling socio-spatial and socio-environmental inequality and for reinventing the commons. We define radical grassroots social innovations as a set of practices initiated by formal or informal community-led initiatives or/and social movements which aim to generate novel, democratic, socially, spatially and environmentally just solutions to address social needs that are otherwise ignored or marginalised To address our research questions, we draw on the work of Cindi Katz to explore how grassroots innovations relate to practices of resilience, reworking and resistance. We identify possibilities and limitations as well as patterns of spatial practices and pathways of re-scaling and radical praxis, uncovering broadly-shared resemblances across different places. Through this analysis we aim to make a twofold contribution to political ecology and human geography scholarship on grassroots radical activism, social innovation and the spatialities of resistance. First, to reveal the connections between social-environmental struggles, emerging grassroots innovations and broader structural factors that cause, enable or limit them. Second, to explore how grassroots radical innovations stemming from place-based community struggles can relate to resistance practices that would not only successfully oppose inequality and the withering of the commons in the short-term, but would also open long-term pathways to alternative modes of social organization, and a new commons, based on social needs and social rights that are currently unaddressed.
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| 3. |
- Barbesgaard, Mads, et al.
(författare)
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"Blood on the floor": The nickel commodity frontier and inter-capitalist competition under green extractivism
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - 1073-0451.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Major companies in the mining industry are strategizing to benefit from the expected rise in demand for energy"transition minerals" that underpin current technologies of decarbonization (such as batteries and wind turbines).This article elucidates their current strategies of accumulation through the case of BHP, the world's largest miningcompany. We draw on political ecology and commodity frontier theory in order to grapple with inter-capitalistcompetition under the current moment of green extractivism by examining firm and state practices in the nickelcommodity frontier. Empirically, we examine the changing role that nickel has played in BHP's asset portfolioduring the past decade where it has attempted to significantly accumulate from the expansion of the nickelcommodity frontier. Yet, despite this centering of the expansion of the nickel commodity frontier for its particularstrategy of accumulation under green extractivism, it has so far been unsuccessful. Given this potential for failureof company practices in commodity frontiers, we argue that green extractivism should not always and everywherebe seen as a story foretold.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Farahani, Ilia
(författare)
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Vanished in gaps, vanquished in rifts : the social ecology of urban spatial change in a working class residential area, Peykan-Shahr, Tehran, Iran
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - 1073-0451. ; 20, s. 395-412
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article aims to understand the forms and processes of socio-ecological changes following sociogeographicaldislocation of workers in a working-class neighborhood (Peykan-Shahr) in Iran. The articleintegrates theories of gentrification and metabolic rift. Existing studies on urbanization in Iran refute thepossibility of gentrification. This study, in contrast, by drawing attention to peculiarities of the capitalisteconomy in Iran, adapts the basic economic mechanisms of gentrification such as the rent/value gap and theconcept of absolute rent, concluding that Peykan-Shahr is indeed in a process of gentrification. The theory ofmetabolic rift adds theoretical dimensions and complexity to the analysis and provides a richer understandingof the case. Grounded in Marx's labor theory of value, the analysis shows that by mediating the exploitation oflabor/nature by capital through displacing workers from their houses, gentrification in Peykan-Shahr hascaused a socio-ecological metabolic rift in terms of labor reproduction and deterioration of labor power.
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| 7. |
- Gallardo-Fernández, Gloria L., 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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We adapt … but is it good or bad? Locating the political ecology and social-ecological systems debate in reindeer herding in the Swedish Sub-Arctic : Locating the political ecology and social-ecological systems debate in reindeer herding in the Swedish Sub-Arctic
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - : University of Arizona Press. - 1073-0451. ; 24, s. 667-691
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reindeer herding (RDH) is a livelihood strategy deeply connected to Sami cultural tradition. This article explores the implications of two theoretical and methodological approaches for grasping complex socio-environmental relationships of RDH in Subarctic Sweden. Based on joint fieldwork, two teams – one that aligns itself with political ecology (PE) and the other with social-ecological systems (SES) – compared PE and SES approaches of understanding RDH. Our purpose was twofold: 1) to describe the situation of Sami RDH through the lenses of PE and SES, exploring how the two approaches interpret the same empirical data; 2) to present an analytical comparison of the ontological and epistemological assumptions of this work, also inferring different courses of action to instigate change for the sustainability of RDH. Key informants from four sameby in the Kiruna region expressed strong support for the continuation of RDH as a cultural andeconomic practice. Concerns about the current situation raised by Sami representatives centered on the cumulative negative impacts on RDH from mining, forestry and tourism. PE and SES researchers offered dissimilar interpretations of the key aspects of the RDH socio-economic situation, namely: the nature and scale of RDH systems; the ubiquitous role of conflict; and conceptualizations of responses to changing socio-environmental conditions. Due to these disparities, PE and SES analyses have radically divergent socio-political implications for what ought to be done to redress the current RDH situation.
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| 8. |
- Gallardo, Gloria, et al.
(författare)
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We adapt … but is it good or bad? Locating the political ecology and social-ecological systems debate in reindeer herding in the Swedish Sub-Arctic
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - Arizona : The University of Arizona. - 1073-0451. ; 24:1, s. 667-691
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Reindeer herding (RDH) is a livelihood strategy deeply connected to Sami cultural tradition. This article explores the implications of two theoretical and methodological approaches for grasping complex socioenvironmental relationships of RDH in Subarctic Sweden. Based on joint fieldwork, two teams – one that aligns itself with political ecology (PE) and the other with social-ecological systems (SES) – compared PE and SES approaches of understanding RDH. Our purpose was twofold: 1) to describe the situation of Sami RDH through the lenses of PE and SES, exploring how the two approaches interpret the same empirical data; 2) to present an analytical comparison of the ontological and epistemological assumptions of this work, also inferring different courses of action to instigate change for the sustainability of RDH. Key informants from four sameby in the Kiruna region expressed strong support for the continuation of RDH as a cultural and economic practice. Concerns about the current situation raised by Sami representatives centered on the cumulative negative impacts on RDH from mining, forestry and tourism. PE and SES researchers offered dissimilar interpretations of the key aspects of the RDH socio-economic situation, namely: the nature and scale of RDH systems; the ubiquitous role of conflict; and conceptualizations of responses to changing socioenvironmental conditions. Due to these disparities, PE and SES analyses have radically divergent sociopolitical implications for what ought to be done to redress the current RDH situation.
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| 9. |
- Geschewski, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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A political ecology of aviation and development : an analysis of relations of power and justice in the (de)construction of Nepal's Second International Airport
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - : University of Arizona. - 1073-0451. ; 29:1, s. 51-75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we investigate socio-ecological conflicts surrounding the proposed Second International Airport project near Nijgadh, a town in the southern Terai region of Nepal. Praised by the Nepali government as a gamechanger for Nepal's economy, it has come under scrutiny by environmental activists after plans emerged for extensive clearing of the densely forested project site. While public and political debates have focused on the environmental impacts of the project, the area is also home to nearly 8,000 people, most of whom have no formal land rights and belong to Janajati groups, who face displacement. The apparent lack of attention to the project's consequences for local communities raises questions about the safeguarding of their interests. Drawing on justice theories and political ecology, we conducted a case study to investigate the residents' struggle for justice, recognition, and visibility amidst a strong dichotomy of mainstream developmentalist and conservationist discourses. During two months of fieldwork in Nepal, we gathered empirical evidence, including observations, interviews, and project documentation. Our findings suggest that the misrecognition of local communities, particularly in Tangiya Basti, began long before the airport project, and is intertwined with distributive and procedural injustices, reinforced by power asymmetries of various kinds. Overall, we argue that while the airport project is often framed as an environmental conflict, it is also a conflict over claims to social justice and livelihood security.
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| 10. |
- Hinton, Jennifer B., 1982-
(författare)
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Fit for Purpose? Clarifying the critical role of profit for sustainability
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Political Ecology. - : University of Arizona. - 1073-0451. ; 27:1, s. 236-262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This conceptual article contributes to the post-growth strand of political ecology literature, which seeks to find sustainable ways of organizing the economy that do not require economic growth. It explores the idea that transitioning to post-growth societies requires a transition in the relationship-to-profit of business. I first conceptualize relationship-to-profit as the intersection of purpose, investment, and ownership of firms. Specifically, for-profit business structures entail a financial gain purpose, private ownership, and unlimited returns on investment; whereas not-for-profit business structures have a social benefit purpose, collective ownership, and limited returns on investment. I then outline ideal types of for-profit and not-for-profit economies, based on the differences between these two kinds of relationship-to-profit. The first ideal type shows how the for-profit business structure drives consumerism, economic growth, and ecological harm, as well as inequality and political capture, preventing post-growth transitions. These dynamics might be slowed down by businesses that seek to balance private financial gain with social benefit (known as dual-purpose businesses). The second ideal type describes the dynamics that might be expected in an economy consisting of not-for-profit businesses, which have a legal mandate to pursue only social benefit. This analysis explains how transitioning from for-profit to not-for-profit forms of business might change some of the most problematic dynamics of the economy, allowing for post-growth transformations. A brief discussion of the possible shortcomings of a not-for-profit economy is also offered.
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