Els objectes naturals i la identitat nacional. Les muntanyes a Catalunya i al Quebec

Existeix un estret lligam entre les reivindicacions nacionalistes i la reverència per les muntanyes per part d'aquelles nacions sense estat que no han pogut consolidar les seves fronteres o institucions nacionals d'una altra manera. Les muntanyes han servit de refugi espiritual i de metàfora simbòlica per representar la identitat i els significats col·lectius d'aquestes nacions sense estat i, a la vegada, les primeres demandes per la conservació d'espais feren molt sovint recurs als discursos nacionalistes. Aquest és el cas de Montserrat, símbol de la identitat catalana i on es va redactar el primer pla per la creació d'un parc nacional a l'Estat espanyol, malgrat que aquest projecte finalment no va reeixir. Al Quebec, és possible observar-hi un fenomen similar amb les Laurentides. Utilitzem una aproximació comparativa entre els dos contextos i el marc interpretatiu de Bruno Latour per entendre aquest procés d'hibridació tan peculiar que es produeix entre natura i nació.Existe un estrecho vínculo entre las reivindicaciones nacionalistas y la reverencia por las montañas por parte de aquellas naciones sin estado que no han podido consolidar sus fronteras o instituciones nacionales de otra manera. Las montañas han servido de refugio espiritual y de metáfora simbólica para representar la identidad y los significados colectivos de estas naciones sin estado y, a la vez, las primeras demandas para la conservación de espacios muy a menudo hicieron uso de los discursos nacionalistas. Éste es el caso de Montserrat, símbolo de la identidad catalana y lugar donde se redactó el primer plan para la creación de un parque nacional a nivel de Estado español, a pesar de que éste no llegó a tener éxito. En Québec, es posible observar un fenómeno similar con Les Laurentides. Utilizamos un enfoque comparativo entre ambos contextos y el marco interpretativo de Bruno Latour para entender este proceso de hibridización tan peculiar que se produce entre naturaleza y nación.There is a close relationship between nationalist claims and the expression of social reverence for mountains by those nations without state which have not been able to consolidate formally their borders or national institutions. Mountains have served as spiritual refuge and as a symbolic metaphor to represent the identity and the collective meanings of those nations without state, while at the same time, claims for conservation, have very often made use of nationalist discourses. This is the case of Montserrat, a mountain range which symbolises the Catalan nation and in which the first plan for the creation of a national park at a state level was written, although it did not succeed. In Quebec a similar phenomena can be observed with the Les Laurentides. We use a comparative approach and the interpretative framework of Bruno Latour to understand this peculiar process of hybridisation between nature and nation

Allelotoxicity of Oudneya africana R. Br. aqueous leachate on germination efficiency of Bromus tectorum L. and Triticum aestivum L.

This present study was conducted to investigate the possible allelopathic effect of Oudneya africana (donor species) on Bromus tectorum (weed species) and Triticum aestivum (cv. Sahel1; crop species) through germination bioassay experiment. B. tectorum is a winter annual grass that grows in winter wheat and other crops and in both disturbed and undisturbed grasslands. The effect of O. africana aqueous leachate (OAAL) on germination and seedling growth of B. tectorum and T. aestivum was investigated. Higher concentrations of the aqueous leachate significantly reduced the germination rate of B. tectorum. Similarly, coleoptile (CL) and radicle (RL) lengths of B. tectorum seeds was significantly inhibited. To go through with this, seedling growth of the weed species was also affected. On the other hand, the germination parameters of wheat seeds were slightly affected with applying different OAAL concentration levels compared to B. tectorum. In conclusion, allelochemicals extracted from the donor species caused a significant reduction in germination and growth parameters of B. tectorum > T. aestivum.Keywords: Aqueous leachate, Oudneya africana, Bromus tectorum, germination rateAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(10), pp. 1194-1197, 5 March, 201

The sacred and the profane: biotechnology, rationality, and public debate

Davies G, 2006. The definitive, peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning A, 38(3), pp. 423 – 443 DOI: 10.1068/a37387This paper explores the forms of argumentation employed by participants in a recent public engagement process in the United Kingdom around new technologies for organ transplantation, with specific reference to xenotransplantation and stem-cell research. Two forms of reasoning recur throughout participants’ deliberations which challenge specialist framing of this issue. First, an often scatological humour and sense of the profane are evident in the ways in which participants discuss the bodily transformations that such technologies demand. Second, a sense of the sacred, in which new biotechnologies are viewed as against nature or in which commercial companies are ‘playing god’, is a repetitive and well-recognised concern. Such forms of reasoning are frequently dismissed by policymakers as ‘uninformed gut reactions’. Yet they also form a significant part of the repertoire of scientists themselves as they proclaim the hope of new medical breakthroughs, or seek to reconstruct ideas of the body to facilitate new biotechnological transformations. Through questioning of assumptions in Habermas’s notion of discourse ethics, and exploring the importance of hybridity and corporeality as concepts in ethical thinking, the author suggests that, far from being ill-formed opinions, such reasonings perform an important function for thinking through the ontological significance of the corporealisation of these proposed new forms of human and animal bodies

Spatializing the Ecological Leviathan: Territorial Strategies and the Production of Regional Natures

This paper explores a dual absence – the absence of the state within contemporary geographical analyses of nature; and the absence of nature within contemporary explorations of state power. We argue that the modern state continues to play a crucial role in framing social interactions with nature, while nature is still vital to states within their realization of different forms of material and ideological power. In order to reconnect analyses of the state and nature, this paper combines work on the production of nature and state strategy with Lefebvre’s recently translated writings on state space and territory. By focusing on the production of territory (or state space), we explore the interaction of the state and nature in the context of the political management of social and ecological space. We unravel the spatial entanglements of the state and nature through an analysis of the British state’s territorial strategies within the West Midlands region. By considering three key historical periods within the history of the West Mid-lands we reveal how the emergence of the regional space called the West Midlands is a product of the ongoing spatial dialectics of state and nature therein