The political ecology of rising China: Case study of Chinese hydropower dams in Africa and Asia

2017 ◽  
pp. 80-99
Author(s):  
Tan-Mullins May ◽  
Urban Frauke ◽  
Mang Grace
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Hydropower Dams ◽  
Rising China

scholarly journals Writing with Automated Machines: Between Translation and Sabotage

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Ana Marques
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
Evolution Of Technology

A generative text is a system constituted by non-conscious and conscious cognizers, digital and analogue processes, and mathematical and linguistic modes of representation. But how do algorithms cognize? And how is meaning constructed in a system where authorial intentions and readers’ experiences and interpretations are mediated by algorithmic agents? Through the analysis of How It Is In Common Tongues (Cayley and Howe, 2012), I intend to discuss the tensions that arise from the encounter between algorithmic and human cognition, and between the regimes of information and expression. Drawing on Katherine Hayles’ view on the cognitive non-conscious and Claude Shannon’s information theory I will start by establishing a distinction between information and meaning, between communication and expression, and between the regimes of information and of the literary. To reflect on the political ecology of digital mediation (situated in the informational regime of cybernetics), I will consider Matteo Pasquinelli’s perspective on the co-evolution of technology and economics, and discuss how algorithmic cognitive processes embody and reinforce the structures of contemporary cognitive capitalism. Finally, I will discuss the strategies of resistance enabled by aesthetic approaches to computation, such as the ones explored in this case study.

scholarly journals Dancing to China's Tune: Understanding the Impacts of a Rising China through the Political-Ecology Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
May Tan-Mullins
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Great Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
The World ◽  
Rising China

China has become a great power and it is time for us to take centre stage in the world. (President Xi Jinping, 18 October 2017)

An ecology of difference

Focaal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 (47) ◽  
pp. 120-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Escobar
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Politics Of Place ◽  
Politics Of Difference ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Individual

This paper develops a broad conceptualization of what could be called a political ecology of difference. The paper builds on trends in political ecology, the politics of place, and cultural analyses of modern conceptions of nature, rights, and the individual to outline an integrated framework for thinking about difference from the perspective of economic, ecological, and cultural distribution conflicts. The argument is illustrated with a case study from the Pacific rainforest region of Colombia, particularly the political ecology developed by the region’s social movement of black communities; the paper concludes with implications of the framework for thinking about the cultural politics of dominant institutions and their potential transformation along the lines of a politics of difference.

Land Tenure and Biodiversity: An Exploration in the Political Ecology of Murang'a District, Kenya

2003 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Fiona D. Mackenzie
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Relationship

This paper situates the relationship between biodiversity and land tenure in the complex interrelationships between the local and the global. Through a case study of Murang’a District, Kenya, it explores how power is exercised through struggles to define rights to land in highly complex situations of legal plurality and how these struggles in turn interrelate with issues of land management, including biodiversity. Gender, cross-cut by class, is a deeply contested arena of social differentiation, and the outcome of struggles for land, labor, and the product of labor have significant implications for the maintenance of biodiversity.

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.

Kämpfe um Bergbau und die Möglichkeiten demokratischer Transformation

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (189) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Dietz
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Relationship

The article explores the political effects of popular consultations as a means of direct democracy in struggles over mining. Building on concepts from participatory and materialist democracy theory, it shows the transformative potentials of processes of direct democracy towards democratization and emancipation under, and beyond, capitalist and liberal democratic conditions. Empirically the analysis is based on a case study on the protests against the La Colosa gold mining project in Colombia. The analysis reveals that although processes of direct democracy in conflicts over mining cannot transform existing class inequalities and social power relations fundamentally, they can nevertheless alter elements thereof. These are for example the relationship between local and national governments, changes of the political agenda of mining and the opening of new spaces for political participation, where previously there were none. It is here where it’s emancipatory potential can be found.

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