scholarly journals Understanding Poverty-Environment Relationship from Sustainable Development Perspectives

Author(s):  
Jeetesh Rai

Many observers conceptualize the environment-poverty link as “downward spiral,” with population growth and social exclusion leading to environmental deterioration. However, recent micro and small scale existential study challenges this model, showing striking heterogeneity in natural resource management by the poor, including display of their success in adapting to environmental change and the efficacy of policies in affecting outcomes. Using both conceptual and empirical material, this article aims to assess the poverty-environment relationship.  I will specifically examine criticisms of the “poverty causes environmental degradation” approach, arguing that recent scholarly work on the complex web of factors involved in the poverty-environment nexus provides a more useful toolkit for assessing the poverty-environment link in local places.  I will conclude by analyzing how policies can more effectively address the interrelationship between poverty and environmental degradation, highlighting promising areas of impact.

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Sarpong

Small-scale mining in Ghana has been proclaimed as a net contributor to local economies in many scholarly works. Many writeups have lauded the significant contributions these miners have made or are making in terms of poverty alleviation. Quite significantly too, other commentaries have dwelt on the environmental degradation the miners effect on the communities within which they operate. Such activities have led to the destruction of forest areas, the creation of dangerous pits and diversion of rivers. Besides, the incessant use of mercury in the course of mining has also led to serious consequences for their host communities. This article, however, sets out to explore an aspect of small-scale mining operations which is yet to see much scholarly work, perhaps due to its surreptitious manner. It looks at the rituals that permeate the workings of these miners in order to tilt the tides of fortune in their favour and how such determination is leading them to the cauldron of spiritual elements in order to accomplish their objectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanetasya Sabilla

In a rural area, environmental degradation and poverty nexus focuses on the high-dependency of poor people to natural resources-based livelihood. Arguably, limited assets of poor people cause them to be unable to cope with natural resources degradation and to undertake sustainable practice in their livelihood activities. This study attempts to find the nexus between environmental degradation and poverty in the case of coral reef destruction in Indonesia by applying secondary research as a methodology. A sustainable livelihood framework is applied to analyze small-scale fisher people's vulnerability and capacity to destruct. This study finds that small-scale fisher-people have limited assets to cope with coral reef destruction; however, the same condition leads them to destruct coral reef by doing the destructive fishing practice. This condition causes them to be trapped in the downward spiral of environmental degradation and poverty. Moreover, small-scale fisher-people can overcome this problem by developing self-governance common pool resources to conserve coral reef and increase their livelihood sustainability.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajit K. Dalal

The article examines the close nexus between disability and poverty that renders the disabled people the poorest among the poor. It discusses psycho-social and environmental impediments which prevent active participation of the poor with disability in developmental programmes. In this context, the article particularly focuses on social exclusion which nourishes on negative attitudes, prejudices, stigma and discrimination, together with inaccessible physical environment. The poor with disabilities have remained passive targets and recipients, not stakeholders and participants, and as a result they hardly benefit from health, educational and employment schemes and are caught in a vicious downward spiral. It is argued that dealing with psycho-social and physical barriers is an important prerequisite for active participation of the poor with disabilities in the developmental programmes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Redie Bereketeab

This article analyses interlinks between environmental changes, conflicts and sustainable development in the Horn of Africa. It makes an argument for the dialectical correlation between the three variables. It is thus argued that environmental deterioration can lead to conflicts, and environmental deterioration and conflicts can also hamper sustainable development. It is also argued that lack of sustainable development can lead to environmental degradation, which can lead to conflicts. Conflict causes environmental degradation, which hampers development. The article also argues that social structures and socio-economic mode of life impact on environment that either aggravates or mitigates conflicts, affecting sustainable development negatively or positively. The social norms, values and practices these social structures and institutions spawn also impact on environment-conflict-development nexus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Yorgos Christidis

This article analyzes the growing impoverishment and marginalization of the Roma in Bulgarian society and the evolution of Bulgaria’s post-1989 policies towards the Roma. It examines the results of the policies so far and the reasons behind the “poor performance” of the policies implemented. It is believed that Post-communist Bulgaria has successfully re-integrated the ethnic Turkish minority given both the assimilation campaign carried out against it in the 1980s and the tragic events that took place in ex-Yugoslavia in the 1990s. This Bulgaria’s successful “ethnic model”, however, has failed to include the Roma. The “Roma issue” has emerged as one of the most serious and intractable ones facing Bulgaria since 1990. A growing part of its population has been living in circumstances of poverty and marginalization that seem only to deteriorate as years go by. State policies that have been introduced since 1999 have failed at large to produce tangible results and to reverse the socio-economic marginalization of the Roma: discrimination, poverty, and social exclusion continue to be the norm. NGOs point out to the fact that many of the measures that have been announced have not been properly implemented, and that legislation existing to tackle discrimination, hate crime, and hate speech is not implemented. Bulgaria’s political parties are averse in dealing with the Roma issue. Policies addressing the socio-economic problems of the Roma, including hate speech and crime, do not enjoy popular support and are seen as politically damaging.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 772-779
Author(s):  
T.Vinsela Jeev

During the DMK regime many welfare schemes for implemented for women especially. This schemes for developments for socio and economic activities for women. The poor women, widows, physically challenged were benefited their schemes. The government allotted lot of sewing machines, Free school books, Midday meal schemes, Small scale Industry, Self help groups, Boating supply for fisher mans and many women teachers were appointed in Elementary school, Middle school, High schools. Women’s were appointed in police Department and also so many schemes for the development of socio and economic condition of the poor women people.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
He Zhang ◽  
Jingyi Peng ◽  
Dahlia Yu ◽  
Lie You ◽  
Rui Wang

Low-carbon governance at the county level has been an important issue for sustainable development due to the large contributions to carbon emission. However, the experiences of carbon emission governance at the county level are lacking. This paper discusses 5 carbon emission governance zones for 1753 counties. The zoning is formed according to a differentiated zoning method based on a multi-indicator evaluation to judge if the governance had better focus and had formulated a differentiated carbon emission governance system. According to zoning results, there is 1 high-carbon governance zone, 2 medium-carbon governance zones, and 2 low-carbon zones. The extensive high-carbon governance zone and medium-carbon zones are key governance areas, in which the counties are mainly located in the northern plain areas and southeast coastal areas and have contributed 51.88% of total carbon emissions. This paper proposes differentiated governance standards for each indicator of the 5 zones. The differentiated zoning method mentioned in this paper can be applied to other governance issues of small-scale regions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (13) ◽  
pp. 2503-2517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vítor V. Vasconcelos ◽  
Francisco C. Santos ◽  
Jorge M. Pacheco

Global coordination for the preservation of a common good, such as climate, is one of the most prominent challenges of modern societies. In this manuscript, we use the framework of evolutionary game theory to investigate whether a polycentric structure of multiple small-scale agreements provides a viable solution to solve global dilemmas as climate change governance. We review a stochastic model which incorporates a threshold game of collective action and the idea of risky goods, capturing essential features unveiled in recent experiments. We show how reducing uncertainty both in terms of the perception of disaster and in terms of goals induce a transition to cooperation. Taking into account wealth inequality, we explore the impact of the homophily, potentially present in the network of influence of the rich and the poor, in the different contributions of the players. Finally, we discuss the impact of polycentric sanctioning institutions, showing how such a scenario also proves to be more efficient than a single global institution.


Exchange ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri Gooren

AbstractThe central question of this article — why people may change their religious affiliation or become disaffiliated — is relevant from both an academic and a practical point of view. The article makes first an inventory of existing literature on religious conversion. Next I sketch the contours of the new conversion careers approach I am currently working on. I make some comparisons with a region that is not usually mentioned in the literature on conversion: Latin America. These comparisons are based on my earlier fieldwork on Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism, and Mormonism in Costa Rica and Guatemala (H. Gooren, Rich among the Poor: Church, Firm, and Household among Small-scale Entrepreneurs in Guatemala City, Amsterdam: Thela Thesis 1999).


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