Applying the Political Geography of Scale: Grassroots Strategies and Environmental Justice

The grassroots environmental movement often protests locally unwanted land uses. Many grassroots groups have, however, expanded their agenda to the scale of environmental justice. Explanations for this scale transformation include historical circumstances, individuals' radicalization through activism, and the growth of environmental justice networks. This case study, grassroots environmentalists' opposition to a proposed electricity transmission line in Monroe County, WV, explores another explanation: appeals for environmental justice are also a strategic response to siting regulatory procedures. With concepts emerging from the political geography of scale, I interpret the Monroe Countians' efforts and show how their strategies link the grassroots scale with that of environmental justice.     

Applying the Political Geography of Scale: Grassroots Strategies and Environmental Justice

The grassroots environmental movement often protests locally unwanted land uses. Many grassroots groups have, however, expanded their agenda to the scale of environmental justice. Explanations for this scale transformation include historical circumstances, individuals' radicalization through activism, and the growth of environmental justice networks. This case study, grassroots environmentalists' opposition to a proposed electricity transmission line in Monroe County, WV, explores another explanation: appeals for environmental justice are also a strategic response to siting regulatory procedures. With concepts emerging from the political geography of scale, I interpret the Monroe Countians' efforts and show how their strategies link the grassroots scale with that of environmental justice.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF FOREST POLICY IN MEXICO AND CHILE

Widespread agreement exists on the broad outlines of the concept of sustainable development for developing countries. This calls for a development model capable of meeting basic needs without depleting natural resources at a rate that robs future generations of their use. In this regard, citizen participation is also considered key to legitimise such policy choices. However, there is considerable disagreement over the substance and meaning of the major components of the concept and the relationship between them. This paper argues that positions in policy disputes over the sustainable development of the forest cluster in two distinct approaches: market‐friendly initiatives and grassroots development. Since market economies prevail almost everywhere, the question that is posed concerns the conditions under which the grassroots development approach is included as a significant complement to market‐friendly initiatives. This is a political question, requiring an examination of actors, interests and power resources. The paper thus applies a political economy framework to a paired comparison of Mexico, where grassroots development approaches (community forestry) had notable successes, and Chile, where market‐friendly forest policy crowded out alternatives.     

WILLIAM WHYTE,OPEN SPACE,AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM

ABSTRACT. In the late 1950s and early 1960s a variety of Americans began to protest the loss of open space to suburban sprawl. The critics of sprawl—William Whyte, most notably—argued that open space had great aesthetic, social, and ecological value. To preserve open space, activists lobbied for the acquisition of public land and touted land-saving forms of development. Although both efforts brought important successes, both proved inadequate. Even so, the open-space debate had enduring consequences: It shaped later efforts to force builders to meet new environmental obligations, and it played a key role in the evolution of the environmental movement.     

'Just sustainability': the emerging discourse of environmental justice in Britain?

Environmental justice is both a vocabulary for political opportunity, mobilization and action, and a policy principle to guide public decision making. It emerged initially in the US, and more recently in the UK, as a new vocabulary underpinning action by community organizations campaigning against environmental injustices. However, as the environmental justice discourse has matured, it has become increasingly evident that it should play a role in the wider agendas for sustainable development and social inclusion. The links between sustainability and environmental justice are becoming clearer and more widely understood in the UK by NGOs and government alike, and it is the potential synergy between these two discourses which is the focus of this paper. This paper argues that the concept of 'just sustainability' provides a discourse for policymakers and activists, which brings together the key dimensions of both environmental justice and sustainable development.     

Making market rationality: material semiotics and the case of congestion pricing in New York City

What were politicians, planners, and activists able to make of market concepts and market devices as they crafted congestion pricing plans in the context of New York City’s regional governance structure, its transportation infrastructure, and its physical geography? The answer challenges typical assumptions about the use of market mechanisms in restructuring urban space. Market mechanisms and market rationality created a platform for political debate about citywide mobility and its costs. From 2003 to 2014, through five formal plans, advocates and detractors opened up a political space for debating the interests of actors, from drivers, to pedestrians, to the local and global environment to citywide mobility. Market rationality was a provisional assemblage into which actors sought to embed values like sustainability and fairness. These values became more important in each new plan as advocates sought to address the political vulnerabilities of the one that had come before. The changes from plan to plan show challenges, liabilities, and possibilities for using market tools to address ecological and justice issues.     

Media Institute on Geographic Concepts

Abstract

A new political geography has emerged that stresses the political conflict behind the production of space. This orientation in the subdiscipline constitutes a turn away from traditional political geography, where the emphasis had previously been on the spatial distribution of political phenomena. The “new” political geographic theory has been applied to the study of environmental issues, turning the attention of scholars to the political struggle behind the construction of nature as well as space. This article reviews how the new political geography of the environment (NPGE) perspective has impacted the study of such environmental phenomena as hazards, siting issues, human-land relationships, resources, development, and international environmental governance. It concludes by suggesting how the NPGE perspective can inform pedagogy in environmental education.     

Modeling and visualizing semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in interpersonal communication on Twitter

Interpersonal communication on online social networks has a significant impact on the society by not only diffusing information, but also forming social ties, norms, and behaviors. Knowing how the conversational discourse semantically and geographically vary over time can help uncover the changing dynamics of interpersonal ties and the digital traces of social events. This article introduces a framework for modeling and visualizing the semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in a spatially embedded and time-stamped interpersonal communication network. The framework consists of (1) a topic modeling workflow for modeling topics and extracting the evolution of conversational discourse; (2) a geo-social network modeling and smoothing approach to projecting connection characteristics and semantics of communication onto geographic space and time; (3) a web-based geovisual analytics environment for exploring semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in a spatially embedded and time-stamped interpersonal communication network. To demonstrate, geo-located and reciprocal user mention and reply tweets over the course of the 2016 primary and presidential elections in the United States from 1 August 2015 to 15 November 2016 were analyzed. The large portion of the topics extracted from mention tweets were related to daily life routines, human activities, and interests such as school, work, sports, dating, wearing, birthday celebration, music, food, and live-tweeting. Specific focus on the analysis of political conversations revealed that the content of conversational discourse was split between civil rights and election-related discussions of the political campaigns and candidates. These political topics exhibited major shifts in terms of content and the popularity in reaction to primaries, debates, and events throughout the study period. While civil rights discussions were more dominant and in higher intensity across the nation and throughout the whole time period, election-specific conversations resulted in temporally varying local hotspots that correlated with locations of primaries and events.     

A GEOGRAPHY OF U.S. INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT, 1990

This paper examines the geography of institutional stock ownership for 603 major publicly traded companies. Linkages between cities are created using the stockownership levels between headquarters cities of investors and headquarters cities of firms. Both cartographic and statistical methods show that the urban connections describe a highly selective network of high-order urban centers. New York City is the dominant city, followed by Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. A simple gravity model, used to test the level of the effect of space on market perfection, explains a substantial portion of the investment-defined network. Differences between the levels of investment by different classes of institutional investors also are revealed.     

From Lightning Rod to Community Asset? The Creation of a Protected Area in Northern California and its Evolving Relationship to a Nearby Community

Researchers have described shifting relationships between communities and Protected Areas (PAs), from excluding communities to consultative relationships to participatory models. This research focuses on a PA created on formerly industrial timberland that was the focus of conflict between environmental activists and the timber industry. In a nearby formerly timber-dependent community, we assessed community use and support of the PA, and its perceived purposes and benefits, through a survey of residents and interviews with key stakeholders. Despite intense conflict surrounding its creation, we found support for the PA, and our case suggests a new possible relationship between PAs and communities, which is mitigating and helping to resolve natural resource conflict. We also found that community well-being benefits of the PA were unclear; we suggest that PA management should include cultural, economic, and historical context in objectives and interpretive materials; and should work to create economic opportunities connected to the PA.     

西方政治生态学的地理学研究进展与启示

随着全球生态环境问题的日益凸显,政治生态学以关注造成环境问题的政治因素为研究内核,成为不同学科共同探索的研究领域。地理学以人地关系为立足点,深化政治生态学研究的空间性和政治性。论文首先通过对西方政治生态学理论脉络进行梳理,发现政治生态学根源于早期环境批判思想、西方马克思主义、后结构主义以及后人类主义理论,并与地理学的发展相辅相成。其次,对近30年西方地理学与政治生态学的相关研究成果进行分析发现,现有的研究议题主要聚焦于生态经济与绿色发展、生态治理与环境保育、生态身份与微观政治及生态客体与能动性4个方面。在此基础上,论文总结了相关研究对中国地理学进行政治生态学研究的借鉴意义,并进一步提出立足中国本土进行政治生态学研究未来需要关注的方向。     

国外乡村地理关系研究范式进展与启示

随着区域一体化政策和信息、交通等设施的推进,乡村地区被纳入更为广泛的要素流通与经济过程中,乡村地区被内、外经济社会多重联系重新定义。论文通过回顾西方发达国家乡村地理关系范式研究进展,重点探讨了乡村地区能否通过加强外向联系来削弱其地理区位边缘性这一核心问题,同时探讨了关系研究范式在中国乡村地理研究中的适用性,并试图构建起适应中国国情的乡村关系地理研究框架。西方乡村地理学者提出了关系的研究范式以适应乡村地区新的发展背景,在关系视角的研究语境中,社会经济活动中的参与主体被当作真正的研究对象,关注参与主体间各类“流”要素及其关系;同时,距离的概念被重新定义,地理空间呈现虚、实交互的特征,关系距离是对基于位空间的乡村研究的补充;此外,关系资本、弱关系和嵌入性等“关系”概念重新定义了乡村社会经济的作用过程。研究发现,地理区位与地方性特征仍然是乡村产业发展及参与外部竞争最重要的资本,但以通信、交通等设施为代表的“硬”环境的改善对弥补乡村区位劣势的边际效益逐渐降低。因而现阶段乡村振兴战略的推进需要从制度空间、学习空间、“非正式”社交网络等“软”环境的建设着手,促进信息、技术和资本等“流”要素的移动,进而推动乡村产业和功能的发展。     

Loose threads: The translocal making of public space policy in Hanoi

This paper analyses the recent developments in public space policy in the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. It has three aims. The first is to look at a potentially progressive urban policy in contrast to most work on ‘policies in motion’ that has primarily been concerned with neoliberal policies. The second is to put the process of public space policymaking in Hanoi in historical and cultural perspective. We therefore describe public space in Hanoi as historically constituted by different layers of meaning and physical urban patterns. The paper's third aim is to analyse the translocal connections involved in a policy that is still in the making, and therefore characterized by a series of ‘loose threads’. We show how different types of connections – policy mobility, topological relations and inter‐referencing – relate Hanoi to multiple locales elsewhere. The conclusion reflects on the ‘politics of reception’ showing how analysing a policy in the making develops a critical analysis of policies in motion.     

Determinism within human–environment research and the rediscovery of environmental causation

The popularity of the work Guns, germs and steel (GGS) has served to bring the question of human–environment connections once again to the forefront of popular thought. We assert that the recent success of GGS represents both a persistence of environmental determinist logic and a contemporary trend that privileges the environment as the primary influence on human–environment relationships. The historical development of the human–environment field is reviewed from the cultural and political ecology (CAPE) perspective, with particular attention to illustrating the varying emphasis between humans and their environment. GGS is situated within this developing field through a critical analysis of the arguments and methods forwarded by Jared Diamond. The book is found to mirror earlier environmental determinism by failing to take into account many of the advances in human–environmental thought since the early twentieth century. Its popular success suggests the pitfalls of failures to acknowledge the complex, intertwined and indivisible relationship that exists among humans and their environment. Furthermore, there is evidence that the environmental determinism espoused in GGS has caught the attention of international development policymakers potentially influencing future outlays of aid and assistance to the developing world. These conclusions raise cautionary flags against repeating past theoretical mistakes by accepting simplistic, causal explanations based largely on a deterministic conception of the natural environment.     

Interlocking directorships and trans-national linkages within the British Empire, 1900–1930

Recent research has highlighted the value of employing the idea of networks to describe the interrelatedness of today's globalizing economy. Networks facilitate flows of knowledge, ideas, managerial techniques and capital between firms both within and across political borders. This paper argues that the reconstruction of social connections through which information is created, given value and exchanged is fundamental to an understanding of not only contemporary but also historical patterns of economic globalization. We focus on the networks of the capitalist elite running 12 major multinational enterprises, active across British imperial territories, between c .1900 and c .1930. An examination is made of the economic and spatial interlocks between firms created by board members who were multiple directors. Social underpinnings of multiple directorates are examined by exploring the common, overlapping social spheres within which individuals engaged. A clearer grasp of the ways in which corporate activity operated in the early 1900s can provide a better understanding of the social context of global economic operations.     

重庆市区县货流关联网络的时空格局及其影响因素——基于2012-2016年高速公路货车数据的分析

利用2012-2016年每年10月份高速公路货车流数据,动态展示了重庆区县货流网络的结构演化,并利用空间回归方法探讨了其影响因素.研究发现:①主城与万州是重庆市区县高速货流联系网络的核心部分.主城环带的地位最为突出,而以万州为中心,开州、云阳、梁平组成的“三角地带”的地位相对下降.②重庆区县货流关联网络的社团结构呈现主...     

The state and its agencies in coastal resources management: The political ecology of fisheries management in Pattani, southern Thailand

Various stakeholders contribute to the current state of resource management in the inshore fisheries of Pattani, southern Thailand. Taking the state, empowered by national legislation, as the main agent of enforcement, this paper uses an actor-oriented approach derived from political ecology to evaluate how key agents in state agencies at provincial and district levels translate Thai political and legal systems at the local level; more specifically, how cross-scalar institutional linkages and translations affect coastal resources management and the access of village-based, small-scale fishermen to coastal resources. The paper shows that trans-scalar interpretations have created a space of contestation and negotiation in resource governance at the local level that reveals intrastate tensions. Based on extensive fieldwork, the paper demonstrates that access to environmental resources at the local level is highly influenced or regulated by the unequal power relations between different actors at various levels.     

中国地缘经济联系的时空演化特征及其内部机制

随着冷战结束以及全球化深入发展,国家之间经济相互依存明显加强,地缘政治在内容和形式上从以安全为主的高政治向以经济为主的低政治转变,地缘经济成为研究焦点。本文运用空间探索性方法、碎化指数和显性比较优势指数等工具,揭示中国在全球经济空间中地缘经济联系的演化特征;借助灰色关联度分析方法探索中国地缘经济联系演化的内部机制。结论为：① 中国地缘经济联系经历了“孕育—萌芽—兴起—繁荣”四个阶段,与经济发展以及产业结构调整存在显著的相关性;② 中国的优势部门仍以劳动密集型产业为主,逐步形成资金和技术密集型产业的竞争优势,初级产品劣势日益显现;③ 中国经济权力空间的异质化特征明显,地缘经济联系呈现大国集聚效应和地理临近效应。随着时间推移,地缘经济联系空间趋于均质化,经济权力半径不断向外围拓展,不仅同美日欧等发达国家保持稳定的地缘经济联系,与非洲、拉丁美洲等发展中国家和地区的联系也不断加强;④ 资本禀赋、科技禀赋和人力禀赋是中国地缘经济联系时空演化的主要内在动力,资本禀赋是中国地缘经济发展的核心驱动力,科技禀赋是重要的推动力,人力禀赋是主要的基础优势。     

Political Ecologies of Dynamic Wetlands: Hydrosocial Waterscapes in the Okavango Delta

Research within geography and related disciplines has directed much attention to the coupled interactions between social and ecological systems. These studies have usefully analyzed the multifaceted, temporal, and scalar dimensions of human–environment interactions and how future environmental change will continue to challenge human resource needs. Political ecology research has also made contributions in this regard, particularly by emphasizing livelihood systems, impacts of conservation and development, agricultural production, and environmental governance. Yet although political ecology research has contributed to socioecological systems scholarship, much of this work has been situated within dryland environments or marine ecosystems that have particular biophysical features. Comparatively, wetland environments that experience dynamic flooding regimes warrant further attention from political ecology. This article engages with the findings from an ongoing research project that is evaluating the impacts of flooding variability for rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. We outline some of the main findings from this work by concentrating on two themes central to political ecology: access and governance. We conclude by arguing that the Okavango Delta should be understood as a hydrosocial waterscape that encompasses a variety of socioecological relationships within the region, as well as the power relations operating at a variety of scales that both produce and govern them.     

信息化影响下经济发达地区个人联系网络演变——-以苏锡常地区为例

人是信息化的主体,信息化的迅速发展对个人联系网络产生了重要影响。在对苏锡常地区12 城镇2100 余 份调查问卷结果整理的基础上,借助SPSS 软件和建模的方法从个人的信息来源、联系方式、联系频率等三个方面 对信息化影响下苏锡常地区个人联系网络的演变特征和规律进行分析,得出以下结论：电视、报纸等传统信息来源 比重降低,而因特网、手机等新型信息来源的比重上升;地理实空间的传统联系方式比重逐渐下降,而网络虚空间 的远程通讯方式蓬勃发展,且处于强势主导地位等,地理实空间和网络虚空间是互补而非替代关系等。地区城市间 个人联系和交流变得频繁,且个体联系频率指数的增幅与城镇等级成显著的正相关关系。