Extractive Industries and the Social Dimension of Sustainable Development: Reflection on the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline

With the elaboration and diffusion of the concept of sustainable development, various projects have been defined as ‘sustainable’, even though they do not necessarily differ from what they would have been otherwise. Even extractive industries' activities, traditionally considered as both environmentally and socially harmful, have endorsed the sustainable development idea. We discuss the reasons why the Chad–Cameroon pipeline project, which aimed at being a ‘model’ project, did not meet the expectations in terms of sustainable development, putting the emphasis on its social dimension. Focusing on the World Bank, which played a key role in the implementation of the project, we critically examine the adoption of preventive measures, the identification of vulnerable populations and the level of participation of local populations. We argue that economic objectives still prevail over other considerations, and we question the very nature of the project as a (sustainable) development project. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environmen

Ocean Governance and Maritime Security in a Placeful Environment: The Case of the European Union

Adopting a critical geopolitics approach that accounts for the mutually reinforcing link between geo-informed narratives and power projection practices, this article proposes that ocean governance and maritime security have translated into states’ and regional organisations’ increasing control over maritime spaces. This leads to a certain territorialisation of the sea, not so much from a sovereignty and jurisdictional perspective but from a functional and normative perspective. The article starts by discussing the ways oceans have been represented and shows that they are far from a placeless void, both in practice and in discourse. The article then frames the analysis of ocean governance and maritime security within critical geopolitics, and elaborates on the case of the European Union’s narrative and practice. It concludes on the mutually reinforcing link between discourse and practice in the field of ocean governance and maritime security in general, and on the consequences in terms of power projection for the EU in particular. Scholars working on ocean governance and maritime security are encouraged to challenge the traditional view that oceans are placeless

Tradition and Modernity: An Obsolete Dichotomy? Reflection on Binary Thinking and Indigenous Peoples

The debates over Indigenous peoples and development are often framed within the discussion on the shift towards modernity, the imposition of economic liberalism, and the resistance against external interventions, with a tendency to see Indigenous peoples as a possible alternative to the world economic order. However, looking at many development agencies’ discourses, the idea that Indigenous peoples would actually benefit from modernity prevails. The literature is divided along these two conflicting views and dominated by binary oppositions: traditional/modern; backward/advanced; sustainable/unsustainable, etc. This article discusses the tradition/modernity dichotomy and raises the following questions: is it relevant to think in terms of modernity/tradition in the case of Indigenous peoples? What does the use of such a dichotomy imply? What is the alternative? This article demonstrates that this binary opposition is neither relevant nor desirable, and that a new analytical framework is required. Instead, it proposes to use a Normalisation framework, which focuses on the attempts made to ‘normalise’ Indigenous peoples and encourage them to comply with existing social and economic models

Ocean governance and maritime security in a placeful environment:the case of the European Union

Adopting a critical geopolitics approach that accounts for the mutually reinforcing link between geo-informed narratives and power projection practices, this article proposes that ocean governance and maritime security have translated into states’ and regional organisations’ increasing control over maritime spaces. This leads to a certain territorialisation of the sea, not so much from a sovereignty and jurisdictional perspective but from a functional and normative perspective. The article starts by discussing the ways oceans have been represented and shows that they are far from a placeless void, both in practice and in discourse. The article then frames the analysis of ocean governance and maritime security within critical geopolitics, and elaborates on the case of the European Union’s narrative and practice. It concludes on the mutually reinforcing link between discourse and practice in the field of ocean governance and maritime security in general, and on the consequences in terms of power projection for the EU in particular. Scholars working on ocean governance and maritime security are encouraged to challenge the traditional view that oceans are placeless

Framing the Blue Economy: Placelessness, Development and Sustainability

This article aims at unravelling the wide acceptance and endorsement of the blue economy. It places the blue economy at the confluence of three discourses: placelessness of the sea; development; sustainability. These discourses, originating on land, spread to the marine realm spatially, narratively and normatively. To account for this process, the concept of horizontal reciprocity is introduced to characterise the relation that operates between land and sea and the projection of norms. It is part of a larger process of normalisation of the sea via its inclusion into the dominant model of economic development. Highlighting how the blue economy builds on and echoes these discourses enables an understanding of the challenges resulting from its narrative and practice. The blue economy requires and justifies governance of the maritime space; it opens up new economic and political possibilities and results in further knowledge creation and interventions (resulting in territorialisation of the sea). The discussion calls for further research to critically assess the connections between macro-discourses and local realities and address today’s challenges facing oceans

(In)justice and the blue economy

While the ocean space has long been ignored by social sciences, the past 15 years have witnessed an increased interest in the marine environment by scholars in Human Geography. The academic literature on the blue economy, almost non-existent a few years ago, is now burgeoning. The academic debate has offered some critical assessment of blue economy initiatives, but more needs to be done to address the true place of environmental protection within a blue economy, and to put people at the centre of concerns and analyses. Of particular concern, is the ambiguity of the blue economy concept and the confusion over its social and environmental sustainability, which can ultimately result in harmful practices. An important question is then how should social scientists in general and geographers, specifically, engage with these debates, and in particular how should the potential human and social costs of the blue economy be investigated and addressed while assuring justice and fairness? The papers presented here share the vision that environmental sustainability, justice and equality should be at the heart of the blue economy; not just conceptually, but practically too. The papers pursue efforts to identify blue economy risks and the mechanisms through which they occur; assess the place of inclusion and participation in a sustainable blue economy; define what blue economy policies should include to drive just and sustainable practices; and identify where the dominant understandings of the blue economy and its priorities are coming from. In other words, they put considerations of justice and broader cultural structures at the centre of their concerns and analysis. They also highlight the need to bypass geographical boundaries and gain insights from other disciplines and methodologies to grasp such an encompassing concept, and foster not just a blue economy with social justice, but a blue economy for social justice

World War ‘V’: Emissions change if Birmingham became vegetarian and contemporary attitudes towards vegetarianism.

This study uses quantitative analysis to assess the current dietary habits of 27 vegetarian and 144 non-vegetarian Birmingham residents. Results suggest that environmental reasons are a more popular motivating factor for becoming vegetarian than in previous studies. Using published nutrition and emissions data, the impact of all residents of Birmingham eating only vegetarian meals, both at-home and when dining in Birmingham restaurants, was assessed. These data show that the average Birmingham resident can save approximately 906 kg of carbon dioxide a year by only eating vegetarian meals totalling 3,924,920,776 KgCO2e (equal to 0.85% of the UK’s emissions output). However, the results indicate that city-wide vegetarianism is not currently feasible for the Birmingham population as some residents do not deem any factors as sufficient motivation