scholarly journals In the Climate Emergency, Conservation Must Become Survival Ecology

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie J. Gardner ◽  
James M. Bullock
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Planetary System ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Conservation Science ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Conservation Actions

Earth faces a climate emergency which renders conservation goals largely obsolete. Current conservation actions are inadequate because they (i) underplay biodiversity's role in maintaining human civilisation, which contributes to its marginalisation, and (ii) rely on false assumptions of how to catalyse transformative change. We suggest a paradigm shift from biodiversity conservation to survival ecology, refocusing the field on safeguarding a planetary system in which humans and other species can thrive. Rather than seeking to maintain a world which will no longer exist, survival ecology acknowledges unavoidable change and seeks to shape the world that will: it looks to the future, not the past. Since conservation science and advocacy have not been sufficient to achieve the required change, survival ecologists should additionally embrace non-violent civil disobedience.

scholarly journals Public Archaeology: the loss of innocence

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Reuben Grima
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Public Archaeology ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Short Contribution ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Seminal Article ◽  
Lasting Influence ◽  
People Today

In 1973, David Clarke’s seminal article ‘Archaeology: the loss of innocence’ appeared in Antiquity, to herald, epitomise, and articulate a paradigm shift that was reshaping the entire discipline of archaeology as it embraced new tools, methods, and theories. The present short contribution is immeasurably more modest in scope, and only borrows Clarke’s title in homage to his lasting influence. It will argue that the specific domain of action and encounter that we gather under the rubric of Public Archaeology is itself on the cusp of undergoing a ‘loss of innocence’ of a different kind. For the purpose of this conversation, Public Archaeology will be understood in its widest possible sense, to embrace the way people anywhere may relate to the past, and the influence that the past and attitudes to the past may have on the lives of people today. It will consider some of the impacts and consequences of the internet and the World Wide Web, which of course deserve a much more thorough discussion than is possible here, and which should be read as a shorthand for some of the wider sea changes that we are witnessing.

scholarly journals “What Ghosts are Haunting us Today?” Slavoj Žižek’s The Relevance of the Communist Manifesto in Post-Pandemic Capitalist Realism. The Revolutionary Subject and Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
Vlad-Eugen Neagu
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Communist Manifesto ◽  
Global System ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World

However controversial a topic, Marxist thought still remains the most complex tool for the critique of Capitalism. Derrida calls Marxism “hauntological”, always reappearing as a spectre of the past, always quasipresent, but also as a potential lost future. After the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, the relevance of The Communist Manifesto seemed to have slowly waned, in a world that adopted the tenets of Neoliberalism partly as a defense against authoritarian regimes, and partly as a mean to converge toward the countries at the forefront of the global system, that had already accrued a massive lead in economic and social development. The Covid-19 virus has shocked the world to its core, but it remains to be seen whether it has brought about a paradigm shift or it has merely accentuated some of the past problems, while also triggering a kind of forced nostalgia for the apparent normality of a system that was already ridden with issues. Mark Fisher points out that “it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism” (Fisher 1), thus indicating the need for criticism and measures against a neoliberal monopoly on thought itself. As for Žižek’s The Relevance of the Communist Manifesto, it remains to be analyzed whether it can revive the interest in the original text, as to begin compounding a viable alternative for a postpandemic global system that does not yet seem to fully grasp that it is running out of time.

scholarly journals Political Potency and the Impotency of European Sovereignism: Pandemic and Technocracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-178
Author(s):  
Antonio Cantaro
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Intervention ◽  
Social Crisis ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Masses

Abstract The covid-19 pandemic and the parallel economic and social crisis mark both a decline of neoliberal globalisation and a return of public intervention. As many have stated, the economic policy triptych of the past decades – the opening of markets, withdrawal of the state and privatisation – has substantially disappeared from the agendas of governments around the world. The ‘political’, in a sense, is back. But in what sense? Can we talk about a real paradigm shift? The return of the political that we are witnessing manifests itself in the permanence and persistence of the neoliberal anthropology of the masses, which is the legacy of globalism, of the Maastricht order and of its idea of civilisation (even more than its political economy dogmas).

scholarly journals Identifying potential protected areas in the Grassland Biome of South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Prinsloo ◽  
Brian Reilly ◽  
Willem Myburgh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Real World ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Grassland Biome ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Correct Implementation

South Africa is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. The conversion, degradation, and fragmentation of natural habitats have caused a loss of biodiversity in many areas. Grasslands have been widely recognised as important for both biodiversity and economic development. Many conservation efforts have in the past been theory driven, without actionable, feasible results. We hypothesised that correct implementation of the available data will indicate where conservation efforts should be focused to move closer to achieving targets for biodiversity conservation in the Grassland Biome in South Africa. We identified an area (near Heilbron and Petrus Steyn in the Free State) that is representative of the biodiversity in the region and is suitable for modern conservation efforts in the ‘real world’. This approach provides a practical look at conservation in the modern era and a feasible result for conservation efforts.

scholarly journals Speculations on Possible Physical and Cosmical Phenomena in Reference to the Past Conditions of Our Earth

The Geologist ◽  
1863 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 178-183
Author(s):  
S. J. Mackie
Keyword(s):  
Planetary System ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Planetary Orbits ◽  
The World ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Past Conditions

Whenever we begin to think about the formation of the universe we get at once into the realms of speculation, and the only value of our thoughts rests in their probability. In everything unknown we must first form an idea—that is, speculate; then, by partial gatherings of facts, or by positive reasoning, we may theorize. Ultimately, by the accumulation of evidence, we may prove that which, in the first place, we only imagined. When first men observed the sun, they regarded the earth as a flat plain, over which the sun passed in his heavenly course, and below which, at eve, he retired to rest. It was not until many ages had elapsed that the world came to be regarded as round, and even then it was long before the sun was considered as a fixed centre of the planetary system revolving round him.By no nation of ancient times has astronomy been more advanced than the Greeks. Not that the Greeks ever worked out much to a proved result, but they were an imaginative people, and they invented notions. If one theory or speculation was disproved, they invented another; and, hit or miss, they always seemed to have fresh ideas in reserve. In some things astronomical, as in many other things that the world believes in, we may be heretics, and we admit we do not adhere to all the cosmical, physical, geological, and spiritual tenets of the popular faiths. We may not entirely believe in the perfect stability of the universe; we may doubt the eternal endurance of the sun's bright rays; and we may not quite acquiesce in the unchangeable permanence of tne planetary orbits: in short, we do not believe in the permanence of anything whatever in creation. All ever has been change, and changeful all things ever will be. Diversity and change are visible in the first created things of which any relics have been left us.

scholarly journals Biodiversity protection prioritisation: a 25-year review

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Reserve Selection ◽  
Patch Choice ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
Decision Sciences ◽  
The Past ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Further Development

There are insufficient resources available globally, nationally and in many regions, to conserve all species, habitats and ecosystems. Prioritisation of targets or actions is a rational response to resource scarcity. Prioritisation can be directed at areas for reservation, species, habitats or ecosystems for management, and threat management actions. The scale at which prioritisation is applied is a fundamental decision, and the range includes global, national, regional and patch. Choice of scale influences availability of data and methods available for prioritisation. Since 1986 availability of data, computing power and expertise available have all improved globally and in many countries. Approaches to prioritisation have evolved during the past 25 years as researchers from several disciplines, including biology, ecology, decision sciences, mathematics and economics, have sought ways to achieve greater output from the resources available for biodiversity conservation. This review surveys the literature and groups prioritisation approaches into the following four categories: reserves and reserve selection, prescriptive costed biodiversity prioritisation, ranked costed biodiversity projects and contracted costed conservation actions. A concluding section considers the limitations of current prioritisation approaches and points to areas for further development.

A basic introduction to image processing using NIH-Image as a model

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 392-393
Author(s):  
John Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
Image Processing ◽  
Digital Image ◽  
Image Acquisition ◽  
Digital Instrument ◽  
Novice User ◽  
Nih Image ◽  
The Past ◽  
Digital World ◽  
The World ◽  
Instrument Control

Advances in camera technology and digital instrument control have meant that in modern microscopy, the image that was, in the past, typically recorded on a piece of film is now recorded directly into a computer. The transfer of the analog image seen in the microscope to the digitized picture in the computer does not mean, however, that the problems associated with recording images, analyzing them, and preparing them for publication, have all miraculously been solved. The steps involved in the recording an image to film remain largely intact in the digital world. The image is recorded, prepared for measurement in some way, analyzed, and then prepared for presentation.Digital image acquisition schemes are largely the realm of the microscope manufacturers, however, there are also a multitude of “homemade” acquisition systems in microscope laboratories around the world. It is not the mission of this tutorial to deal with the various acquisition systems, but rather to introduce the novice user to rudimentary image processing and measurement.

On the Symbolism of Rain in A Farewell to Arms

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Research Tool ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Farewell To Arms

This paper critically analyzes the symbolic use of rain in A Farewell to Arms (1929). The researcher has applied the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis as a research tool for the analysis of the text. This hypothesis argues that the languages spoken by a person determine how one observes this world and that the peculiarities encoded in each language are all different from one another. It affirms that speakers of different languages reflect the world in pretty different ways. Hemingway’s symbolic use of rain in A Farewell to Arms (1929) is denotative, connotative, and ironical. The narrator and protagonist, Frederick Henry symbolically embodies his own perceptions about the world around him. He time and again talks about rain when something embarrassing is about to ensue like disease, injury, arrest, retreat, defeat, escape, and even death. Secondly, Hemingway has connotatively used rain as a cleansing agent for washing the past memories out of his mind. Finally, the author has ironically used rain as a symbol when Henry insists on his love with Catherine Barkley while the latter being afraid of the rain finds herself dead in it.

Profilometry. Using Corneo-scleral topography for scleral lens fitting

The Eye ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (128) ◽  
pp. 19-22
Author(s):  
Gregory DeNaeyer
Keyword(s):  
Ocular Surface ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Contact Lenses ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Way

The world-wide use of scleral contact lenses has dramatically increased over the past 10 year and has changed the way that we manage patients with corneal irregularity. Successfully fitting them can be challenging especially for eyes that have significant asymmetries of the cornea or sclera. The future of scleral lens fitting is utilizing corneo-scleral topography to accurately measure the anterior ocular surface and then using software to design lenses that identically match the scleral surface and evenly vault the cornea. This process allows the practitioner to efficiently fit a customized scleral lens that successfully provides the patient with comfortable wear and improved vision.

Aftershocks

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seva Gunitsky
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
International System ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sudden Rise ◽  
The World ◽  
National Borders

Over the past century, democracy spread around the world in turbulent bursts of change, sweeping across national borders in dramatic cascades of revolution and reform. This book offers a new global-oriented explanation for this wavelike spread and retreat—not only of democracy but also of its twentieth-century rivals, fascism, and communism. The book argues that waves of regime change are driven by the aftermath of cataclysmic disruptions to the international system. These hegemonic shocks, marked by the sudden rise and fall of great powers, have been essential and often-neglected drivers of domestic transformations. Though rare and fleeting, they not only repeatedly alter the global hierarchy of powerful states but also create unique and powerful opportunities for sweeping national reforms—by triggering military impositions, swiftly changing the incentives of domestic actors, or transforming the basis of political legitimacy itself. As a result, the evolution of modern regimes cannot be fully understood without examining the consequences of clashes between great powers, which repeatedly—and often unsuccessfully—sought to cajole, inspire, and intimidate other states into joining their camps.

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