128 research outputs found
Exposure of tourism development to salt karst hazards along the Jordanian Dead Sea shore
The Dead Sea shore is a unique, young and dynamic salt karst
system. Development of the area began in the 1960s, when the main water
resources that used to feed the Dead Sea were diverted towards deserts,
cities and industries. During the last decade, the water level has fallen by
more than 1 m per year, causing a hydrostatic disequilibrium between
the underground fresh waters and the base level. Thousands of underground
cavities have developed as well as hectometre-sized landslides. Despite these
unfavourable environmental conditions, large tourism development projects
have flourished along the northern coast of the Jordanian Dead Sea. In this
work, which is based on a multi-method approach (analyses of radar and
optical satellite data, in situ observations, and public science), we show
that a 10 km long strip of coast that encompass several resorts is
exposed to subsidence, sinkholes, landslides and flash floods. Geological
discontinuities are the weakest points where the system can re-balance and
where most of the energy is dissipated through erosional processes.
Groundwater is moving rapidly along fractures to reach the dropping base
level. The salt that fills the sediments matrix is dissolved along the water
flow paths favouring the development of enlarged conduits, cavities and
then the proliferation of sinkholes. The front beaches of the hotels, the
roads and the bridges are the most affected infrastructure. We point out
the importance for the land planners to include in the Dead Sea development
schemes the historical records and present knowledge of geological hazards
in the area.</p
The Democratic Biopolitics of PrEP
PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a relatively new drug-based HIV prevention technique and an important means to lower the HIV risk of gay men who are especially vulnerable to HIV. From the perspective of biopolitics, PrEP inscribes itself in a larger trend of medicalization and the rise of pharmapower. This article reconstructs and evaluates contemporary literature on biopolitical theory as it applies to PrEP, by bringing it in a dialogue with a mapping of the political debate on PrEP. As PrEP changes sexual norms and subjectification, for example condom use and its meaning for gay subjectivity, it is highly contested. The article shows that the debate on PrEP can be best described with the concepts âsexual-somatic ethicsâ and âdemocratic biopoliticsâ, which I develop based on the biopolitical approach of Nikolas Rose and Paul Rabinow. In contrast, interpretations of PrEP which are following governmentality studies or Italian Theory amount to either farfetched or trivial positions on PrEP, when seen in light of the political debate. Furthermore, the article is a contribution to the scholarship on gay subjectivity, highlighting how homophobia and homonormativity haunts gay sex even in liberal environments, and how PrEP can serve as an entry point for the destigmatization of gay sexuality and transformation of gay subjectivity. âBiopolitical democratizationâ entails making explicit how medical technology and health care relates to sexual subjectification and ethics, to strengthen the voice of (potential) PrEP users in health politics, and to renegotiate the profit and power of Big Pharma
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