A political ecology of non-human subject making in forest conservation

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-174
Author(s):  
Amrita Sen
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Subject Making

scholarly journals Beyond subject-making: Conflicting humanisms, class analysis, and the “dark side” of Gramscian political ecology

2022 ◽  
pp. 030913252110564
Author(s):  
Jostein Jakobsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Class Analysis ◽  
Subject Making

This article examines conflicting conceptualizations of the human subject in political ecology and geography: Foucauldian views of “subject-making” and Gramscian views of “the person”. While Foucauldian work holds that the more complete exertion of power, the more coherent subject-making, Gramscian historical–geographical perspectives counter that, the more complete exertion of power, the more incoherent persons and their class-based collectivities. Outlining incongruities between these approaches, I argue that the “dark side” of Gramscian political ecology—with its emphasis on incoherence and fracture–allows geographers new nuance in understanding the human subject, although not without challenges to the actual writing of such scholarship.

scholarly journals Theoretical frameworks in political ecology and participatory nature/forest conservation: the necessity for a heterodox approach and the critical moment

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Research Tool ◽  
Moment Analysis ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Critical Moment ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Key Events

In this paper I review the major theoretical approaches to political ecology, and then introduce a research tool. The critical moment is a noticeable historical instance or interaction. Given the fluidity in the theoretical frameworks of political ecology and the growing dominance of participatory discourse, exploring critical moments provides a foundation for a heterodox approach to explaining human/society/nature relations. It is a way to uncover the multidimensional interpretation of power involving environmental actors, struggles, and key events. One of the key research areas for political ecology is the conservation of nature and forest environments, and the use of the critical moment is explored in these.Key words: Political ecology, critical moment analysis, conservation, Bangladesh

Political ecology III: Who are ‘the people’?

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 981-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Loftus
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Authoritarian Populism ◽  
The People ◽  
The Subject

Since its inception, political ecology has marshalled a variety of different understandings of the human subject. Confronted with the challenges of authoritarian populism, as well as the provocations of the Anthropocene, being explicit about such conceptualisations is increasingly necessary. In this third report, I review recent conceptualisations of the subject, beginning with how ‘the people’ have been invoked in authoritarian populist discourses. I then contrast such a perspective with the situated social subjects of everyday political ecology before considering the challenges posed to notions of a sovereign human subject. I conclude with a discussion of political ecological persons in praxis.

The Judicial Fix for Forest Loss: The Godavarman Case and the Financialization of India’s Forests

2021 ◽  
pp. 097317412110619
Author(s):  
Manju Menon ◽  
Kanchi Kohli
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Approval Process ◽  
Supreme Court Of India ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Supreme Court

In India, the setting up of large projects in forest areas can be undertaken only after government permission is obtained under the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) of 1980. Today, this approval process includes the enumeration and valuation of forest loss, and the financing of compensatory afforestation schemes to offset the loss. These procedures were designed through the orders and judgements of the Supreme Court of India in a set of cases that started in 1995 and continue to this day. These procedures are purportedly aimed to protect and restore forest ecologies in India. In this article we analyse the Supreme Court’s processes and orders between 1996 and 2006 which transformed the political ecology of forests in India. The judicial and expert discourses treated forest regulation and conservation as a techno-managerial exercise, separating it from social-ecological concerns such as historical dispossession of Adivasis and other forest-dependent people, and violent state suppression of diverse forms of forest management. The judicial interventions are instructive to understand the policy processes of green neoliberalism and the implications of the financialization of forests on environmental governance in India.

scholarly journals Forest Conservation in Madagascar: Past, Present, Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia P G Jones ◽  
Sarobidy Rakotonarivo ◽  
Julie Hanta Razafimanahaka
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

To be published in the upcoming book The New Natural History of Madagascar, edited by S. M. Goodman, published by Princeton University Press.At this critical time for the future of Madagascar’s biodiversity, we first review the past: touching upon conservation from pre- to post-colonial periods before focusing on the period which most dramatically shaped the country’s current conservation-related institutions and policies (1984-2009). Next the present: we examine evidence for the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the main approaches to forest conservation on the island. We look in detail at how conservation has conceptualized the link between environment and development in Madagascar, the impact of measures by conservationists to transform rural livelihoods, and the effectiveness of protected areas, community-based natural resources management, and the environmental impact assessment legislation. Finally, we look to the future and consider how pressures on Madagascar’s biodiversity, and the conservation community’s responses, are evolving and need to evolve. This is, of course, hugely ambitious. We are attempting to cover a significant chunk of history for a diverse mini-continent. We bring in literature from anthropology, political ecology, economics, and conservation science. We can only hope to do this incompletely.

scholarly journals Impacts of Participatory Forest Management on Community Livelihood: Case study of Kereita forest Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Leah Gichuki
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Participatory Forest Management ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

<p>Since the 1990s there has been an increasing shift in the management of natural resources from state control to participatory approaches. Many developing countries, including Kenya, have promoted participatory forest management (PFM) as a strategy for enhancing forest conservation and the sustainable use of forest resources through community participation. Drawing on a case study of the Kereita forest, in the central highlands of Kenya, this research explores the impact of PFM on community livelihood. Using a post-structural political ecology approach and qualitative research methods, I conducted and analysed 18 semi-structured interviews.  Results indicate that the implementation of PFM has changed how the community access forest products. PFM, through processes of inclusion and exclusion, has had both positive and negative effects on community livelihoods. New opportunities were opened, for instance, increased awareness about forest conservation led to a women’s group developing alternative livelihood pathways. In contrast, the development of a new eco-lodge disrupted community plans to rehabilitate that area.   This case study also reflected other critiques of PFM in terms of who holds ultimate authority; ultimately, the government retained a lot of control in forest management, and PFM processes have concentrated power with the government and channelled certain livelihood outcomes that benefit the already wealthy. These uneven power relations between the community and the government produce and perpetuate conflicts in implementing PFM hence hampering livelihood improvement. Furthermore, I argue that PFM has created and embedded both visible and invisible boundaries – through fences and permits, for instance – that regulate what takes place where, and who accesses what. To sustain the development of good community livelihoods through PFM, this research calls for continued interrogations of power imbalances within current PFM structures.</p>

scholarly journals Impacts of Participatory Forest Management on Community Livelihood: Case study of Kereita forest Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Leah Gichuki
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Forest Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Participatory Forest Management ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

<p>Since the 1990s there has been an increasing shift in the management of natural resources from state control to participatory approaches. Many developing countries, including Kenya, have promoted participatory forest management (PFM) as a strategy for enhancing forest conservation and the sustainable use of forest resources through community participation. Drawing on a case study of the Kereita forest, in the central highlands of Kenya, this research explores the impact of PFM on community livelihood. Using a post-structural political ecology approach and qualitative research methods, I conducted and analysed 18 semi-structured interviews.  Results indicate that the implementation of PFM has changed how the community access forest products. PFM, through processes of inclusion and exclusion, has had both positive and negative effects on community livelihoods. New opportunities were opened, for instance, increased awareness about forest conservation led to a women’s group developing alternative livelihood pathways. In contrast, the development of a new eco-lodge disrupted community plans to rehabilitate that area.   This case study also reflected other critiques of PFM in terms of who holds ultimate authority; ultimately, the government retained a lot of control in forest management, and PFM processes have concentrated power with the government and channelled certain livelihood outcomes that benefit the already wealthy. These uneven power relations between the community and the government produce and perpetuate conflicts in implementing PFM hence hampering livelihood improvement. Furthermore, I argue that PFM has created and embedded both visible and invisible boundaries – through fences and permits, for instance – that regulate what takes place where, and who accesses what. To sustain the development of good community livelihoods through PFM, this research calls for continued interrogations of power imbalances within current PFM structures.</p>

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