| 1. |
- Boda, Chad, et al.
(author)
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A collective alternative to the Inward Turn in environmental sustainability research
- 2022
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In: Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2190-6491 .- 2190-6483. ; 12:2, s. 291-297
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It has become quite common in environmental sustainability research to promote the influencing of so-called inner dimensions of individuals as means to address pressing environmental problems such as climate change, what we refer to as the Inward Turn. We argue that the conceptual foundations of the Inward Turn, an extreme form of methodological individualism, limit it significantly as a strategy for addressing climate change and other socially relevant environmental problems. After briefly reviewing major shortcomings with the way the Inward Turn conceptualizes the relationship between individuals and social change, including its neglect of causal structures and propensity to abstract its analysis away from problems that are specific to place and time, we sketch the basic tenets of an alternative methodological approach capable of overcoming these limitations. Our approach, however, does not go to the other extreme and neglect the role of individuals; rather, our recognition of the structural drivers of particular environmental problems points to the necessity of specific collective actions by individuals, for example, in the practice of social movements. This recognition demands a rethinking of the role of individual factors, like emotion and empathy, in addressing environmental sustainability problems, namely as they relate to collective action/social movement emergence, development, and outcomes.
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| 2. |
- Harnesk, David, et al.
(author)
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Reforms and coalition building around the reindeer pastoralism of the Indigenous Sámi people in Sweden, 2012–2022
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In: Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. - 2514-8486.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, Indigenous Sámi reindeer pastoralists must find effective ways to improve ecological conditions conducive to natural pasture-based reindeer pastoralism in a rapidly changing environment. In particular, they must challenge the conventional climate policy agenda of the dominant economic and political actors. This paper seeks to contribute to the emergence of a social movement that can push for reforms towards such improvements. Theoretically, we combine a theory of hegemony and counter-hegemonic politics, and the contentious politics approach to social movement theory, to discuss how meaningful reforms could be achieved by assembling a broad social coalition. Empirically, we examine 10 years of data from a public media outlet that reports on Sámi issues to show what demands are being made, who is making them, and the reforms and changes in social relations that they imply. The analysis identifies current coalitions and demand clusters. We discuss potential opportunities for a new reform agenda and actor constellations, with a focus on rural and Indigenous cultures and livelihoods, in relation to a broader environmental movement.
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| 3. |
- Niemi, MEK, et al.
(author)
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- 2021
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swepub:Mat__t
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| 4. |
- Hermans, Kathleen, et al.
(author)
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Land degradation and migration
- 2023
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In: Nature Sustainability. - 2398-9629. ; 6:12, s. 1503-1505
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 5. |
- Mechiche-Alami, Altaaf, et al.
(author)
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Evaluating the scaling potential of sustainable land management projects in the Sahelian Great Green Wall countries
- 2022
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9318 .- 1748-9326. ; 17:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative aims at combatting land degradation while achieving socio-economic development across the Sahel through a mosaic of sustainable land management (SLM) and restoration practices. As the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the main funding mechanism for land degradation neutrality related projects, we have analyzed its previous SLM projects in four pilot countries in an effort to assess their capacity to foster scaling of interventions and fast track progress towards the GGW objectives. We developed a literature-based scaling evaluation framework and scoring methods to harmonize the GEF agency based project ratings in terms of performance and persistence along seven evaluation domains. We found that projects perform better over time particularly in terms of monitoring, financing and resilience to shocks but are overall only moderately likely to achieve benefits persistent over time, which is necessary to allow for the scaling of interventions. While these efforts should be maintained and further pursued, we also recommend special attention to be placed on a number of interventions that are often less successful or ignored by projects such as enforcing mechanisms for new SLM regulations, empowering vulnerable groups and ensuring sufficient capacity and finances for sustaining achievements even during periods of political or climatic instability.
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| 6. |
- O'byrne, David
(author)
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A contribution to building unified movements for the environment: aligning interests, forming alliances
- 2020
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In: Human Geography. - : SAGE Publications. - 1942-7786 .- 2633-674X. ; 13:2, s. 127-138
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to outline a way in which research can contribute to the advance of environmental social movements. Current struggles under capitalism are fragmented and localized, which means that creating unity out of fragmented struggles is essential for movements to become more successful. The Right to the City (RTC) as a concept, in its most radical formulation, has this ambition at its core. I examine various attempts from the RTC literature to promote unity, paying particular attention to the use of ideas of justice. In general these attempts are too abstract to be of practical use to existing movements. They do provide useful insight to researchers, by showing the necessity of paying attention to the context that particular movements operate in, but means of formulating advice for movement activists remain vague. I argue that to be more useful to movements, research should and can have something to say about the practical issues movements face, such as, how demands are framed and how to engage with other organizations. I argue that this can be done by bringing together analysis at a number of levels. In the case of movements of labor for the environment, Marxist geographic structural analysis can be combined with political and cultural analysis based on Gramsci’s theory of hegemony and analysis of the dynamics of movement emergence and advance using social movement theory. I argue that such a framework can connect a vision for radical change with the more immediate problems of organizing social movements.
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| 7. |
- O'Byrne, David, et al.
(author)
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A reply to Balmford et al.(2017)
- 2018
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In: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207 .- 1873-2917. ; 218, s. 293-294
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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| 8. |
- O’byrne, David
(author)
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An Approach to Justifying Normative Arguments in Sustainability Science, with Insights from the Philosophy of Science and Social Theory
- 2022
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In: Challenges in Sustainability. - : Librello. - 2297-6477. ; 10:2, s. 19-28
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, I put forward an argument that sustainability science can make objectively grounded normative claims about what courses of action society should pursue in order to achieve sustainability. From a survey of the philosophy of science, social theory and sustainability science literature, I put forward an approach to justifying these normative arguments. This approach builds on the insight that social theories are value-laden and that dominant and pervasive social practices find their justification in some social theory. The approach: (i) focuses on the analysis of concrete cases; (ii) paying attention to the social practices that produce environmental problems and the theories that support those practices; (iii) examines alternative theories, and (iv) justifies a normative position by identifying the most comprehensive theoretical understanding of the particular case. Although the approach focuses on the analysis of particular cases it does not rely on value relativism. Furthermore, while the focus is on the role of science in producing normative arguments about society’s trajectory, it maintains space for the inclusion of the values of the public in environmental decision-making. However, while this approach aims to provide a rational basis to normative positions, it does not presume that this will lead to social consensus on these issues.
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| 9. |
- O'byrne, David
(author)
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Restoring human freedoms: from utilitarianism to a capability approach to wetland restoration in Louisiana’s coastal master plan
- 2022
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In: Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2190-6491 .- 2190-6483. ; 12:2, s. 298-310
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coastal restoration is being undertaken globally to address and avoid the losses caused by rising relative sea levels and other forms of coastal ecosystem degradation. Restoration decision-making is increasingly considering its social impacts, but how social factors should be incorporated in decision-making is a matter of debate. Multi-criteria approaches are promoted for their ability to overcome problems associated with monetary valuation of nature. Louisiana’s coastal restoration program has been promoted as a good example of a multi-criteria approach. This article engages in a critical examination of the wetland restoration program contained in Louisiana’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan (CMP). The principles that underlie decision-making, and how these principles are deployed through decision tools and metrics, constitute an implicit utilitarianism. This utilitarianism, in spite of the use of multiple criteria, recreates problems commonly associated with monetary valuation, namely, it creates poor distributional outcomes and fails to account for non-economic values of nature. The study argues that these problems can be overcome with a systematic use of the capability approach. This would involve the development of an evaluative framework that prioritizes the freedoms of the worst-off, and translation of this framework into a series of metrics compatible with planning models and tools. The paper closes by outlining some challenges to achieving a capability approach in Louisiana’s CMP.
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| 10. |
- O'byrne, David, et al.
(author)
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The Social Impacts of Sustainable Land Management in Great Green Wall Countries: An Evaluative Framework Based on the Capability Approach
- 2022
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In: Land. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-445X. ; 11:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is a pan-African program launched in 2007 to combat land degradation and bring about both ecological and socio-economic benefits in the Sahel. With projects in place on only one-fifth of the targeted land and uncertainty about the extent of positive impacts, there is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation of current projects to inform the design of future projects. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of socio-economic impacts, drawing on development theory, to relate investments in sustainable land management (SLM) to outcomes in terms of human well-being. We deploy a conceptual model, which draws on both the capability approach to human development and the sustainable livelihood framework. To contextualize the framework to the Sahel, we undertook a literature review of scientific studies of the facilitative social conditions and socio-economic impacts of SLM interventions in four countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger and Ethiopia. We further refined the framework by examining project evaluation reports of Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-funded SLM projects. Our analysis of GEF projects shows that current monitoring and evaluation pays only limited attention to achieved outcomes in terms of well-being. We briefly discuss the application of the framework to SLM interventions and make recommendations for how it should be operationalized, including recommending more comprehensive measurement of the well-being impacts of these projects.
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