120 research outputs found
Governing Moth and Man
AbstractThis paper analyses, in southern Gotland, an island located on the southeast coast of Sweden, the political process for handling the outbreak of an insect, the moth, causing human allergic reactions. Given the human nuisance and possible long-term damage to the tourist industry, the affected populace demanded spraying to reduce and control the insect population. However, there were warnings against such a treatment because of gaps in knowledge of its wider ecological consequences, not least its effects on biodiversity. Key actors were interviewed to investigate their understanding of the problem and how they tried to make it governable. The point of departure is that regulation not only governs specific objects, but is also deeply involved in their construction. The empirical analysis investigates involved actorsâ conceptualizations of the problem and the proposed remedy. Despite local residentsâ demands for spraying, public agencies took no substantial action to control the insect population, but instead deliberately acted to manage the local populationâs claim-making. Thus, what took place was a process of governing not just moths, but men too.RĂ©sumĂ©Ce texte analyse, dans la partie mĂ©ridionale de lâĂźle de Gotland, situĂ©e sur la cĂŽte sud-est de la SuĂšde, le traitement politique de lâinvasion de la mite, un insecte provoquant des rĂ©actions allergiques chez lâhomme. Compte tenu de cette nuisance et de ses effets possibles Ă terme sur le tourisme, la population affectĂ©e exigea lâaspersion de produits pour rĂ©duire et contrĂŽler cet insecte. Cependant, on se prononça contre ce type de traitement, et ce en raison du manque de connaissances quant Ă ses rĂ©percussions Ă©cologiques, notamment sur la biodiversitĂ©. Des entretiens furent menĂ©s avec des acteurs de premier plan afin de comprendre comment ils apprĂ©hendaient ce problĂšme et comment ils essayaient de le gĂ©rer. Le postulat de cette Ă©tude, câest que la rĂ©gulation ne porte pas seulement sur des objets spĂ©cifiques mais quâelle contribue aussi largement Ă crĂ©er ces objets. Lâapproche empirique sâintĂ©ressera Ă la façon dont les acteurs perçoivent le problĂšme et aux solutions quâils proposent. En dĂ©pit des demandes des rĂ©sidents locaux pour que soient aspergĂ©s des insecticides, les instances publiques nâentreprirent aucune action particuliĂšre pour contrĂŽler la population dâinsectes mais choisirent dĂ©libĂ©rĂ©ment de gĂ©rer les demandes formulĂ©es par la population locale. Le rĂ©sultat en fut quâon ne se contenta pas de gĂ©rer des mites mais quâon gĂ©ra aussi des hommes
Stakeholder Engagement in the Making: IPBES Legitimization Politics
Esguerra A, Beck S, Lidskog R. Stakeholder Engagement in the Making: IPBES Legitimization Politics. Global Environmental Politics. 2017;17(1):59-76
Towards a reflexive turn in the governance of global environmental expertise the cases of the IPCC and the IPBES
The role and design of global expert organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) needs rethinking. Acknowledging that a one-size-fits-all model does not exist, we suggest a reflexive turn that implies treating the governance of expertise as a matter of political contestation
Who speaks for the future of Earth? How critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene
This paper asks how the social sciences can engage with the idea of the Anthropocene in productive ways. In response to this question we outline an interpretative research agenda that allows critical engagement with the Anthropocene as a socially and culturally bounded object with many possible meanings and political trajectories. In order to facilitate the kind of political mobilization required to meet the complex environmental challenges of our times, we argue that the social sciences should refrain from adjusting to standardized research agendas and templates. A more urgent analytical challenge lies in exposing, challenging and extending the ontological assumptions that inform how we make sense of and respond to a rapidly changing environment. By cultivating environmental research that opens up multiple interpretations of the Anthropocene, the social sciences can help to extend the realm of the possible for environmental politics
Conditions for transformative learning for sustainable development: a theoretical review and approach
Continued unsustainability and surpassed planetary boundaries require not only scientific and technological advances, but deep and enduring social and cultural changes. The purpose of this article is to contribute a theoretical approach to understand conditions and constraints for societal change towards sustainable development. In order to break with unsustainable norms, habits, practices, and structures, there is a need for learning for transformation, not only adaption. Based on a critical literature review within the field of learning for sustainable development, our approach is a development of the concept of transformative learning, by integrating three additional dimensionsâInstitutional Structures, Social Practices, and Conflict Perspectives. This approach acknowledges conflicts on macro, meso, and micro levels, as well as structural and cultural constraints. It contends that transformative learning is processual, interactional, long-term, and cumbersome. It takes place within existing institutions and social practices, while also transcending them. The article adopts an interdisciplinary social science perspective that acknowledges the importance of transformative learning in order for communities, organizations, and individuals to be able to deal with global sustainability problems, acknowledging the societal and personal conflicts involved in such transformation
Managing uncertainty: Forest professionalsâ claim and epistemic authority in the face of societal and climate change
Leaving the Minors : The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and the 2011 General Election
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has emerged as a successful environmentally focused party with a solid base. The 2011 General Election represented a high-point for the party, distancing it from the other minor parties. This article explores examples of factors affecting the success of Green parties, and examines the strategy of the New Zealand Green Party prior to the 2011 election. The findings indicate that the party has developed stable support through the development of a consistent policy base and pragmatic approach to its role in parliament. This has allowed the Greens to establish a position following the 2011 election as the third party in New Zealand politics
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