scholarly journals Beyond "natural-disasters-are-not-natural": the work of state and nature after the 2010 earthquake in Chile

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Gould ◽  
M. Magdalena Garcia ◽  
Jacob A.C. Remes
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Post Disaster ◽  
State Nature

Since the 1970s, human ecologists, geographers, Marxian political economists and others have insisted that there is no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. This assertion opened a space not only for exploring socioeconomic conditions that render marginalized populations vulnerable to natural hazards, but also for the formation of a field, the political ecology of hazards. A few political ecologists further interrogated the idea of a natural disaster, asking how different notions of 'the natural' circulate in post-disaster politics and with what effects. This article extends the latter approach by documenting how interconnected categories of 'nature' and 'state' were mutually constituted by narratives of politicians and elites after Chile's 2010 earthquake and tsunami. Drawing on media reports, we identify three distinct pairings of state/nature: (1) nature as manageable and the state as manager; (2) nature as out of control and the state as a police state; and (3) nature as financial opportunity and the state as prudential. Influenced by socioeconomic and historical factors, these state/nature pairings contradicted and reinforced one another in the disaster's aftermath and were deployed to reinforce top-down—rather than democratic—strategies of post-disaster reconstruction. This case offers an unusual approach to disaster politics by tracing how entwined and power-laden categories of state and nature condition the governance of disaster reconstruction processes.Key words: disaster, state, nature, socionature, political ecology of hazards, media disaster, earthquake, Latin America, Chile, 27F

Devbans, Caste, Gender and the State:Political Ecology of a Sacred Grove of Himachal Pradesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 239448112110203
Author(s):  
Supriya Rani ◽  
Neera Agnimitra
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Himachal Pradesh ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Sacred Grove ◽  
Probability Of Survival ◽  
The Social

Devbans are the parts of forest territory that have been traditionally conserved in reverence to the local deities in various parts of Himachal Pradesh. Today, they stand at the intersection of tradition and modernity. This paper endeavours to study the political ecology of a Devban in the contemporary times by looking at the power dynamics between various stakeholders with respect to their relative decision making power in the realm of managing the Devban of Parashar Rishi Devta. It further looks at howcertain political and administrative factors can contribute towards the growth or even decline of any Devban. The study argues that in the contemporary times when the capitalist doctrines have infiltrated every sphere of the social institutions including the religion, Devbans have a greater probability of survival when both the state and the community have shared conservatory idealsand powers to preserve them.

scholarly journals Does the post-disaster resilient city really exist?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeliki Paidakaki ◽  
Frank Moulaert
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Housing Production ◽  
Urban Political Ecology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Governance Models ◽  
Post Disaster

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of “resilience” by disentangling the contentious interactions of various parameters that define and guide resilience trajectories, such as the physical infrastructure, socio-spatial inequalities, path dependencies, power relationships, competing discourses and human agency. This socio-political reconstruction of “resilience” is needed for two reasons: the concept of resilience becomes more responsive to the complex realities on the ground, and the discussion moves toward the promotion of more dynamic recovery governance models that can promote socially just allocated redundancy in housing actions, which could be seen as a key to incubating resilience. Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that mobilizes theories of urban political ecology, social innovation and housing with the aim to examine the tensions between various discourses that steer housing production during post-disaster recovery processes, and put a spotlight on the heterogeneity in the transformative capacity of the various actors, institutions and visions of housing systems that preexist or emerge in the post-disaster city. This heterogeneity of actors (i.e. growth coalitions, neighborhood associations and housing cooperatives) consequently leads the discussion toward the investigation of “new” roles of the state in formulating relevant disaster governance models and housing (re)construction systems. FindingsThe initial stress produced by a natural event is often extended because of long-term unmet housing needs. The repercussion of this prolonged stress is a loss of social progress partly due to the reiterated oppression of alternative housing production propositions. In this paper, the authors conclude that an asset-based community development approach to recovery can provide an antidote to the vicious cycles of social stress by opening up diverse housing options. This means that the recovery destiny is not predetermined according to pre-set ideas but is molded by the various bottom-up dynamics that democratically sketch the final socially desirable reconstruction outcome(s). Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is twofold. By using theoretical insights from urban political ecology, housing studies and social innovation, the paper first builds up onto the current reconstruction of the notion of disaster resilience. Second, by identifying a heterogeneity of “social resilience cells”, the paper leads the discussion toward the investigation of the “new” role of the state in formulating relevant recovery governance models. In this respect, the paper builds a narrative of social justice in terms of the redistribution of resources and the cultivation of empowerment across the various housing providers who struggle for their right to the reconstruction experiment.

A Tradition Co-opted: Participatory Development and Authoritarian Rule in Sudan

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Mahé
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Participatory Development ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Sudan I

AbstractThe concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous, potentially threatening—as it can be connected to democratic ideals—and it also can be used as a resource, a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power and reveals the tensions that exist between institutional levels.

Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities of Agents Invested with Functions of an International Interest

1931 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Preuss
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Way

Recent tendencies toward the reduction of diplomatic privileges and immunities have been justified by the decreasing importance of the causes which have contributed to their establishment in their present exaggerated extent. The traditional distrust of diplomatic missions as instruments of espionage and intrigue has all but vanished, and has been supplanted by an appreciation of their functions as agencies for facilitating the pacific intercourse of states. The scrupulousness with which the diplomatic character is now respected and the growing security of the legal order in most states make possible a reduction of diplomatic prerogatives without jeopardizing the successful and independent fulfillment of the mission which it is their purpose to secure. The widest pretensions to exemption from the authority of the receiving state were advanced at precisely those times in which diplomats were in practice subjected to the greatest amount of interference and control. Doctrines of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, inspired by a reaction against contemporary conditions, have been incorporated into the customary law, which has lost its raison d'Ure to the extent that the historical factors which influenced its growth are no longer operative. The need of the envoy for independence exists today no less than formerly, but it no longer requires, as a condition of its guarantee, that complete immunity from the law and jurisdiction of the receiving state which has found a figurative expression in the fiction of exterritoriality. As a subject involving few of the political factors which have thus far proved to be insurmountable obstacles in the way of codification, the law of diplomatic privileges and immunities is eminently suited for restatement and amendment in the form of a general convention. Such a restatement, if it is not to be retrogressive, must be based upon the conception that the receiving state has rights, and the sending state duties, which are correlative to the obligations of the state of residence and the rights of the appointing state, alone emphasized in the existing law.

A Political Ecology Perspective on Environmental Change in Malawi with the Blantyre Fuelwood Project Area as a Case Study

1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezekiel Kalipeni ◽  
Deborah Feder
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Passive Resistance ◽  
Local Opposition ◽  
Forestry Policies

This article examines deforestation-induced environmental change in the Southern Region of Malawi. The political ecology approach is used to critique this change, assessing how colonial and postcolonial forestry policies affected the landscape. It is argued that non-participatory, “top-down” government programs disempowered Malawi's peoples and allowed the environment to degrade. The Blantyre Fuelwood Project shows how the politics of land use predicate environmental change. It is argued that government implemented, “top-down” approaches failed because they did not integrate local communities. The result has been local opposition to government programs, passive resistance, and deteriorating environmental conditions. The article critiques Malawi's forestry policies since colonial times, analyzes the political ecology of the Blantyre Fuelwood Project, and concludes with the hope that newly implemented “bottom-up” programs that incorporate local communities will make Malawi's environment more sustainable.

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