Beyond remediation: Containing, confronting and caring for the Giant Mine Monster

2020 ◽  
pp. 251484862095436
Author(s):  
Caitlynn Beckett

Mine remediation entails long-term risks associated with the containment and monitoring of dangerous materials. To date, research on mine remediation in Canada has focused primarily on technical fixes; little is known about the socio-political and colonial aspects of remediation. Using the Giant Mine in Yellowknife (Northwest Territories, Canada) as a case study, this research investigates the story of the Giant Mine ‘Monster’, how it was defined, how it has changed and how nearby communities will care for the mine in the future. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research combines literature reviews, archival analysis, key informant interviews and participant observation in analyzing the multiple experiences, practices and stories of the Giant Mine Remediation Project. Directed by the frameworks of ecological restoration, Indigenous environmental justice and science and technology studies theories of care, this research reveals that, by focusing on the technical containment of arsenic trioxide pollution, the Giant Mine Remediation Project sidelined community objectives for compensation, independent oversight and a perpetual care plan. However, through the ongoing activism of the Yellowknives Dene First Nations and community allies, the Giant Mine Monster is being creatively reframed as something to care for and live with for generations to come – a responsibility for mining wastes that settlers across Canada have yet to meaningfully reckon with. I argue that the Giant Mine case points to a critical reconceptualization of environmental remediation as an anti-colonial mechanism to (re)structure, or (re)mediate, relationships with both land and people. Without a community objectives based approach to remediation, such projects risk continuing systems of colonization, marginalization and environmental injustice.

Author(s):  
Roanne Van Voorst

Understanding human adaptation to climate changes is one of the most important research issues within the area of global environmental change, accounting for the fact that people worldwide are currently adapting to their changing environment (Adger and Kelly 2000: 253; Smit et al. 2008). The Greenlandic case study as presented in this paper is mainly based on a literature analysis and ethnographic data obtained during the Greenlandic winter of 2008, with emphasis on the latter. Participant observation and interviews were combined with a discursive analysis of climate change-related policies. The empirical findings as presented in this paper suggest that an exclusive and gender-neutral focus of policy makers on economic aspects of adaptation to climate changes may increase socio-economic inequality as well as male domestic violence over women. Social research can help to identify such chains of reactions resulting from climate changes and related policies, by focusing on individual adaptation strategies of male and female actors in vulnerable societies.


Nova Economia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (spe) ◽  
pp. 1225-1256
Author(s):  
Fernanda Cimini ◽  
Jorge Britto ◽  
Leonardo Costa Ribeiro

Abstract Our intent is to reinterpret the concept of middle-income trap using the language of the complex system approach to refer to the unpredictability, non-linearity and the enormous range of possible behaviors of economic development in the long-term time series. By redefining the concept of trap in those terms, we propose to shed light on the institutional background of economic development. In order to advance our argument, we conduct a case study of Latin America, a region that has presented an unstable and non-linear economic trajectory across the 20th century. We argue that the combination between the colonial economic legacy and the political fragmentation amid the process of independence shaped the socio-economic structure and institutional capabilities for years to come, restricting the possibilities of overcoming underdevelopment.


2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neerosh Mudaly ◽  
Chris Goddard

When a child has been abused by his or her father or father-figure and makes the statement ‘I want Dad to come home’, whose voice are we hearing in treatment, how do we interpret and respond to what the child is saying? Understanding and responding to the voices of victims of abuse is a complex issue. This paper explores the issues of listening to and responding to a young vicitm of abuse in the context of the impact of the abuse on this young person, and how these issues emerged and were addressed in the therapeutic process. Amanda, a 13-year-old girl, disclosed sexual abuse by her stepfather. In the initial months of counselling she repeatedly expressed her wish for her stepfather to return home. Amanda’s response to therapy, the short-term and long-term impact issues that were addressed, and the various therapeutic techniques that were used to assist in her recovery, are traced in the context of theoretical considerations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Okubo ◽  
Abrar Juhar Mohammed ◽  
Makoto Inoue

<p class="1Body">Rural depopulation is now well acknowledged to be one of the salient challenges faced by Japan (Ohno, 2005; Odagiri, 2006). However, out-migrants that left their village of origin still maintain their bond with the villages through local institutions and natural resources. By taking Mogura village in Hayakawa town, Yamanashi prefecture as a case study, this article discusses relationships between out-migrants and their depopulated village of origin by focusing on local institutions and natural resource management. Data was collected using open ended interview and participant observation methods. The result shows that, although the style of observing has changed, out-migrants play important role in local institutions and assisting resource management of their depopulated village of origin. The institutions still have meaning for out-migrants to keep relationships with their village of origin. Several customs, such as collaborative labor, <em>obon</em>, New Year vacation, and the anniversary of ancestors’ death ceremony, provide scheduled opportunities for out-migrants and residents to get together and good reasons to come to the place of the village of origin. We argue that local institutions and natural resources, although in the process of transformation, can be helpful tools to link out-migrants with villages. We, however, take precaution on whether such role will be transferred to next generation of the out-migrants that are born and are living outside the village of origin of the out-migrants.</p>


2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anyarat Chattharakul

Based on evidence gathered through participant observation, this article illuminates the nature of vote-canvassing, previously a black box in Thai electoral studies. Offering a close-up study of the internal mechanisms of an individual Thai election campaign, this article reveals that vote-canvasser networks are underpinned by long-term dyadic relationships, both hierarchical and horizontal, between the candidate, vote-canvassers and voters. These networks continue to be the most important factor in winning elections. This article documents how candidates draw up an election campaign map and identify voters along residential lines to maximise their vote-canvassing strategy. The findings of this article challenge Anek's 1996 concept of “two democracies”, which argues that rural voters are influenced by money, local leaders, political factions and corrupt politicians while more well-educated, urban, middle-class voters are more oriented toward the alternative policies offered by competing parties. The case study of Kom's election campaign showed that the role of the much-vaunted middle-class voters is not decisive, even in suburban areas of Bangkok. While political marketing has grown in importance in Thai elections, it has not displaced traditional electoral practices. Thai society is, in fact, deeply fragmented and diverse – too complex to be divided in such a simplistic manner. This article suggests that rather than undergoing a linear transformation, political hybridisation is a key trend in Thai election campaigns.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajkor Thakur ◽  
Vishakha Wetal

Amlapitta is a disease of Annahava Srotas and is more common in the present scenario of unhealthy diets and regimens. The case of Amlapitta, was managed with Vamana, one of the Panchakarma therapy, as indicated in ‘Kashyap Samhita.’ Case: A 29 year old male patient presented with complaints of pitta udiran, sour belching (amlodgara), burning sensation in throat and chest (hritkanthadaha), indigestion (avipaka) and ajeerna since 2 years. Management: Pachan was done with Hingvashtak churna. Internal oleation with Kantakari ghrita in increasing dose. External oleation and sudation was done with Sesame oil. For Vamana Akantha pan godugdha was used. Vamana dravya was madanphala churna (2gm), yashtimadhu churna (2gm), vacha churna (1gm), saindhav (2gm) (chatan with madh). Yashtimadhu kwath was used as Vamanaopag dravya. Result and conclusion: The patient was asked for follow-up after 7 days. Then the patient was asked to come for follow-up after every six months. It was seen that patient got complete relief from pitta udiran, sour belching (amlodgara), burning sensation in throat and chest (hritkanthadaha), indigestion (avipaka) and indigestion (ajeerna) on day 7. And it also seen that there was no recurrence of Amlapitta even after one and half year. Thus Vamana therapy in patient of Amlapitta is effective and shows long term relief from the symptoms.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1038-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Hensmans

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how executives can rapidly gain employee acceptance for strategic change through reciprocal sensegiving. The author draw on a processual case study of a transformational European merger to study this question, highlighting the properties of reciprocity in making sense of urgent strategic change, then developing them through the lens of a gift exchange. Design/methodology/approach – The author draws on several qualitative methods to study sensegiving and sensemaking processes in Alpha and Beta from 2011 to 2014: insider-outsider team meetings at the beginning, mid-way and at the end of the merger integration process, ethnographic field notes during a four-month research internship, one focus group meeting with Alpha and Beta managers after the announcement of the redistribution of managerial positions, interviews with a carefully selected sample of top and middle managers, participant observation in key sensegiving meetings with top managers and “custodians,” triangulation with secondary data from the database Factiva, and finally follow-up insider corroboration of the findings by the research intern who took up a management position at Alpha in 2014. Findings – Likening executive and employee sensegiving to a gift-giving and gift-returning exchange, the author elucidates how executives induce employees to quickly “give in” to strategic change imperatives. the author single out the key third party role of custodians of reciprocity in the mechanism, using the metaphor of the Trojan horse to illustrate its executive use and point to the underexplored darker side of prosocial sensegiving dynamics. Research limitations/implications – Further research should clarify the long-term advantages and disadvantages of the mechanism. The Trojan horse mechanism possibly sacrifices long-term reciprocity for short-term purposes. Following the example of executives in this case study, use of the Trojan horse mechanism should be followed by attention to socio-political balance concerns, including new procedures that clarify the link between value creation aims and employees’ collective contribution. Without such a cohesion-building exercise, employees’ feelings of procedural injustice may build up, resulting in negative reciprocity in subsequent change projects. Practical implications – The work indicates that a leader’s visionary credentials are not the main source of her norm-shaping power in a project of urgent strategic change. Visionary credentials are welcomed by the dominant group of employees as long as they are framed as a symbolic management exercise that will not substantially impact socio-political balance. Substantively, employees make sense of the justice of urgent strategic change primarily through the lens of custodians and their “power from the past.” Social implications – All in all, executives should use the Trojan horse mechanism sparingly, in contexts of urgent strategic change and institutionalized employee behavior. Working with sources and voices of resistance from lower levels of management is more likely to yield symbiotic integration benefits. Originality/value – Applied to the problem of rapid strategic change in a non-crisis context, the Trojan horse mechanism is a solution to the question: how can executives avoid lengthy socio-political confrontations and quickly induce employee ownership of painful strategic changes?


Industrija ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Nataša Stanojević ◽  
Slobodan Kotlica

This paper analyzes the current key processes in the global economy: decline in international trade, rising protectionism and shortening of global production chains. The specific aim is to determine the effects of these global trends on Serbian foreign trade. The proposed hypotheses are 1) Decline in the volume of Serbian foreign trade can be expected to be sharper than global indicators and 2) The reduced volume of trade both in Serbia and globally will tend to continue for many years to come. Using statistical analysis for different types of data, linear regression and case study, the research has confirmed the first hypothesis. The coefficients obtained bz linear regression were applied to the WTO projections for global trade in 2020 and 2021. It was found that the expected decline in Serbia's foreign trade is almost twice the world average. The second hypothesis is proven by the analysis of the economic causes of the main global trends, which have proven to be structural to the greatest extent, hence long-term.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nienke Vermeer ◽  
Gerben Ruessink ◽  
Timothy Price

&lt;p&gt;Sand nourishments are carried out along numerous sandy coasts worldwide to counteract coastal erosion, with the sand added to the inter- and supratidal beach or to the subtidal nearshore profile. Since the early 1990s beach and shoreface nourishments have been carried out along the Dutch coast, with a total nourished volume of 10 to 15 Mm&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;/year. Although we have a reasonable understanding of how an individual nourishment temporarily affects the evolution of nearshore morphology, it is not clear how repeated nourishments influence the long-term dynamics of the nearshore zone. This understanding is crucial, not only for the safety of beachgoers or marine life, but especially in view of the expected increase in the number of nourishments and total nourishment volume given expected accelerating sea-level rise in the decades to come.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This contribution aims to analyse how repeated nourishments affect the long-term evolution of the shoreline and the two subtidal sandbars at the Dutch beach town Noordwijk aan Zee using Argus video imagery available since 1995. Between 1998 and 2014 four shoreface and three beach nourishments were carried out at the study site. The low-tide time-exposure images of the Argus station were used to determine&amp;#160; sandbar and shoreline position along a 6-km stretch of coast.&lt;br&gt;The results show that prior to the first nourishment the sandbars migrated seaward slowly but persistently. The repeated nourishments permanently decreased this seaward directed migration rate of the sandbars to only a few m/year. The sandbars showed alternating periods of seasonal to multi-year onshore and offshore migration superimposed on this very weak decadal offshore trend. Furthermore, the various sand nourishments gave rise to forked shoreline-sandbar morphology. This large-scale alongshore variability was undone within 1 &amp;#8211; 2 years by switches, in which the landward part of a sandbar or the shoreline on one side of the fork realigned with the seaward part of a bar on the other side. These switches appear to be a direct consequence of the repeated nourishments. For example, the 2013-2014 sequence of a beach and a shoreface nourishment resulted in 4 bar switches within the subsequent 2 years, compared to a total of 12 switches in the total dataset of 24.8 years. Further analysis will focus on the effect of repeated nourishments on the temporal and spatial persistence of rip-channel morphology and on the wave conditions that caused the forked morphology to switch.&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
Rudolf P. Gaudio

Ethnographic research is to a great extent a process of language socialization. Like children and other neophytes, ethnographers learn how to use language to participate in the social worlds they are studying. For scholars of language, gender, and sexuality, this ideally entails developing communicative competence as gendered and sexual subjects: we learn how people talk, and don’t talk, about gender and sex. This chapter describes how long-term participant-observation, the core ethnographic research method, allowed the author to come to a (partial) appreciation of the language and subjectivities articulated by Hausa-speaking men in northern Nigeria, who saw themselves as “feminine” and/or enjoyed sex with other men. Using examples of miscommunication that occurred at different stages of fieldwork, the chapter illustrates how the time and attention required for ethnographic research can contribute to nuanced understandings of language, gender, and sexuality in particular cultural contexts.


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