Recognizing Carbon Forestry’s Uneven Geography: A Response to Purdon and the Structure-Agency Dichotomy That Never Was

We here respond to the critique by Purdon of an article on carbon forestry that we published in this journal last year (Carton and Andersson). While we welcome critical engagements with our work, Purdon’s argument is wide of the mark and appears based largely on misconceptions regarding our theoretical entry point and empirical findings. Underlying this are fundamental disagreements about the nature of carbon forestry, structure-agency dynamics, and how to understand environmental interventions in the global South more broadly. We argue that we are unlikely to “find common ground” in our respective analyses of the Trees for Global Benefits project unless we share a common understanding of the unequal power relations and fundamental geographical unevenness within which carbon projects operate. Contrary to what Purdon argues, this position has nothing to do with ignoring local benefits, nor with denying the agency of the smallholder farmers who participate in the project. We see no contradiction between an analysis that does justice to the various structural conditions that frame carbon forest projects, and a recognition of local agency.     

Public Engagement in Social-Ecological Systems Management: An Application of Social Justice Theory

Public engagement is important for improving outcomes of social-ecological systems management. We used a social justice theoretical framework to measure residents’ attitudes toward public engagement processes and satisfaction with outcomes of a restoration project in Western Montana. We predicted process control and decision control domains of procedural justice would significantly predict stakeholder satisfaction, with decision control partially mediating the relationship between process control and satisfaction. We tested these predictions using a path analysis of intercept survey data collected from residents within the project area. We found process control had a significant and positive effect on satisfaction but was fully mediated by decision control, suggesting that successful engagement requires opportunities for stakeholders not only to participate but to clearly shape decisions and outcomes. We discuss implications for public engagement, human dimensions research, and social monitoring of social-ecological systems.     

Differential Effects of Cognitive and Structural Social Capital on Empowerment in Two Community Ecotourism Projects in Ghana

Researchers have cautioned against both erasing conceptual complexities and homogenizing communities in community-based natural resources (CBNRM) studies and interventions. Social capital is seen as an enabler of CBNRM, yet we argue that differential access to social capital and associated outcomes deserves greater attention to avoid oversimplification of community interventions. Drawing upon literature on social networks and social capital, we analyze survey and network data from two community ecotourism cases in Ghana to advance understanding of the empowering capacities and limitations of CBNRM through social capital access. Subpopulations within communities are considered. Results show that residents with greater access to social capital report greater levels of empowerment. However, that relationship seems to be conditioned by one’s involvement, demographics, and by the empowerment dimension under analysis. Implications of the differing relationships between cognitive and structural social capital in relation to several empowerment outcomes are discussed from theoretical, methodological, and practical perspectives.     

社交媒体在“21世纪海上丝绸之路”沿线国家海洋防灾减灾中的应用及借鉴

以Twitter、Facebook为代表的社交媒体在防灾减灾方面的作用越来越受到关注.中国是世界上海洋灾害最为严重的国家之一,海洋防灾减灾是目前我国面临的十分紧迫的问题.近年来,智能手机和网络的普及让中国的社交媒体进入了人们的日常生活.借鉴国外社交媒体在防灾减灾方面的经验,我们认为中国的社交媒体在海洋防灾减灾中同样拥有巨大潜力.本文首先介绍了"21世纪海上丝绸之路"沿线的几个国家利用社交媒体开展海洋防灾减灾工作的情况,随后总结了当前中国在海洋灾害预警、灾害信息传播及灾害管理等方面的实际情况.最后,借鉴国外先进的经验和做法,为进一步提升中国社交媒体在海洋防灾减灾工作中的作用提出了启示性的对策建议.     

The influence of social movements on policies that constrain fossil fuel supply

Mounting evidence suggests that a large portion of the world's fossil fuel reserves will have to remain in the ground to prevent dangerous climate change. Yet, the fossil fuel industry continues to invest in new infrastructure to expand fuel supply. There appears to be a prevailing logic that extraction is inevitable, in spite of growing climate change concerns. Few political leaders seem to be willing to challenge this logic. The absence of adequate political action on climate change has sparked a burgeoning social movement focused on constraining fossil fuel supply. This article describes this movement, and explores the role that social mobilization may play in enabling policies that limit fossil fuel extraction. Drawing from literature on social mobilization and political change, this work: (1) discusses some of the social and political barriers to mobilization focused on restricting fossil fuel supply; (2) describes the pathways through which mobilization efforts may influence climate policy; and (3) highlights insights from studies of successful social movements that have relevance for the issue of fossil fuel extraction. The article concludes with directions for future research on social mobilization focused on supply-side climate policy.

Key policy insights

• Enacting policies to limit fossil fuel supply has proven challenging in many contexts.

• There is renewed interest in the role social movements may play in shifting the political landscape, to make it more likely that policies to restrict fossil fuel extraction may succeed.

• Effective social mobilization requires a combination factors aligning at the right time to influence policy outcomes, such as windows of political opportunity opening, and compelling framing that calls citizens to action.

• Critical examination of the factors that lead to movement success is necessary to understand the circumstances where social mobilization may influence supply-side climate policies.

     

GIS技术支持下的龙川江流域退耕还林规划方法

利用GIS技术,结合退耕还林的基本原则,通过空间分析的研究方法,对土地利用、坡度、河流、居民点等数据库进行处理,对云南省龙川江流域进行科学、定量的退耕还林规划,解决退耕还林的耕地在哪儿、如何退,以及退耕还林时序等一系列技术难题,实现规划自动化。这将为政府决策提供翔实、高可信度的数据,也可为县级退耕还林规划做示范。     

Environmental problems in the Sudetes, Poland

Due to the abundance of mineral deposits associated with the metamorphic rocks of the Sudetes, the area was intensively settled and developed by the end of the Middle Ages. Several centuries later, the first attempts were made to rehabilitate the devastated natural environment. The advent of capitalism brought further damage to the environment, which has remained almost unchanged to this day. Improvements in the context of transfrontier cooperation have arisen out of the economic crisis and the disintegration of the Soviet bloc. However, the Sudetes are still a problem area, and various industries are competing for local resources. The main problem facing the region is the need to rehabilitate its natural environment and create a more balanced local economy. Tourism, forestry, agriculture and ‘clean’ industrial technologies have the greatest potential. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Social change and segregation in Copenhagen

This article examines socio-spatial changes resulting from economic and social restructuring in Copenhagen in recent decades. The main features of these changes have involved a sharp decline in manufacturing employment, a rise in the participation of women in the labour market, increasing unemployment among unskilled workers, a growing number of immigrants in obsolete dwellings and social housing estates, a relative decline in the number of families, and a growth in the numbers of single parent households. Do these changes challenge the classic models of segregation, or can they still be considered valid? Empirical evidence is produced concerning the socio-spatial effect of these changes in Copenhagen. The conclusion is that the classical model of social segregation is still valid, although some additional dimensions must be included. Furthermore, the overall socio-spatial structure of Copenhagen remains relatively intact, largely because of the inertia of the urban landscape and its social relations. However, the radical nature of the restructuring processes can also be called into question.     

地方因素对流动人口城市融入的影响研究

利用东部和中部地区9个城市的流动人口问卷调查,采用多水平回归模型,分析了城市差异对流动人口城市融入的影响机制。研究发现：流动人口城市融入过程存在南北差异,并呈相同地域较接近的特征。城市区位、经济发展水平、以房租为代表的物价水平、以方言为主的地域文化、流动人口占比,社会保障的落实程度等地方因素,对流动人口城市融入产生显著影响,但城市人口规模影响不显著。地方因素对流动人口城市融入的影响效应是复杂的、多向的,即使同一因素既有积极的方面,也存在消极的方面。推动流动人口的城市融入,必须正视城市差异,因地制宜地提出包容性的社会政策。方言重的城市,尤其是这些城市的公共场所和公共办事窗口要推动普通话的普及,鼓励使用普通话;降低城市社会保障的准入门槛;房租高的城市,保障房建设要以公租房建设为主,把流动人口纳入公租房保障范围;要本着先易后难,同步推进的原则,优先推进省域内流动人口市民化,城镇化转移支付应向流动人口比例高的城市倾斜。     

Affective neighbourly relations between migrant and local residents in Shanghai

In urban China there is growing scholarly interest in neighbourhood social interaction, but most studies focus on overt neighbouring activities whilst less is known about the affective dimension of neighbourhood relations, such as mutual trust and care. By surveying 1,420 residents from Shanghai, this study examines the affective relationship between rural migrants and local urban neighbours and explores whether the frequency of neighbouring and contextual characteristics may affect this outcome. Our results show that residents who interact more with out-group neighbours also tend to describe their relationship with them as more caring and amicable. Furthermore, residents in working class neighbourhoods tend to rely on intergroup neighbouring as means of facilitating mutual trust. In contrast, residents of neighbourhoods with commodified housing stock already possess a strong affective relationship with out-group neighbours because of a shared identity as middle-class homeowners and, therefore, do not rely on neighbourly interactions as a facilitator of neighbourly trust.