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

The geopolitical dimension of maritime security

This article discusses the geopolitical dimension of maritime security, which has been neglected by scholars despite the growing number of studies devoted to a variety of aspects related to maritime security. The first step consists in clarifying the definitions of the two concepts; ‘geopolitics’ and ‘maritime security’. Then the article introduces the geopolitical dimension of maritime security from a conceptual perspective, and then analyses three practical examples of maritime security geo-strategies released in 2014. The results demonstrate that states’ and international institutions’ maritime security objectives and interests are indirectly and directly influenced by geographical and geopolitical considerations, although this link is only tacitly acknowledged in official documents. Scholars and practitioners interested in maritime security are encouraged to further engage with this dimension

Structural Characterization and Thermoelectric Performance of ZrNiSn Half-Heusler Compound Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying

Thermoelectric (TE) ZrNiSn samples with a half-Heusler atomic structure were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and consolidation by either Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) or hot pressing (HP). X-Ray diffraction patterns of as milled powders and consolidated samples were compared and analyzed for phase purity. Thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient are measured as a function of temperature in the range 300 K to 800 K and compared with measurements reported for high temperature solid state reaction synthesis of this compound. HP samples, compared to SPS samples, demonstrate increased grain growth due to longer heating times. Reduced grain size achieved by MA and SPS causes increased phonon scattering due to the increased number of grain boundaries, which lowers the thermal conductivity without doping the base system with addition phonon scattering centers. Mechanical characterization of the samples by microindentation and depth sensing indentation for hardness and elastic modulus will be discussed

Checking In, Concussions Out: Body checking as a way of reducing concussion rates

Women’s college ice hockey, according to a study released by the NCAA in 2014, has the highest rate of self-reported concussions of any collegiate sport, men’s or women’s. This is shocking, considering the fact that body checking is illegal in women\u27s ice hockey. Why are these rates so high when there isn\u27t body checking? This investigative research project aims to realize a novel approach at reducing concussion rates in women’s ice hockey by doing the unexpected: Allowing body checking. If body checking were allowed, this would reduce the rate of concussions if it were to be implemented and taught under proper standards and techniques. With the increasing concern for concussions in high school hockey, and the current rules and precautions in place, there is focus on girls’ high school ice hockey in Maine. Maine is the optimal place to introduce body checking into girls’ ice hockey. Researching this topic goes into uncharted depths in the body checking debate, as there is very little information that supports my these ideas, and lots of information that immediately refutes them. The research being pursued will hopefully support the notion to allow body checking in girls’ high school ice hockey, as opposed to continually disallowing it. Research participants are athletic trainers, coaches, athletic directors, and referees around the state of Maine who have worked with high school ice hockey players. This research project serves as a foundation for future research and implementation of body checking in women\u27s ice hockey, and contains several analyses pertaining to my research within the topic

Defending the Status Quo:: Agricultural Interest Groups and the Challenges of Overproduction

Das Comité des organizations professionnelles agricoles (COPA) ist die älteste und größte Agrarlobby der heutigen Europäischen Union. Basierend auf Forschungen im Archiv von COPA und gestützt auf historisch-institutionalistische Theorien, untersucht dieser Artikel, ob und wie einige der meist kritisierten Ergebnisse der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (GAP) wie die Förderung von Überproduktion auf den Einfluss nicht-staatlicher Akteure wie COPA zurückgingen. Der Aufsatz beginnt mit einer Darstellung der institutionellen Strukturen und Arbeitsweisen der COPA und beleuchtet das enge Verhältnis zwischen COPA und der europäischen Kommission. Anschließend untersucht der Artikel COPAs Bemühen, Reformvorschläge der Kommission im Milchsektor abzuwehren bzw. zu beeinflussen. Der Aufsatz zeigt, dass nicht-staatliche Akteure wie COPA eine der treibenden Kräfte hinter dem agrarpolitischen Status quo in den 1970er Jahren waren

Evaluating Methods for Measuring and Managing the Cumulative Visual Effects of Oil and Gas Development on Bureau of Land Management National Conservation Lands in the Southwestern United States

The public lands of the United States administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are used for multiple purposes, like conservation, recreation, grazing, mining, logging, and oil and gas development. Many of these activities have the potential to disturb the surface of the landscape, which can negatively impact scenic values. While the BLM has a system for managing visual resources and mitigating the potential impacts of development on visual quality, it does not adequately consider cumulative visual effects, which are the combined impacts of the same type of activity on the environment over space and time. This paper studies the challenges and opportunities faced by managers of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwestern Colorado, a landscape particularly affected by oil and gas development, at measuring and managing cumulative visual effects. This paper also reviews the results of a series of interviews conducted with experts in the field of cumulative visual effects and of a visual preference survey that highlight the strengths and limitations of existing methods for assessing cumulative visual effects. This research paper concludes with a list of recommendations for the BLM to incorporate cumulative visual effects into its existing visual resource management system and details directions for future research on this subject

The rural-urban dialectic in pre-monarchic Israel : Israel vis-a-vis the Canaanites and the Philistines, ca. 1200 to 1020 B.C.E

Bibliography: pages 123-136.Using a historical materialist model of the rural-urban dialectic, this study is an analysis of the rural-urban articulation in Palestine c. 1200-1020 B.C.E., with particular reference to the aetiology of the conflict between the Israelite tribes and the Canaanites and Philistines. The model of the rural-urban dialectic which is developed in this thesis, posits that the relations between rural societies and urban societies in the ancient Near East were essentially antagonistic. Urban centers were sites of consumption rather than production. They were parasitic upon their rural hinterlands, extracting the produce of the village peasantry by means of enforced tributary relations. This extortion of the surplus product generated the conflict between the inhabitants of the rural areas and the city-dwellers. The resistance to such oppression by the peasantry engendered the class struggle in the ancient Near East, which took the form of conflict between the tribute exacting class, located in the cities, and the agrarian peasant class, located in the villages. The major thesis of this study is that the relations between the Israelite tribes and the Canaanites and Philistines can best be explained in terms of the rural-urban dialectic, which means that the conflict between the Israelite tribes and their urban neighbours was a manifestation of the antagonistic relations between rural and urban societies in the ancient Near East. The Canaanite and the Philistine societies were urban societies which existed as such by virtue of their ability to maintain tribute-extracting relations with the peasantry of their rural hinterlands. The Israelites, a tribal peasant society, were subject to this form of oppression to the extent to which they came under the orbit of Canaanite or Philistine power. The aetiology of the sustained conflict which pre-monarchic Israel experienced with the Canaanites and the Philistines lay in the relations of production imposed on them - relations which belong to the economic base of society - rather than in the realm of the superstructure, which includes the religious, political and ethnic aspects of a society. This conflict was expressed in religious, political and even ethnic terms, but had its source in the economic relations that existed between rural and urban societies in the ancient Near East

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