scholarly journals The political ontology of protected area co-management: worlding and nature perceptions among stakeholders

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Gambon ◽  
Patrick Bottazzi

Political ontology reveals the processes of domination at play in the enactment of realities in a(post-) colonial context. In this article, we illustrate the implications of the power asymmetries inherent in conservation and co-management of protected areas involving Indigenous populations. We do so by exploring the case of Pilón Lajas in the Bolivian Amazon region, an area with double legal status as an Indigenous Territory and Biosphere Reserve. Drawing from our ethnographic fieldwork, we describe how indigenous relational ontology and the modern ontology of 'cultural diversity' are enacted by different stakeholders, and analyse critically the problems that arise for protected area management owing to the domination of a single ontology in a context where different ontologies are enacted. We finish by presenting our argument that solving such problems requires a cognitive justice approach.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Burman

Abstract Taking Boaventura de Sousa Santos' argument that there is no global social justice without global cognitive justice as its starting point, this article suggests that there is no global climate justice without global cognitive justice (implying both ontological justice and epistemological justice). If we take "the ontological turn" in anthropology and other disciplines and its focus on indigenous ontologies seriously, however, we seem to end up in a situation that is difficult to maneuver in relation to conventional understandings of climate justice. When discussing climate change in relation to multiple ontologies, there are two risks: 1) reproducing what I call "the coloniality of reality", arguing that indigenous ontologies are actually nothing but a cultural (mis-) representation of the world; 2) reproducing a conservative relativism that leads to nothing but the maintenance of status quo and that bears a resemblance to climate change denial. A thorough ethnographic understanding of what I would call "the moral meteorology" of the Andes and a broadened understanding of climate change, however, make it possible to navigate between the Scylla of coloniality and the Charybdis of relativism and to articulate a radical critique of fossil-fueled capitalism from a relational ontology, demanding climate justice while denouncing coloniality, and discussing the political ontology of climate change without ignoring its political ecology - and vice versa. Key words: Coloniality; climate justice; cognitive justice; political ontology; political ecology; Aymara


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-133
Author(s):  
Hamid Mavani

The polyvalent Qur’anic text lends itself to multiple interpretations, dependingupon one’s presuppositions and premises. In fact, Q. 3:7 distinguishesbetween muḥkam (explicit, categorical) and mutashābih (metaphorical, allegorical,symbolic) verses. As such, this device provides a way for reinterpretingverses that outwardly appear to be problematic – be it in the area ofgender equality, minority rights, religious freedom, or war. However, manyof the verses dealing with legal provisions in such areas as devotional matters,marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance and bequest, and specific punishmentsappear to be unequivocal, categorical, and explicit. As such, scholarshave devised certain hermeneutical strategies to situate and contextualizethese verses in a particular socio-historical context, as well as to emphasizethat they were in conversation with the society to which the Qur’an was revealedand thereby underlining the “performative” (p.15) nature of the relationshipbetween the Qur’an and the society.No verse is more problematic, in the sense that it offends contemporarysensibilities and is quite difficult to reconcile with an egalitarian worldviewwhen dealing with gender issues, than Q. 4:34, which allows the husband todiscipline his wife if he deems her guilty of nushūz (e.g., disobedience, intransigence,sexual lewdness, aloofness, dislike or hatred of himself). AyeshaChaudhry undertakes a study of this challenging verse by engaging the corpusof literature in Arabic from the classical period to the seventeenth century; shealso includes Urdu and English sources for the post-colonial period.She starts off by relating her personal journey from a state of discomfortand puzzlement when she first came across this verse in middle school to adefensive posture in trying to convince herself by invoking the Prophet’scompassion toward his wives and in cherishing the idea that the Qur’an gavemore rights to women than either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament.She began a more rigorous and nuanced study of this verse after equippingherself with the necessary academic tools and analytic skills during her universitystudies. Frustrated with the shallow responses and the scholars’ circumspectionas regards any creative and novel reading of the verse for fearof losing their status in the community, she decided to do so herself with thehope of discovering views that would promote an egalitarian reading ...


Author(s):  
Rita Fulco

AbstractThe aim of my article is to relate Roberto Esposito’s reflections on Europe to his more recent proposal of instituent thought. I will try to do so by focusing on three theoretical cornerstones of Esposito’s thought: the first concerns the evidence of a link between Europe, philosophy and politics. The second is deconstructive: it highlights the inadequacy of the answers of the most important contemporary ontological-political paradigms to the European crisis, as well as the impossibility of interpreting this crisis through theoretical-political categories such as sovereignty. The third relates more directly to the proposal of a new political ontology, which Esposito defines as instituent thought. Esposito’s discussion of political theology is the central theoretical nucleus of this study. This discussion will focus, in particular, on the category of negation, from which any political ontology that is based on pure affirmativeness or absolute negation is criticized. In his opinion, philosophical theories developed on the basis of these assumptions have proved to be incomplete or ineffective in relation to the current European and global philosophical and political crisis. Esposito therefore perceives the urgent need to propose a line of thought that is neither negatively destituent (post-Heideggerian), nor affirmatively constituent (post-Deleuzian, post-Spinozian), but instituent (neo-Machiavellian), capable of thinking about order through conflict (the affirmative through the negative). Provided that we do not think of the institution statically–in a conservative sense–but dynamically, as constant instituting in which conflict can become an instrument of a politics increasingly inspired by justice.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-55
Author(s):  
Nathan Schlanger

Together with the welcome insights they have brought to the matters at hand, the archaeological dialogues here engaged have certainly made me appreciate where my claims could be modified and my arguments amplified. Since I have already been taxed with a questionable insistence on setting the record straight, and with a penchant for academically coup de poing-ing my way through the archaeological establishment and its established historiography, I may as well persevere and thank the commentators for helping me grasp the following key point: what has been motivating a substantial part of my investigations, I can now better specify, is a growing unease with the well-established paradigm of ‘colonial vindication’. This is not, let me hasten to add, a reference to the genuine injustice done to those indigenous populations whose pasts have been expropriated and denigrated by the colonizing powers (i.e. Trigger's sense of ‘colonial archaeology’). Likewise, there is obviously no denying that the globalization of archaeology in the colonial and post-colonial eras has entailed considerable intellectual and institutional struggles, alongside innumerable power games, financial calculations and scientific compromises – and here Shepherd is surely right to give as example the ‘cradle of humanity’, a shifting zone whose ideological, diplomatic and economic potential Smuts had already fully sized in the 1930s (cf. Schlanger 2002b, 205–6). Rather, what I wish here to open to scrutiny is this apparently long-standing notion that South African archaeology has been systematically ‘done down’, ‘passed over’ and ‘badly used’ (Shepherd's terms) by the metropole – making it quite evident that its history, if not its ethos, should be primarily geared towards securing due recognition and redress.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-307
Author(s):  
Barbara Mielnik

Abstract The Nile, one of the longest rivers in the world, has not been subjected to a uniform legal regime yet, despite the pressing needs. The hitherto proposals presented by the riparian states of the lower and upper reaches have not been unanimously accepted. Egypt and Sudan face particular difficult situation since the Nile river is their main source of water supply. It is argued that the lack of necessary coordination among all the States in the basin may in the future lead to significant damage and consequences both in terms of access to water and its quality. This short study critically examines past and present initiatives undertaken to solve one of the most controversial aspects of international law in Africa.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Sahagún-Sánchez ◽  
José Arturo De-Nova

Abstract: Studies on biological diversity are essential to generate baseline information in natural protected areas. In the present study, we developed a multi-taxonomic inventory in the Sierra del Abra Tanchipa Biosphere Reserve, located northeast of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Systematic samplings were performed between January 2017 to May 2018, for the taxonomic groups of flora, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. A total of 3 730 records of 683 species were obtained, corresponding to 427 species of flora, 10 of amphibians, 20 of reptiles, 192 of birds, and 34 of mammals, from which 47 species are threatened. The results obtained represent the critical biodiversity that can be found in this natural protected area. The information will be useful for decision-making on the management and conservation of biodiversity in the Sierra Madre Oriental’s ecological corridor.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Harryson Júnio Lessa Gonçalves ◽  
Antônio Hilário Aguilera Urquiza

 O artigo tem como objetivo descrever, a partir de documentos curriculares, o processo de planificação dos currículos regionalizados do Estado Plurinacional da Bolívia. Para tanto, tem como objetivos específicos: a) identificar a organização e estrutura o sistema educacional boliviano a partir de algumas características sociais, histórica e econômicas; b) identificar pressupostos teóricos que consubstanciam a reforma curricular boliviana; c) descrever a organização curricular de Matemática no ensino secundário (Ensino Médio) viabilizada pelos currículos bolivianos. A investigação foi desenvolvida a partir de documentos curriculares que, pressupomos, são pouco conhecidos no Brasil e, por isso, como estratégia para afirmação da identidade latino-americana no Brasil. Assim, o estudo foi produzido a partir de pesquisa bibliográfica (artigos sobre ensino de Matemática na Bolívia) e documental (análise de documentos e currículos oficiais da Bolívia). Desse modo, nos consubstanciamos em um referencial teórico pós-colonial. O currículo analisado nos revelou um compromisso com a educação centrada em aspectos antropológicos que toma o conhecimento como histórica e socialmente posicionado a partir da diversidade cultural, valorizando, assim, saberes providos de povos indígenas originários; percebemos, ainda, um currículo distanciado de bases conceituais e epistemológicas preconizadas pela comunidade internacional de educadores matemáticos.Palavras-chave: Currículo de matemática. Bolívia. Educação boliviana.INTRA/INTERCULTURAL CURRICULA IN BOLIVIA: mathematics and the post-colonial perspective Abstract: The article aims to describe, from curricular documents, the process of planning the region's curriculum, of the Sate of Plurinational of Bolivia. To do so, it has specific objectives: a) to identify the organization and structure of the Bolivian educational system based on some social, historical and economic characteristics; b) to identify theoretical assumptions that underpin Bolivian curricular reform; c) describe the curricular organization of Mathematics in secondary education (Middle School) made possible by Bolivian curriculum. For that, the research was developed from curricular documents that, we assume, are little known in Brazil and, therefore, as a strategy for affirming the Latin American identity in Brazil. Thus, the study was produced from bibliographical research (articles on teaching Mathematics in Bolivia) and documentary (analysis of official documents and curricula from Bolivia). Therefore, we are based on a post-colonial theoretical framework. The curriculum analyzed showed us a commitment to education centered on anthropological aspects that takes knowledge as historical and socially positioned from cultural diversity, thus valuing the knowledge provided by native indigenous peoples; We also notice, a curriculum distanced from the conceptual and epistemological bases advocated by the international community of mathematical educators.Keywords: Mathematics curriculum. Bolivia. Bolivian education. CURRÍCULOS INTRA/INTERCULTURAL EN BOLIVIA: la matemática y la perspectiva post-colonial Resumen: El objetivo del artículo es describir, a partir los documentos curriculares, el proceso de planificación de los currículo regionalizados del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. Para ello, tenemos como objetivos específicos: a) identificar la organización y estructura del sistema educativo boliviano a partir de algunas características sociales, históricas y económicas; b) identificar los fundamentos teóricos que aportan la reforma curricular boliviana; ci) describir la organización curricular de Matemáticas en la educación secundaria viabilizada por los currículos bolivianos. La investigación fue desarrollada a partir de documentos curricular que, presumimos, son poco conocidos en Brasil y, por eso, se presenta como estrategia para la afirmación de la identidad latinoamericana en Brasil. Así, el estudio fue producido a partir de investigación bibliográfica (artículos sobre Enseñanza de Matemáticas en Bolivia) y documental (análisis de documentos y currículos oficiales de Bolivia). De ese modo, nos basamos en un marco teórico pos-colonial. El currículo analizado nos reveló un compromiso con la educación centrada en aspectos antropológicos que parte de un conocimiento histórico y socialmente posicionado a partir de la diversidad cultural, valorando los saberes provenientes de pueblos indígenas originarios; Percibimos también un currículo distanciado de bases conceptuales y epistemológicas preconizadas por la comunidad internacional de educadores matemáticos.Palabras clave: Currículo de matemática. Bolivia. Educación boliviana.               


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Quisumbing King

A perennial question in the scholarship of the state asks how states rule and expand their capacity to do so. Scholars have paid special attention to activities that rationalize and build administrative capacity, known as legibility projects. Alongside these projects, state actors also rule through ambiguous and unclear techniques that have been given less scholarly attention. I introduce the concept of institutionalized ambiguity in legal status to extend the study of state rule. I ask what generates ambiguity, what purposes it serves in law and policy, and what consequences it has for the management of populations. I propose an analytic approach that draws attention to equivocation in law as enabling classificatory debates and discretion in the political realm. To illustrate the purchase of institutionalized ambiguity in legal status, I analyze how, during the years of formal imperial rule (1898-1946), U.S. state actors debated the racial fitness and membership of Filipinos in the imagined U.S. nation. I consider the broader implications of this analysis for scholars of modern state formation and suggest that foundational conflicts over national identity can be institutionalized in law, in turn facilitating a range of contradictory, but co-existing, legally defensible policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Michael Marshall ◽  
Colin Thomas Strine ◽  
Max Dolton Jones ◽  
Taksin Artchawakom ◽  
Ines Silva ◽  
...  

Abstract A species’ spatial ecology has direct implications for that species’ conservation. Far-ranging species may be more difficult to conserve because their movements increase their chances of encountering humans. The movements can take them out of protected areas, which is especially risky for species that are routinely persecuted. The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), a large venomous elapid, is subject to anthropogenic pressures, such as persecution and habitat loss. Here we present results from a study using radio telemetry to quantify movements and habitat use of nine king cobras in and around a protected area in Northeast Thailand. This study is the first investigation into the movements and habitat use of king cobras outside of the Western Ghats, India. On average, the tracked king cobra’s use areas of 493.42 ± 335.60 ha (95% fixed kernel), moving 183.24 ± 82.63 m per day. King cobras did not remain in intact forested area. Five of the individuals frequently used the human-dominated agricultural areas surrounding the protected area, appearing to make regular use of irrigation canals. Two adult males showed increases in movements during the breeding season. One male’s increased breeding season range caused him to venture beyond the protected area, shifting his habitat use from intact forests to scrub in human-dominated areas. King cobras’ large home range and willingness to use anthropogenic landscapes merits special consideration from conservation planners.


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