The Matter of Matter: Making Property in the Holland Marsh

This paper explores how characteristics of biophysical nature—specifically the unique properties of the Organic Order of soil—have shaped the conditions of property in what is currently protected agricultural land, in the Holland Marsh, Ontario. Drawing on political ecology and critical property scholarship, I investigate how “nature” conjoins, complicates, and structures property in the Marsh. I start from the premise, as others have, that “things” matter to the dynamics of property, and add to this by demonstrating that matter matters as well. Property in the Holland Marsh—and elsewhere—is a socionatural arrangement. I develop this argument by highlighting three periods in the history of the Marsh; (1) the preagricultural period, (2) the agricultural intensification period, and (3) the conservationist period. I demonstrate how biophysical conditions codetermine parameters of property in the Marsh and show how the dynamics of property change along with the biophysical character of landscapes.     

Green Laboratories: University Campuses as Sustainability “Exemplars” in the Arabian Peninsula

ABSTRACT

Like many universities in the West, universities across the Arabian Peninsula are increasingly home to various conspicuous sustainability initiatives. This article examines this trend at three of the region’s most prominent projects: NYU-Abu Dhabi in the Emirates, Qatar Foundation’s Education City, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Based on the textual analysis and informed by fieldwork in these countries since 2012, this article joins interdisciplinary research in political geography, sustainability experimentation, and laboratory studies to understand their iconic campuses not as enclaves, but as “exemplars” of sustainability and renewable energy futures in the region. Tracing their effects beyond their walls, I argue that they have mostly been limited to symbolically injecting sustainability into public discourse. While more substantial shifts toward sustainable development in the region are underway, these have largely stemmed from market forces rather than a new environmental consciousness promoted by these three iconic universities.     

从地缘关系视角解析“一带一路”的行动路径

“一带一路”倡议是人类历史上最伟大的全球治理工程,开辟了政治地理学研究的新纪元,为地缘关系研究提供了大舞台。地理学是从时间、空间和自然—社会系统三个维度理解陆地表层过程的科学,对地缘关系研究具有独特的功能和作用。因此,从地理学视角研究地缘关系具有其他学科无法比拟的优势。“一带一路”是当前最具挑战的科学和政策命题,从地缘关系视角研究“一带一路”,需要加强四个方面的结合：① 在科学思维上,需要还原论与系统论思维相结合;② 在科学数据建设上,需要社会人文与自然环境数据相结合;③ 在科学问题选择上,需要社会过程、人文过程、政治过程和自然过程相结合;④ 在研究方法上,需要经验方法、实证方法、系统方法与大数据研究方法相结合。中国地理学者应兼顾政治地理学科建设、地缘关系的学科交叉研究和“一带一路”全球实践开展研究。     

Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation?

The number of climate change laws in major economies has grown from less than 40 in 1997 to almost 500 at the end of 2013. The passage of these laws is influenced by both domestic and international factors. This article reviews the main international factors, drawing on a powerful new dataset of climate legislation in 66 national jurisdictions. We find that the propensity to legislate on climate change is heavily influenced by the passage of similar laws elsewhere, suggesting a strong and so far under-appreciated role for international policy diffusion. International treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol work in two ways. The impact of the Kyoto Protocol itself is limited to countries with formal obligations under the treaty. In addition, the prestige of hosting an international climate summit is associated with a subsequent boost in legislation. Legislators seem to respond to the expectations of climate leadership that these events bestow on their host.

Policy relevance

A global solution to climate change will ultimately have to be anchored in domestic legislation, which creates the legal basis for countries to take action. Countries are passing climate legislation in a growing number. This article asks to what extent they are motivated to do so by international factors, such as existing treaty obligations. We find that the Kyoto Protocol has been a less important factor in explaining climate legislation outside Annex I than the passage of similar laws elsewhere. This suggests that international policy diffusion plays an important and so far under-appreciated role in global climate policy, complementing formal treaty obligations.     

论专属经济区的国家主权权利

1982年《联合国海洋法公约》确立了专属经济区制度,规定了沿海国对200海里专属经济区享有公约规定的主权权利和管辖权。专属经济区是一个既不同于公海又有别于领海的特殊海域,沿海国家对专属经济区的主权权利是国家经济主权的组成部分,公约的规定是尊重国家主权的。我们应充分利用公约的规定,积极维护我国专属经济区的国家主权权利。     

Who and what are carbon markets for? Politics and the development of climate policy

Why have carbon markets been rapidly adopted as policy solutions to climate change in the last decade? Perhaps surprisingly, this question has attracted virtually no attention in the large literature on such markets. The standard arguments given for why carbon markets are good ways to respond to climate change do not explain why such markets have flourished as governance mechanisms in relation to climate. Carbon markets have spread and become taken-for-granted because of the potential they give to certain powerful actors (financiers, specifically) to create new cycles of investment, profits and growth. As a consequence, they make possible a political coalition combining financiers with environmentalists. This coalition has considerable potential to legitimize substantial cuts in carbon emissions in the face of continued opposition from other interests. It is the combination of these two elements – the promotion of specific growth sectors and the construction of a political coalition – that constitutes the principal political virtue of carbon markets. In order to demonstrate this claim, the history of emissions trading is traced and the implication of this analysis is explored for the further building of climate governance centred on carbon markets.     

‘Great Powers’ in climate politics

The concept of ‘Great Powers’ extends well beyond its nineteenth century origins to current business in, for example, the EU, the UN Security Council, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Such core groups can be crucial to finding agreement in complex and fractured negotiations. Climate change was not initially seen as an issue for the Great Power-type architecture. The problem was of universal concern, requiring universal involvement. Moreover, climate's natural great powers (the EU, the US, China, Japan, Russia, Brazil, India, and Canada) split into three antagonistic camps: the EU pressing for sharp emissions reductions; the US, with the other developed powers, much more cautious; and China, India, and Brazil determined that action should be confined to the developed world. These divisions contributed hugely to the ineffectiveness of both the 1992 Rio convention and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. In addition, as non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; particularly Chinese) emissions fast outgrew OECD emissions, their exclusion from any constraint became visibly untenable. So, from 2005 on, the Great Powers began to meet more closely in what became the Major Economies Forum. That cooperation contributed significantly to the 2009 Copenhagen Accord. The climate problem is of course far from being solved, but maintaining Great Power cooperation will be crucial to further progress.     

Urban China in transformation: Hybrid economy,juxtaposed space,and new testing ground for geographical enquiries

History has brought us into a significant moment when the majority of the human kind has taken up resi-dence in urban settlements. The focus of global urbanization has shifted to the developing world and the center of manufacturing is no longer confined to the Global North. This paper provides a periodical assessment of the current status of China’s urban transformation in the global context of a shifting emphasis of industrialization and urbaniza-tion. China’s phenomenal urban transformation deserves a special attention not only because of its unparalleled scale and speed but also because of its distinct trajectory of growth that does not conform to normal theoretical ex-pectations. The results of assessment revealed an urban economy with remarkable hybridity, a society that is in-creasingly stratified, polarized, and segregated, and a juxtaposed urban space undergoing restless and pervasive transformation. A decentering world should entail a decentering knowledge production. A critical reflection upon the Chinese patterns and processes of urban transformation has identified 4 main issues with great potentials for inno-vative knowledge production, namely: 1) privatization and economic development; 2) state, society, and space; 3) urbanization of capital, labor, and land; and 4) the environment and Chinese political ecology. The paper closes with the remark that a rapidly transforming urban China has presented itself as a fertile and resourceful testing ground for critical and innovative geographic enquiries.     

越南政治地理的脆弱性

政治地理的脆弱性是一个国家自然地理基础、社会文化历史、国内关系和国际关系的综合函数,直接关系到一个国家的国家安全。本文引入生态学关于脆弱性的概念,从内部和外部双重视角分析越南政治地理的脆弱性特征,同时分析梳理越南与世界大国、周边邻国特别是同中国的关系,并从区域热点问题入手,以期对中国周边地缘战略研究提供分析视角。     

论朱自清写景散文的文化意蕴

从江南士风这一视角解读《荷塘月色》以及朱自清写景散文．并从中透析朱自清散文创作的深层文化心理和文化渊源。