scholarly journals THE PANDEMIC AND THE ‘ENVIRONMENTALISATION’ OF GEOGRAPHY. AN EPISTEMIC-POLITICAL CHALLENGE

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (31) ◽  
pp. 65-85
Author(s):  
Marcelo Souza

The purpose of this article is to extract from the COVID-19 pandemic a lesson for geographers: although without intending (or being possible) to simply go back to the past, it is necessary to re-value, nevertheless, the very quintessence of the identity of the geographical discourse, which has been characterised by a way of building epistemic objects that is committed to a dialogue between social research (represented by what we usually call‘human geography’) and natural research (represented by what we usually call ‘physical geography’). This project, presently called ‘environmentalisation,’ does not aim at anything overly ambitious: there is no case here for an exclusionary thesis in the style ‘geography should be this, and nothing else’; in fact, it just defends the idea that an approach such as that of environmental geography, resulting from an attempt at ‘environmentalisation,’ must have its place assured. Environmental geography, being committed to the construction of hybrid epistemic objects, allows us to mobilise the interfaces and knowledge necessary to deal with complex tasks such as the analysis of the short and long-term effects of the pandemic (among many other issues). However, the environmental geography project not only has to deal with intellectual challenges (integrating what knowledge, how and for what purpose?), but, in the end, it must also face political obstacles: the concrete power relations in the academic world and the zeal with which ‘borders’ and ‘territories’ are patrolled and defended, not to mention the resistance of many researchers to leave their thematic and theoretical-methodological comfort zones.

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-210
Author(s):  
Steven M. Ortiz

The conclusion provides some final observations about the longitudinal research itself and its short- and long-term effects on the women involved. It briefly touches on the few areas of the sport marriage that have seen improvement in the past few decades, discusses the conscious decisions the women make to continue normalizing the career-dominated marriage, and reports on how the marriages fared over time. It also describes the women’s personal empowerment as a result of their participation in the research. Finally, it summarizes the advice and suggested keys to a successful sport marriage that the wives in both studies offered, based on their lived experience. This overview essentially describes how and why the wife of a male professional athlete must adapt to realities if she wants her marriage to survive her husband’s career and retirement.


2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunmi Chang ◽  
Valery J. Terwilliger

Researchers in many fields seek to understand the effects of anthropogenic changes in atmospheric chemistry on vegetation distributions. Particularly important needs for information from a pragmatic perspective include (1) relationships between short-and long-term metabolic consequences of pollutant uptake to vegetation distributions, and (2) indirect influences of air pollution on plant-community dynamics. Biogeography would be the appropriate discipline to make the most powerful contributions to these needs. This does not only mean gathering research output to show a broader picture. In addition, it means introducing new approaches from various fields in order to deepen understanding of spatial phenomena in the past and present, and to better predict patterns of the future. We review developments in both reductionist and holistic research approaches that have effectively enhanced knowledge of how atmospheric emissions affect vegetation. Limitations of these approaches are also discussed. We assume that the contributions of Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing to this line of inquiry are sufficiently appreciated by the bio- and physical geography community to be de-emphasized here. Instead, other approaches better known in more specialized disciplines that are leading to powerful insights from a more restricted sector of the biogeographical community are emphasized. A synthetic core role for physical and biogeography that more fully embraces developments in related disciplines is then proposed.


Author(s):  
Lindsey C Bohl

This paper examines a few of the numerous factors that may have led to increased youth turnout in 2008 Election. First, theories of voter behavior and turnout are related to courting the youth vote. Several variables that are perceived to affect youth turnout such as party polarization, perceived candidate difference, voter registration, effective campaigning and mobilization, and use of the Internet, are examined. Over the past 40 years, presidential elections have failed to engage the majority of young citizens (ages 18-29) to the point that they became inclined to participate. This trend began to reverse starting in 2000 Election and the youth turnout reached its peak in 2008. While both short and long-term factors played a significant role in recent elections, high turnout among youth voters in 2008 can be largely attributed to the Obama candidacy and campaign, which mobilized young citizens in unprecedented ways.


Author(s):  
Thomas L. Davies ◽  
Tami F. Wall ◽  
Allan Carpentier

After examination of the research carried out by other agencies, Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation (SHT) embarked on an initiative to adapt low tire pressure technologies to the province's needs and environment. The focus of the initiative was to explore several technical questions from SHT's perspective: (a) Can low tire pressures be used to increase truck weights from secondary to primary without increasing road maintenance costs on thin membrane surface roads? (b) What are the short- and long-term effects of tire heating under high-speed/high-deflection constant reduced pressure (CRP) operations in a Saskatchewan environment? (c) What effects do lower tire pressures have on vehicle stability at highway speeds? To date, significant opportunities have been noted on local hauls (less than 30 min loaded at highway speeds) for CRP operation and long primary highway hauls that begin or end in relatively short secondary highway sections that limit vehicle weight allowed for the whole trip for central tire inflation technology. The background and environment for the initiative and the investigations and demonstrations envisioned and undertaken are briefly outlined.


Author(s):  
Nils Brunsson

This chapter argues that organizational reforms are driven by problems to be addressed, by solutions to be applied, and by forgetfulness. The greater the supply of any of these factors, the more likely it is that reforms will occur. Without problems, reforms are difficult to justify; without solutions they cannot be formulated; and without forgetfulness there is a risk that people will be discouraged by the fact that similar reforms have been tried and have failed in the past. In contemporary large organizations, problems tend to be easily found. Those interested in selling solutions often try to supply problems as well — problems that can be solved by their solutions. Forgetfulness can be promoted by the use of consultants with limited experience of the implementation and long-term effects of reforms. Reforms are also self-referential; they tend to cause new reforms. Thus, reforms can be considered as routines: they are likely to be repeated over and over again.


Author(s):  
Maria Fitzgerald ◽  
Michael W. Salter

The influence of development and sex on pain perception has long been recognized but only recently has it become clear that this is due to specific differences in underlying pain neurobiology. This chapter summarizes the evidence for mechanistic differences in male and female pain biology and for functional changes in pain pathways through infancy, adolescence, and adulthood. It describes how both developmental age and sex determine peripheral nociception, spinal and brainstem processing, brain networks, and neuroimmune pathways in pain. Finally, the chapter discusses emerging evidence for interactions between sex and development and the importance of sex in the short- and long-term effects of early life pain.


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