Suchergebnisse

'Justice, Society and Nature: An Exploration of Political Ecology' by Nicholas Low and Brendan Gleeson is reviewed.

One context for the papers arising from INTECOL VII in this special issue is the debate over the social construction of science. Some fear that advocates for the social or cultural construction of ecology will undermine attempts to defend nature. But resources are made available in a mediating position of social 'construal', particularly alerting ecologists to the social and ethical dimensions of the conducting of their work. When speaking, ecologists will use living and dead metaphors and these carry connotations which in turn raise ethical questions. Different political interest groups may use a word like biodiversity for different ethical purposes. The position of any one speaker is limited, and so greater knowledge is achieved if scientists listen to the situated knowledges of other, diverse people. Even Nature herself, or creatures, may have aspects of personhood. The good ecologist will listen with empathy as a naturalist to what is being said, giving Nature the respect she deserves. These are some of the ethical implications in the very doing of ecology.

13. Fishing, Settlement, and Conservation in the Russian Far East, 1860-1940 / Mark Sokolsky14. The Tragedy of Captain Ligov: The Imperial and Soviet Literature of Whaling, 1860-1960 / Ryan Tucker Jones; Part V. Bodies and Disease, Health and Environment; 15. Strengthening the Tsarist Empire's Immune System: Environmental Cures along Crimea's Coast of Health / George Lywood; 16. Reshaping the Land, Chasing the Mosquito: Soviet Power and Malaria in Tajikistan, 1924-1938 / Lisa K. Walker; 17. Conclusions: Nature, Empire, Intelligentsia / Douglas Weiner and John Brooke; Glossary; Notes

In this essay, I elaborate the possibilities for a unified theory of historical capitalism - one thatviews the accumulation of capital and the production of nature (humans included!) asdialectically constituted. In this view, the modern world-system is a capitalist world-ecology, aworld-historical matrix of human- and extra-human nature premised on endless commodification.The essay is organized in three movements. I begin by arguing for a reading of modernity's"interdependent master processes" (Tilly) as irreducibly socio-ecological. Capitalism does notdevelop upon global nature so much as it emerges through the messy and contingent relations ofhumans with the rest of nature. Second, the paper engages Giovanni Arrighi's handling of time,space, and accumulation in The Long Twentieth Century. I highlight Arrighi 's arguments for a"structurally variant" capitalism, and the theory of organizational revolutions, as fruitful ways toconstruct a theory of capitalism as world-ecology. I conclude with a theory of accumulation andits crises as world-ecological process, building out from Marx's "general law" ofunderproduction. Historically, capitalism has been shaped by a dialectic of underproduction (toofew inputs) and overproduction (too many commodities). Today, capitalism is poised for a re-emergence of underproduction crises, characterized by the insufficient flow of cheap food, fuel,labor, and energy to the productive circuit of capital. Far from the straightforward expression of"overshoot" and "peak everything," the likely resurgence of underproduction crises is anexpression of capitalism's longue duree tendency to undermine its conditions of reproduction.The world-ecological limit of capital, in other words, is capital itself

In the midst of the current ecological crisis, there is often lofty talk of the need for humanity to 'overcome its divisions' and work together to tackle the big challenges of our time. But as this new book by Razmig Keucheyan shows, the real picture is very different. Just take the case of the siting of toxic waste landfills in the United States: if you want to know where waste is most likely to be dumped, ask yourself where Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and other racial minorities live and where the poorest neighbourhoods are. This kind of 'environmental racism' is by no means restricted to the United States: it is very much a global phenomenon.Keucheyan show how the capitalist response to the crisis has been marked by a massive expansion in 'environmental finance'. From 'carbon markets' to 'pollution permits', 'climate derivatives' and 'catastrophe bonds', we are seeing a proliferation of nature-related financial products. Instead of tackling the root of the problem, the neoliberal strategy seeks to profit from environmental risks.Moreover, with the rise in natural disasters, resource scarcity, food crises, the destabilization of the poles and oceans and the prospect of tens of millions of 'climate refugees', Western powers are increasingly adopting a military response to ecological problems. The Cold War is over: welcome to the 'green wars'. From New Orleans to the Siachen glacier via the Arctic floes, Keucheyan explores the landmark sites of this new 'climate geostrategy'.Through a sharp critique of the way capitalism responds to environmental disaster, this innovative book provides a fresh perspective on some of the most critical issues confronting our societies today.

chapter ProfilOGUE: TOWARDS A POST-NATURALIST ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY -- part Part I BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND BIOPOWER -- chapter 1 THE DISCOVERY OF THE ENVIRONMENT -- chapter 2 THE EMERGENCE OF BIOPOWER -- chapter 3 FROM PATRICK GEDDES TO LEWIS MUMFORD -- chapter 4 LETCHWORTH IN LIMBURG -- part Part II BETWEEN SCIENCE AND IDEOLOGY -- chapter 5 SCARCITY AND EQUALITY -- chapter 6 CLASSICAL ANARCHISM AND ECO-ANARCHISM -- chapter 7 HOLISM AND TOTALITARIANISM -- chapter 8 SEPARATE WAYS.