scholarly journals Online and Offline Representations of Biocultural Diversity: A Political Ecology Perspective on Nature-Based Tourism and Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Pantanal

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Arts ◽  
Maiara Rabelo ◽  
Daniela de Figueiredo ◽  
Georgina Maffey ◽  
Antonio Ioris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Biocultural Diversity ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
Conceptual Flexibility ◽  
Brazilian Pantanal

The concept of biocultural diversity is confronted with contemporary changes that impact on local communities, such as globalization and digital transformations. Engaging the conceptual flexibility of ‘biocultural diversity’, we studied nature-based tourism at the intersection of indigenous communities and the digital realm. We employed a political ecology perspective to examine online and offline representations of biocultural diversity in the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the biggest wetlands in the world, and home to groups of peoples known as the Pantaneiros. Data from interviews with 48 stakeholders in the tourist sector were structured along three ‘myths’—the Uncivilised, Unrestrained, and Unchanged—for which we have also constructed counter narratives. Each myth denoted the primacy of biodiversity, and ignored broader dimensions of the Pantanal as a bioculturally diverse landscape. The relationships of the Pantaneiros with their environment were found to be intricate and had clear repercussions for tourism, but ironically, reference to the Pantaneiro culture in nature-based tourism was superficial. Moreover, thriving on the myths, this form of tourism perpetuates skewed power structures and social inequalities. Lower-class Pantaneiros likely suffer most from this. We recommend stakeholder engagement with a biocultural design that facilitates the integration of other-than-biodiversity values, and that thereby promotes sustainability of the entire social-ecological system.

scholarly journals Ethnobotanical biocultural diversity by rural communities in the Cuatrociénegas Valley, Coahuila; Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Estrada-Castillón ◽  
José Ángel Villarreal-Quintanilla ◽  
Juan Antonio Encina-Domínguez ◽  
Enrique Jurado-Ybarra ◽  
Luis Gerardo Cuéllar-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Larrea Tridentata ◽  
Biocultural Diversity ◽  
Ethnobotanical Knowledge ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Biosphere Reserves ◽  
Rural Landscapes

Abstract Background Cuatrociénegas, part of the Chihuahuan Desert, is a region of unique biological, geological, geographical, and evolutionary importance. Its current population is mestizo; nevertheless, it has high national historical, cultural, and touristic relevance in Mexico. It has been cataloged as nationally significant for its flora and fauna by Mexican law, as well as being designated a High Protection site by the World Wildlife Fund and UNESCO. Because of its diverse and complex biological and sociocultural characteristics, we considered it important to determine, identify, and analyze various aspects of the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in this region. Methods Between 2016 and 2019, seven field trips were made to document the knowledge and use of flora. Cuatrociénegas is a protected area, collecting botanical material is regulated, so specimens were photographed and collected in neighboring communities, and in public and private gardens. Later permission was obtained to complete the collection of specimens (2019–2020). The plants were identified and entered into the flora database of the state of Coahuila, and deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico. One hundred ten local residents (50 men and 60 women), aged between 27 and 91 years, were interviewed (semi-structured interviews). The cultural importance of ethnobotanical resources (cultural significance index) and its significance with respect to ethnobotanical richness in other Biosphere Reserves in Mexico (Mann-Whitney test), and similarities in the diversity of exotic species (Sørensen index) were studied. Results and discussion The ethnobotanical information registers 158 species and 132 genera in 57 vascular and non-vascular families, documenting a greater knowledge and use of cultivated species (84) with respect to wild species (74). The diversity of plants reported is compared to other ethnobotanical studies carried out in Mexican Biosphere Reserves. These results are highly relevant, in spite of unique exotic species. The people local pay special attention to medicinal and ornamental plants. The species that presented the highest use values are Larrea tridentata, Jatropha dioica, and Machaeranthera pinnatifida, three species characteristic of the desert region. Conclusions The particular diversity of wild flora in Cuatrociénegas Valley, combined with the varied introduced flora, is an important multifunctional resource. Special attention to introduced species is associated with harvesting use restrictions in the protected area as well as the high value of ornamental species that are difficult to maintain in desert areas. The extensive use of ethnobotanical knowledge is an example that biocultural diversity (at the conceptual level) is also strongly associated with socio-ecological systems incorporating mestizo groups and semi-urban rural landscapes, thus ceasing to be an exclusive focus of indigenous communities and regions.

“The Forests Cannot Be Commons”

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-71
Author(s):  
Christopher Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Eminent Domain ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Spanish Colonialism ◽  
Single Industry ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
Forest Use

AbstractThis article examines the sylvan political ecology of late colonial New Spain and the colonial government's attempt to address deforestation through the Council on Forests, the first body in the kingdom's history dedicated to the conservation of natural resources. Drawing primarily from the corpus of documents produced by and remitted to the council, this article gives a trans-regional perspective on colonial forest use and argues that the Spanish crown's usurpation of indigenous communities’ eminent domain over forests was the first step in a process that over centuries progressively severed the cultural ties that bound communities and forests by converting common-pool resources into open-access commons. The catastrophic mortality of the Spanish invasion was the second step, which rendered conservation measures seemingly unnecessary among both woodcutters and officials. But it was during the eighteenth century that older Habsburg notions of protectionism intersected with economic and political changes associated with Bourbon rule to further compel this cultural severance. While previous works have studied the ecological impacts of mining, ranching, and flood control, this article moves beyond the study of a single industry to suggest some of the larger ecological consequences of Spanish colonialism.

scholarly journals Scalar fixes of environmental management in Java, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin C Lukas ◽  
Michael Flitner
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Environmental Conflicts ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Environmental Narratives ◽  
Segara Anakan Lagoon ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Cultural And Political Ecology ◽  
Knowledge Claims ◽  
Scalar Analysis

This paper analyses the emergence and fixing of scales in struggles over environmental issues. Using the example of watershed and coastal management in Java, we show how political framings of environmental matters and struggles over resources are linked to scalar regimes. We conceptualise these regimes as scalar fixes in which scales of intervention and scales of knowledge production are bound by environmental narratives and social–ecological processes to produce lock-in effects for prolonged periods of time. In our empirical case, particular scales were central in providing ‘problem closure’ and legitimising interventions while precluding other problematisations. Sedimentation of the Segara Anakan lagoon, first desired to support conversion into a rice bowl, was later framed as threat caused by upland peasants. The lock-in of interpretive framings and scales of observation and intervention, which was linked to politics of forest control, impeded debate on the various causes of sedimentation. With our newly defined concept of scalar fixes we contribute to understanding environmental narratives and related knowledge, providing a complement to the micro-perspectives on the stabilisation of knowledge claims currently discussed in cultural and political ecology. In doing so, we offer an approach to scalar analysis of environmental conflicts linking environmental narratives with the material social–ecological processes enrolled.

scholarly journals Resilience for Whom? A Case Study of Taiwan Indigenous People’s Struggle in the Pursuit of Social-Ecological Resilience

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsing-Sheng Tai
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Trade Offs

While the notion of social-ecological system resilience is widely accepted and applied, the issue of “resilience for whom” is clearly ignored. This phenomenon has also occurred in Taiwan. This article explores the roots of, and a possible solution to, this issue through a case study in the context of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. The Danungdafu area, the focal social-ecological system, was studied. Qualitative research methods and an action-oriented research approach were employed. For a long period, the central government shaped the political, economic, social, institutional, and ecological contexts; dominated resilience discourses and determined the problem-framing and problem-solving agenda; defined the scale and levels at which social-ecological system governance issues were addressed; and determined the knowledge system used to define and solve problems. After 2011, a new participatory governance regime emerged. Multiple stakeholders, including indigenous communities, began to contribute to resilience discourses and influenced governance and trade-offs among differing governance goals. However, under the established structures dominated by Han people, indigenous views, rights, and well-being continue to be ignored. Affirmative action is required to recognize and safeguard indigenous rights. A practical institutional pathway is available to facilitate the transformation from “resilience for mainstream society” to “resilience for indigenous people” in indigenous territories.

Queer and Trans Youth Organizing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sinclair-Palm
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Sexuality Education ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Youth Organizing ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Trans Youth

Youth organizing is a form of civic engagement and activism. It offers a way for young people to identify and address social inequalities impacting their local and global communities. Youth are provided opportunities to learn about power structures and pathways to create meaningful change to support their communities. In formal institutional approaches, youth organizing is understood as part of positive youth development and a strategy to train young people about civic society and democracy. Youth organizing is also seen as a way for young people to seek support, empowerment, and resources and to develop their leadership capacity. Central to the field of youth organizing are questions on the role of youth within youth organizing. Researchers examine the leadership structure within youth organizations, the acquisition of resources for the organization, the process for identifying issues that the organization will address, and how youth experience their involvement. Youth organizing has been especially important for young marginalized people who may feel isolated and face harassment and discrimination. Researchers have extensively documented how youth organizing by people of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer and questioning (LGBTQ) young people in North America have played a large role in fights for social justice. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that queer and trans youth started organizing in groups connected by their shared experiences and identities related to their sexuality and gender. The development of Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) in schools and debates about sexuality education in schools provide examples for exploring LGTBQ youth organizing in the 21st century.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Role of Escuelas Nuevas and Social Capital in Colombia Through the Lens of Peace-Building and Reconciliation

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29
Author(s):  
Debora Upegui-Hernàndez
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Capital Social ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

AbstractThe World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) endorse social capital to solve poverty and inequality. Colombia proposes urban school reform (Escuelas Nuevas) to increase its social capital. Social capital is accepted by ‘indigenous researchers’ without considering its societal and political context. The psychology of Martín Baró and Freire' de-ideologises such social capital concepts. Interviews with individual teachers, community members, and focus groups of elementary school parents and students were analysed for the consequences of Escuelas Nuevas for social capital, and for peace-building and reconciliation of violent conflict. Social capital did not stand in place of social justice programmes. Using social capital to redirect efforts against social inequalities constitutes ‘structural violence’ perpetuating the colonisation of indigenous communities.

scholarly journals Social-Ecological Peace – A framework to analyze the transition from violence to peace in post-conflict areas, applied to Aceh, Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanuardi Yanuardi ◽  
Bettina Bluemling ◽  
Frank Biermann
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Structural Effects ◽  
Conflict Studies ◽  
New Era ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Cultural Violence ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Time Structures ◽  
Slow Violence ◽  
Ecological Dimension

While the analysis of peace often stops with "negative peace" in conflict studies (Shields 2017), critical structural analyses of a transition towards peace risk to analytically emphasize how wartime structures extend into post-conflict times (see e.g. Lee 2020). In this article, by engaging with the two fields of conflict studies and political ecology, a framework is developed that allows a critical analysis of resilient structures and discourses from times of conflict, as well as of possible leverage points that could support a transition towards what is here conceptualized as "social ecological peace". The framework hence helps to understand in how far dimensions of prior violence have transformed into peace, and if certain dimensions of violence have continued, even though they manifest themselves in a different way. The framework builds on Galtung’s conceptualization of violence and peace, but realigns "cultural violence" with Pierre Bourdieu's "symbolic violence". Additionally, for extending the framework with an ecological dimension and historical dimension, the notion of 'slow violence' by Rob Nixon is introduced. Applying the framework to Aceh, Indonesia, shows how cultural peace allows individuals to narrate and act out of a new identity, and in this way, enables them to put into effect structures of a new era of positivesocial-ecological peace. At the same time, discourses that are inherited from wartime and transform into peace time structures risk to carry violence in them. It becomes important to lay open the structural effects of the very discourses that have supported Aceh’s autonomy, so that they may not further extend structural violence into peace times. This is likely to remain a challenge in a context that is described as still negotiating and struggling to enhance its autonomy (Setyowati 2020a).

Social–ecological dynamics in irrigated agriculture in dry zone Sri Lanka: a political ecology

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 629-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Köpke ◽  
Sisira Saddhamangala Withanachchi ◽  
Ruwan Pathiranage ◽  
Chandana Rohana Withanachchi ◽  
Angelika Ploeger
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Dry Zone

scholarly journals PALEONTOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: MAKING CONNECTIONS THROUGH POLITICAL ECOLOGY

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Neves Silva ◽  
Angélica Cosenza
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Participatory Management ◽  
Environmental Conflicts ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Social ◽  
Current Science

Abstract Far from studying only beings from the past, Paleontology is a current science which can situate human existence in the context of the global environmental crisis before inequalities and socio-environmental conflicts which occur in Brazilian paleontological sites. Aiming to discuss possible connections between Paleontology and Environmental Justice, this essay arises from a survey on environmental conflicts existing in the paleontological sites in Minas Gerais. Stemming from the issues found and the contribution of the Political Ecology theoretical framework, the struggle for territory and decoloniality is discussed as crucial dimensions for a view that seeks to restore the populations’ right to their (paleo) territories. The connections between these fields are presented here as references for the fight against the social inequalities found in paleontological sites, such as those in Minas Gerais, and for the inclusion of their communities in participatory management.

scholarly journals "Anishinaabe time": temporalities and impact assessment in pipeline reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakihitowin Awasis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Kinship Relations ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Temporal Modes ◽  
Indigenous Geographies ◽  
And Function

Indigenous ways of living that embrace multiple temporalities have been largely supplanted by a single, linear colonial temporality. Drawing on theoretical insights from Indigenous geographies and political ecology, this article considers how pipeline reviews come into being through contested temporalities and how dominant modes of time dispossess Indigenous peoples of self-determination in energy decision-making. In particular, Anishinaabe clan governance – a form of kinship that provides both social identity and function based on relations to animal nations – is undermined in colonial decision-making processes. Through analysis of documents from Canada's National Energy Board and interviews with Anishinaabe pipeline opponents, I explore tensions between Anishinaabe and settler temporalities reflected in the 2012-2017 Line 9 pipeline dispute in the Great Lakes region. These include divergent understandings of periodicities, timeframes, kinship relations, and the role of nonhuman temporalities in decision-making. Colonial temporal modes that have been imposed on Indigenous communities foreshorten timescales, depoliticize kinship relations, and discount nonhumans in decision-making – resulting in narrower and more short-sighted project reviews than Anishinaabe temporalities would support. I argue that the rich concepts of kinship, queerness, continuity, and prophecy embedded in Anishinaabe temporalities can inform strategies for decolonizing energy review processes and open possibilities for Indigenous self-determination in energy decision-making.Keywords: Anishinaabe studies, Two-Spirit, Indigenous geographies, temporalities, Indigenous knowledge, energy governance, pipeline, National Energy Board

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