Book Reviews

Committee on Protection and Management of Pacific Northwest Anadromous Salmonids Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest Cook, Ian G; Doel, Marcus A. and Li, Rex (eds.) Fragmented Asia: Regional Integration and National Disintegration in Pacific Asia Crush, Jonathan Power of Development de Blij, H. J., and Muller, Peter O. Physical Geography of the Global Environment Hayward, David J. International Trade and Regional Economies: The Impacts of European Integration on the United States Kennedy, Michael The Global Positioning System and GIS: An Introduction Lowe, Philip; Marsden, Terry and Whatmore, Sarah (eds) Regulating Agriculture Marsden, Terry; Lowe, Philip and Whatmore, Sarah (eds) Labour and Locality: Uneven Development and the Rural Labour Process Marsden, Terry; Lowe, Philip and Whatmore, Sarah (eds) Rural Restructuring: Global Processes and Their Responses Whatmore, Sarah; Marsden, Terry and Lowe, Philip (eds) Gender and Rurality Whatmore, Sarah; Marsden, Terry and Lowe, Philip (eds) Rural Enterprise: Shifting Perspectives on Small-Scale Production Martopo, Sugeng and Mitchell, Bruce (eds) Bali: Balancing Environment, Economy and Culture Ould-Mey, Mohameden Global Restructuring and Peripheral States: The Carrot and the Stick in Mauritania Redclift, Michael and Benton, Ted (eds) Social Theory and the Global Environment Thomas–Slayter, Barbara and Rocheleau, Dianne Gender, Environment, and Development in Kenya: A Grassroots Perspective Wallach, Bret Losing Asia: Modernization and the Culture of Development Wennberg, John E. Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Wilson, David and Huff, James O. (eds) Marginalized Places and Populations: A Structurationist Agenda     

IGGOS as a potential partner in IGOS

This short note reviews our thinking on how IGGOS can best achieve a high status within the set of global monitoring programmes. If such a high status can be obtained, then the importance of geodetic networks and services will be recognized more widely, and their activities will consequently be better resourced in the long term. One particular aspect concerns how IGGOS can complement the roles of the various IGOS partners within global monitoring. The different ways in which IGGOS can contribute to IGOS are outlined.     

Collaborating in the field, working for change: Reflecting on partnerships between academics, development organizations and rural communities in Africa

Academics and development organizations approach fieldwork with somewhat different motivations, constraints and challenges. In many instances, fieldwork might be improved if greater collaboration occurred between these two parties. Rural communities are also important yet frequently taken for granted partners in the research process that deserve greater respect. This paper explores and describes the real and imagined impediments to greater collaboration between academics, development organizations and rural communities. The findings are based on 18 years of working with rural communities in Africa, both as a development practitioner and academic researcher. This reflection makes three contributions to the broader literature on fieldwork. First, it explicitly links two ongoing discussions, one on relationships with institutional partners, the other on interactions with rural communities. Second, it articulates the concerns of development organizations in their partnerships with academic researchers, a perspective rarely heard in a literature dominated by academic voices. Third, while feminist scholarship on fieldwork methods often wrestles with issues of positionality and engagement at the scale of the individual researcher, this reflection is aimed at the broader scale of the professional (academic and practitioner) communities involved in development praxis and scholarship.     

The Natural Hazards Theme of the International Year of Planet Earth

The United Nations has declared 2008 to be the International Year of Planet Earth. It is being organised under the auspices of the International Union of Geological Sciences and UNESCO. Planning for the International Year of Planet Earth has consisted of establishing 10 major science themes including Hazards. The Hazards Theme is centred around the following key questions: (1) How have humans altered the geosphere, the biosphere and the landscape, thereby creating long-term changes detrimental to life and the environment and triggering certain hazards, while increasing societal vulnerability to geophysical (geological and hydrometeorological) hazards? (2) What technologies and methodologies are required to assess the vulnerability of people and places to hazards and how might these be used at a variety of spatial scales? (3) How do geophysical hazards compare relative to each other regarding current capabilities for monitoring, prediction and mitigation and what can be done in the short-term to improve these capabilities (4) What barriers exist to the utilisation of risk and vulnerability information by governments (and other entities) for risk and vulnerability reduction policies and planning (including mitigation) from each of the geophysical hazards? Following the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005, the International Council for Science (ICSU) decided to establish a major research programme and initiative on Natural and Human Induced Environmental Hazards and Disasters that will co-operate with the Hazards theme of the International Year and continue through to 2011.     

“组织-贸易”视角下全球能源治理网络的基本结构及其边界重构

全球能源治理是当前能源话语权塑造的重要形式,其本质是能源利益主体间围绕多元能源议题而构建的关系网络。在以往相关研究中,各能源组织的架构、功能、绩效以及所产生的复杂影响占据了主要内容,而对于全球能源治理的整体结构以及内部关系却未能有进一步探索。本研究认为,能源组织与实际贸易存在交互关系,将二者相结合来进一步呈现和解释全球能源治理架构是有必要的。基于此,本研究以2019年为时间节点,收集主要能源组织的属性数据与各国之间的石油和天然气贸易数据,将国家间在能源治理组织的常态化合作关系与实际发生的能源贸易关系作为分析基础;并利用社会网络分析方法构建全球能源治理网络,探析其基本结构以及出现的“边界重构”现象。研究发现：(1)能源组织网络与能源贸易网络存在显著的结构性差异,在两种网络对比中,美国与俄罗斯均占据主导地位。(2)中国已经成为能源贸易大国,但在全球能源组织合作中不具优势,与传统能源利益集团之间缺乏正式的治理合作。(3)全球能源治理体系呈现出典型的“核心-边缘”结构,主要被划分为欧盟以及亚太-北美“社区”,其中OECD（经济合作与发展组织）国家占据“核心”地位;而以单一能源输出为主导功能的出...     

Global forest conservation initiatives as spaces for participation in Colombia and Costa Rica

This paper investigates the spaces for participation that have been created by readiness preparations launched in connection with the international initiative “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD+) in Colombia and Costa Rica. I analyse the emergence of these spaces and who is leading the process in each country. My findings indicate that in Costa Rica, the public sector is leading preparation activities and creating the public spaces for participation in REDD to which private actors are invited. In Colombia on the other hand, NGOs, development assistance agencies and other private actors are leading the process and the state is the invited actor. I identify four factors that determine the scope of different actors’ possibilities to participate in the REDD+ spaces. These are (a) control of key resources, (b) ideological affinity, (c) the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge, and (d) the creation of norms to validate REDD+ pilot initiatives. The separation between these factors is not clear-cut and consequently they reinforce each other at different levels. The research presented here contributes to a better understanding of the implications that national REDD+ politics may have in the future functioning of the programme.     

Robustness and the Paradox of Bridging Organizations: The Exit Problem in Regional Water Governance Networks in Central America

Bridging organizations facilitate a range of governance processes, including cooperation and social learning, and are theorized to be a key component of robust governance systems. In this article, we use node removal simulations to test structural hypotheses of robustness in a regional water governance network in Central America. We investigate the response of network measures supporting core governance processes to the targeted removal of bridging organizations and other actors, which we compare to random and centrality-based simulations. The results indicate removing bridging organizations has a greater impact on the network than any other type of actor, suggesting bridging organizations are critical to the robustness of the governance system. Furthermore, network structures supporting cooperation may be less robust than structures facilitating social learning. We conclude with policy implications of the research findings as they relate to the exit problem in governance systems with a large presence of international development actors.     

Nonprofit Foundations and Grassroots Organizing: Reshaping Urban Governance

Collaborative urban governance has increased the role of community organizations in local decision-making processes. These organizations need financial resources in order to participate in urban governance. In this article, I examine the impact of foundation grants on the relationships and agendas of four community organizations in one neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota. Drawing on interviews, observations of organizations, and archival research, I demonstrate that in the 1990s, nonprofit foundations had a significant impact on the formation of new organizations and on their agendas in the neighborhood. Foundations are, therefore, an important player in urban governance, shaping a “neighborhood policy regime.”