The Rights of Nature, the Rights of Fiction: Mario Vargas Llosa and the Amazon

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-42
Author(s):  
Victoria Saramago

Abstract The Amazonian region occupies a singular place in the fiction and nonfiction of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. Author of paradigmatic novels on the Peruvian Amazon, Vargas Llosa nevertheless has repeatedly defended extensive exploitation of Amazonian natural resources—at the expense of Indigenous rights and environmental conservation—in his essays and political activities. This article discusses this conflict between Vargas Llosa's fictional and nonfictional work on the Amazon through the lens of a theory of fiction that emerges from his essays across decades and that suggests that the fictional text is independent from the referential reality it represents. By revisiting his novels and writings about fiction, this article argues that Vargas Llosa's belief in the autonomy of fiction from its referential reality explains, to a certain extent, how the fascination with the Amazon present in the author's novels coexists with his defense of drastic changes in the region through environmental exploitation and the acculturation of Indigenous populations. While Vargas Llosa's work enjoyed a positive reception in the 1960s, the nontransitive notion of mimesis he proposed has gradually taken on reactionary undertones in the context of changing expectations since the 1980s and 1990s.

Author(s):  
Najmaldeen K. Kareem Al-Zanki ◽  
Kotb Rissouni

AbstractThis study focuses on the legal regulations and jurisprudential dictates that are applicable to environmental conservation. The study employs an analytical and inductive method. It shows the set of regulations that apply to the concept of environmental preservation and then explains analytically how these regulations can legally accommodate questions pertaining to how humans address natural beings, natural resources and each component of the universe. The regulations such as the consideration of public interest, deeds' outcomes, customs, the elimination and compensation of damage and a means taking the value of its final objective will help in the adjustment of legal questions relevant to environmental conservation. The authors ensure that the universal laws and Sharī‘ah objectives must complement one another.                           . Keywords: Environmental Conservation, Sharī‘ah Regulations, Universal Law, Integrity of Universal and Divine Laws, Realization of Public Interest.AbstrakKajian ini memberi tumpuan kepada peraturan undang-undang dan jurisprudens yang berkaitan dengan pemuliharaan alam sekitar. Kaedah yang digunapakai dalam kajian ini adalah kaedah analisis dan induktif. Kajian ini menerangkan tentang peraturan yang dikenakan kepada konsep penjagaan alam sekitar dan kemudian menerangkan secara analisis bagaimana peraturan-peraturan ini secara sah boleh menjawab soalan mengenai bagaimana manusia menangani alam semula jadi, sumber asli dan setiap komponen alam semesta. Peraturan-peraturan yang berhubung dengan pertimbangan dan kepentingan awam, hasil perbuatan manusia, adat, penghapusan dan pampasan kerosakan dan cara mengambil nilai objektif akhirnya akan membantu dalam penyesuaian soal undang-undang yang berkaitan dengan pemuliharaan alam sekitar. Pengarang telah memastikan bahawa undang-undang universal dan objektif Sharī‘ah  Islam adalah saling melengkapi satu sama lain.Kata Kunci: Pemuliharaan Alam Sekitar, Peraturan Sharī‘ah, Undang-undang Universal, Integriti Undang-Undang Universal dan Agama, Merealisasikan Kepentingan Awam.


Author(s):  
Craig M. Kauffman

With the onset of climate change, the prospect of mass extinction, and the closing window of opportunity to take meaningful action, a growing number of activists, lawyers, scientists, policy-makers, and everyday people are calling for Rights of Nature (RoN) to be legally recognized as a way to transform human legal and governance systems to prioritize ecological sustainability. Over the past decade, RoN has gone from being a radical idea espoused only by a handful of marginalized actors to a legal strategy seriously considered in a wide variety of domestic and international policy arenas. In January 2021, at least 185 legal provisions recognizing RoN existed in 17 countries spanning five continents, and 50 more RoN laws were pending in a dozen other countries. RoN is also recognized in numerous international policy documents. After defining RoN, this chapter examines how different kinds of actors have organized in global networks to advance RoN in different policy arenas through distinct pathways. This has caused RoN to be structured and implemented differently in distinct contexts. The chapter examines this variation, comparing cases from around the world. It highlights the implications of structuring RoN as a set of unique substantive rights for ecosystems versus extending legal personhood (a set of rights designed for humans). It concludes by examining the relationship between RoN and human rights—including environmental rights, Indigenous rights, and economic rights—and the implications for reconceptualizing sustainable development to prioritize ecological sustainability.


Author(s):  
Iván Tarcicio Narváez Quiñónez

La colonización dirigida, espontánea y estratégica, además de la permanente ampliación de la frontera agrícola para la extracción de recursos naturales, han determinado el uso y zonificación del espacio amazónico en los últimos 50 años. Las drásticas huellas socio-económicos, culturales y ambientales generadas por estos procesos han impactado negativamente la vida de los pueblos ancestrales y la naturaleza. Una consecuencia drástica es el cambio de la comprensión de la territorialidad en el interior de los territorios indígenas, y de la percepción que de aquel cambio tienen el Estado y los actores asentados en el entorno territorial comunitario. El presente estudio aborda el caso del pueblo waorani e inquiere cómo la ampliación de la frontera extractiva intensificaría los impactos negativos del proceso de desterritorialización en el Parque Nacional Yasuní, poniendo en mayor riesgo la integridad física y cultural de los de los pueblos que viven en aislamiento voluntario: Tagaeri y Oñamenane u otros de los cuales no se tiene referencia.   Abstract Targeted, spontaneous and strategic colonization, in addition to the permanent expansion of the agricultural frontier for the extraction of natural resources, has determined the use and zoning of the Amazonian space in the las 50 years. The drastic socioeconomic, cultural and environmental impacts generated by these processes have impated negatively the life of the ancestral peoples and nature. A drastic consequence is the change of the understanding of the territoriality in the interior of the indigenous territories, and the perception that the state and the actors settled in the community territorial environment have of that change. This study addresses the case of the Waorani people and inquires how the expansion of the extractive frontier would intensify the negative impacts of the process of decentralization in the Yasuní National Park, putting at greater risk the physical and cultural integrity of the peoples living in voluntary isolation: Tagaeri and Onamenane or others of which there is no reference.


Author(s):  
Alex Latta

States’ increasing recognition of Indigenous rights in the realm of natural resources has led to a variety of co-management arrangements and other forms of melded authority, evolving over time into increasingly complex governance relationships. This article takes up such relationships within the analytical frame of multilevel governance, seeking lessons from the experiences of Indigenous involvement in water policy in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT). It examines the way that effective collaboration in resource governance can emerge within the space of tension between evolving Indigenous rights regimes and the continued sovereignty of the state. At the same time, the analysis raises questions about whether multilevel governance can contribute to meaningful decolonization of relationships between settler states and Indigenous Peoples.


2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Amy Fredregill

While most farmers take steps to enhance natural resources, times of low prices and high costs may create difficulties for farmers who wish to spend resources on agriculture conservation. Consequently, farming can have a harmful effect on natural resources. Because many farmers rely on income support payments, and most income programs do not require farmers to utilize environmental conservation practices, environmental degradation continues. To ensure adequate protection of water quality, soil quality and wildlife habitat, and to provide income support for farms of all sizes, politically feasible legislation is needed to link income payments with conservation practices. This article follows the outline of atraditional policy analysis to examine four policy options for the farm bill the Conservation Security Program (CSP), Flex Fallow, the Conservation Reserve Program, and conservation easements. The options range from conservative to liberal, with differing environmental and income impacts. Policy options for achieving these goals were judged using the following criteria: effectiveness in achieving conservation goals,' effectiveness in supporting farmer income,' political feasibility,' and strength of the linkage between conservation practices and income payments. Based on this analysis, CSP is the best option for the farm bill, because it is a compromise approach to achieving the goals of this analysis. This evaluation is presented as a policy analysis in order to provide a systematic technique for identifying solutions to current farm policy problems. The elements of a policy analysis traditionally include formulating a problem, identifying policy alternatives, forecasting the future, modeling the impacts of alternatives, and comparing and ranking the policy alternatives.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Wojciech Łysek

The article discusses the life and work of the outstanding Sovietologist Richard Pipes, who was born in a Polonized Jewish family in Polish Cieszyn. After an adventurous trip to the United States in 1939 and 1940, he graduated in history from Harvard University and devoted himself to scientific work. For the next half a century, Pipes dealt with the historical and contemporary aspects of Russia. In his numerous publications, including more than 20 monographs, he emphasised that the Soviet Union continued rather than broke with the political practice of tsarist Russia. In his professional work, he thus contested views prevailing among American researchers and society. From the 1960s, Pipes was involved in political activities. He was sceptical about détente, advocating more decisive actions towards the Soviet Union. Between 1981 and 1983, he was the director of the Department of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the National Security Council in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Although retiring in 1996, he did not give up his scientific activity. Pipes died on 17 May 2018; according to his last will, his private book collection of 3,500 volumes has been donated to the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1942602X2110587
Author(s):  
Gina K. Alexander ◽  
Donald R. Grannum

Garden-based learning promotes environmental awareness, health, and wellness across the school community and beyond. In this article, we review the literature on the benefits of school gardening and describe firsthand experiences for garden success. By sharing lessons learned, our aim is to inspire school nurses to join forces with like-minded teachers and staff or take the lead to build capacity in their school for gardening and a green culture dedicated to the conservation of natural resources.


Author(s):  
Guillermo Wilde

The Jesuits have impacted the history of colonial Latin America as have few other religious orders. Founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and a group of companions, the Society of Jesus defined its profile from the beginning as an order devoted to apostolic activity, especially through missions, and education, which led it to promote new forms of preaching and teaching. Its expansion in the world coincides with the Catholic Counter-Reformation fostered by the Council of Trent (1545–1563), in which the Jesuits had a decisive participation. The growth and expansion of the order in Latin America was rapid and continuous. The first Jesuits arrived in Brazil in 1549, in Peru in 1568, and in Mexico in 1572, and they soon became involved in the main religious, social, economic, and political activities of each region. They founded numerous colleges and residences in the most important cities and dozens of missions, or reducciones, villages among the indigenous populations living on the so-called borderlands of the colonial domains of Spain and Portugal. The several Jesuit establishments in Latin America were territorially organized into provinces, which maintained constant and fluid communication with the headquarters of the order in Rome, where its highest authority, the superior general, resided. Demands by local governments, an increase in the number of operarios, and an expansion of the political and ecclesiastical jurisdictions led to the establishment of new Jesuit provinces in the 17th century, most especially that of Paraguay, which became one of the most famous in Latin America. Each province was staffed by both priests and coadjutor brothers (lay Jesuits who had not completed their training) from different European countries, mainly Spain, as well as Creoles and mestizos born in America. Both internally and externally, the writing of documents of different types served as a central instrument of communication and government of the various Jesuit establishments. This abundance of documents produced is why the corpus of research of the Jesuit order in Latin America is profuse.


PMLA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 698-701
Author(s):  
Anadeli Bencomo

Carlos Fuentes, like many other writers of the Boom, discussed his peers' unprecedented renovation of Latin American narrative forms—specifically, the novel (e.g., Donoso; Vargas Llosa). In La nueva novela hispanoamericana (1969; “The New Spanish American Novel”), Fuentes reviews the most influential novels of the 1960s after presenting some of the founders of the literary modernity that preceded the Boom: Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Miguel Angel Asturias, and Alejo Carpentier. Fuentes focuses on the Boom's protagonists—Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, and Julio Cortázar—to highlight his ideas about the groundbreaking contributions of these novels.


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