From paper to plastic: electronic benefits transfer as technology of neoliberalization

This analysis refocuses attention to the relationship between neoliberal government practice and co-conditioning rhetorical consequence through examination of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). Operating by a plastic card similar to consumer debit cards, EBT opens new possibilities of consumption for those receiving Food Stamps. Rather than simply signaling a disciplining governmentality, electronic food assistance functions as a technology of neoliberalization, proffering the potentiality of social equity while (re)instantiating class boundaries. I appropriate the finance term securitization to specify the disposal of liberalist logics that transform the poor from economic risk to state asset while also leaving the conditions of poverty and food insecurity unchallenged

The Impact of Source Credibility on Scientific Skepticism of Climate Change and Genetically Modified Foods: Findings from the General Social Survey

The current study explores the role of source credibility in continued public concern over climate change and GM foods, suggesting that this skepticism is more likely driven by perceptions of scientists as knowledgeable, trustworthy, and unbiased- the three primary constructs of source credibility (McCrosky & Teven, 1999; Teven 2008). We analyze data from the 2006 GSS survey to empirically measure the components of source credibility, comparing their influence and relationship to political ideology in perceptions of CC impacts and willingness to consume GM foods

The Radical Potential of Public Hearings: A Rhetorical Assessment of Resistance and Indecorous Voice in Public Participation Processes

Little scholarship in environmental communication has considered the intersections between public participation and social movement. We fill this gap by discussing how public participation process can become sites of radical politics when publics employ disruptive or improper tactics, known as indecorous voice. Indecorum can be used to sustain protest matters beyond official forums, engage multiple audiences, and forge new identities among publics. We demonstrate the utility of indecorum through two case studies: Love Canal, NY where residents combat exposure to toxic chemicals, and Salt Lake City, UT, where publics challenge industrial expansion in a fight for clean air

Diving into Food Justice: Food Waste in the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene calls for greater attention to the various and complicated ways by which humans interact with the environment and compels critical dialogue to identify and implement alternative solutions. With few exceptions, organisms (including human and more-than-human) require food as a biological need for survival. The global agrifood system has broad environmental consequences. For example, “getting food from the farm to our fork eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of all freshwater consumed in the United States” (Gunders, 2012). Food ranks among the top five energy-consuming industries, including all sectors from farm to table, that together account for 60% of total energy consumption worldwide (US Department of State, 2010). Food uniquely illustrates humans’ impact on natural systems and the environment

Success stories and emerging themes in conservation physiology

The potential benefits of physiology for conservation are well established and include greater specificity of management techniques, determination of cause–effect relationships, increased sensitivity of health and disturbance monitoring and greater capacity for predicting future change. While descriptions of the specific avenues in which conservation and physiology can be integrated are readily available and important to the continuing expansion of the discipline of ‘conservation physiology’, to date there has been no assessment of how the field has specifically contributed to conservation success. However, the goal of conservation physiology is to foster conservation solutions and it is therefore important to assess whether physiological approaches contribute to downstream conservation outcomes and management decisions. Here, we present eight areas of conservation concern, ranging from chemical contamination to invasive species to ecotourism, where physiological approaches have led to beneficial changes in human behaviour, management or policy. We also discuss the shared characteristics of these successes, identifying emerging themes in the discipline. Specifically, we conclude that conservation physiology: (i) goes beyond documenting change to provide solutions; (ii) offers a diversity of physiological metrics beyond glucocorticoids (stress hormones); (iii) includes approaches that are transferable among species, locations and times; (iv) simultaneously allows for human use and benefits to wildlife; and (v) is characterized by successes that can be difficult to find in the primary literature. Overall, we submit that the field of conservation physiology has a strong foundation of achievements characterized by a diversity of conservation issues, taxa, physiological traits, ecosystem types and spatial scales. We hope that these concrete successes will encourage the continued evolution and use of physiological tools within conservation-based research and management plans."This work was supported by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology; the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada; Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada; and the Canadian Society of Zoologists. C.L.M. was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada PGS-D (427552). S.J.C. and O.P.L. are supported by the Canada Research Chairs program. E.J.C. was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BCS-1134687). K.R.H. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation’s MacroSystems Biology program (award no. 1340856) and the US Department of Agriculture (NRI 2015-67013-23138). J.R.R. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (EF-1241889), National Institutes of Health (R01GM109499, R01TW010286), US Department of Agriculture (NRI 2006-01370, 2009-35102-0543) and US Environmental Protection Agency (CAREER 83518801)."https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/4/1/cov057/295129