The debate of the control over natural resources is one that has caused a millenia of disputes. Bottled water creates an enigma for Wilk. Some have concern over the unsustainable nature of bottled water as a concept. Others have a concern over the safety of tap water, which incidentally enough, is often the source of bottled water. Communities that have made attempts to reject bottled water, such as the negative reaction to Dasani in the UK, end up stronger because of the dispute. While bottled water is still available in the UK, these communities are strengthened by their ability to organize and reject the corporate intrusion. The concept of “bottled air” was a concept that went viral several years ago. In countries like China where air pollution more days than not creates an uninhabitable atmosphere, bottled clean air is a popular product. While this may sound ridiculous to us, it is no more ridiculous than bottled water. Wilk’s poignant examination of the oddity that is bottled water represents a much larger issue. We have yet to settle who can lay proper claim to natural resources, especially water. Is it ethical for communities upstream to consume water at the cost of communities downstream? Is it ethical for landowners to allow the harvesting and exportation of natural resources if these activities result in environmental degradation in areas beyond the landowner’s holdings? These are the questions that Hardin predicted we would have to resolve. Bottled water is yet again another commons at risk.
Monthly Archives: October 2017
13: Indigenous Initiatives and Petroleum Politics in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Globalization has both direct and indirect effects. Sawyer’s examination of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon highlights how local groups intended to prevent multinational oil companies from polluting their environment. As time went on, the organization of local leaders formed a coalition of international groups aiming to end a pattern too frequently repeated around the world: multinational corporations taking advantage of vulnerable communities. After they realized they could not achieve their desired result through direct negotiation, they turned to more direct, political action. While the oil companies are still very present and powerful in Ecuador, this issue provided a catalyst for organization among the indigenous communities of Ecuador. Throughout much of the history of development, unintended consequences have occurred, at the cost of unachieved intentions. The idea of urban development began as a more efficient way to produce food as resources were pooled so community members could engage in other activities beyond hunting and gathering. The modern community model in place around the world creates a very uneven distribution of resources. As the community has become global, so has this phenomena. In the global community, there is an uneven distribution of wealth, power, and resources. One could argue that this could have been predicted as it is rooted in nature. In all ecosystems, the predator at the top of the food chain controls all of the wealth, power, and resources. The human community is modeled by the natural ecosystem. Those at the bottom of the food chain are rising up, in spite of this, to redistribute.
12: How do we know we have global environmental problems?: Science and the Globalization of Environmental Discourse
Taylor and Buttel agree that environmental issues should not be caught in the net of globalization. Doing so condemns these issues to the same sociological interpretations which do not lend itself to an accurate interpretation of scientific fact. This failure leads to discord surrounding around issues like climate change and natural resource control. Still, as the authors recognize, the interpretation of science has changed, as it should, but in a responsible fashion. As we are, for the first time, facing environmental issues that require complete cooperation among all people, this presents a challenge. Science therefore needs to transcend cultural differences and be universally understood, not only conceptually but a standard valuation of the facts. As we are seeing in many nations, the connection of environmental conservation to other issues has not been done so effectively. This results in a rejection of environmental net-positive actions. Taylor and Buttel’s arguement begs the question, who has the most power. With the Paris Climate Accord, every country has signed on except for the US and Syria. Can the combined force of almost every UN-recognized country force its will or is it subject to the will of the dissenters. More broadly, the authors suggest that the West could learn from the Third World’s mass consensus on climate change. This consensus is likely powered by a general animosity towards the West: the main culprits of climate change, and a realization that they will be disproportionately more affected by a changing climate. Cities, like New York City which has a population larger than many countries, are finding out that they carry their own weight and have emerged as actors on the global environmental politics stage.
11: Endangered Forests, Endangered People: Environmentalist Representations of Indigenous Knowledge
Citizen science has emerged as a way to democratize scientific findings. Not all who make decisions that impact the environment come from a trained scientific background. If the scientific disciplines are to effectively convince policy makers and individual actors to adopt lifestyle changes, they must create a convincing narrative. The plight of scientists of the environment is similar to that plight of the indigenous. Indigenous peoples have always had to work on convincing the non-indigenous that they have a just claim to their existence and their protection. Since those making the policy do not share the same experience, they have to create an effective narrative to convince them to agree to their argument. Scientists, as the voice for the environment, possess the same challenge. In recent history, correlations between destructions of environments and indigenous communities revealed that environmentally destructive actions by non-indigenous communities result in simultaneous degradation of indigenous communities. Environmentalists have drawn further correlation, as Brosius notes, between environmental knowledge and the indigenous peoples due to their close-knit connection to their landscape. Environmentalists have discovered that they posses a unique environmental knowledge is difficult to describe in scientific terms. Scientists have been able to use this knowledge as the basis for effective conservation narratives. Environmentalists have capitalized on encouraging the low-footprint lifestyles of native peoples as a mechanism of sustainable living. The protection of human and natural communities must be directly correlated and presented to those with power in narratives that balance scientific and cultural knowledge in a socially-approachable manner.
10: The Lawn-Chemical Economy and Its Discontents
The role your front lawn plays in the economy, society, and global environment is far underrated. This is the argument of authors Paul Robbins and Julie Sharp who argue that this monoculture undermines the dualisms of demand and supply, culture and economy, and regional and global. Counterinstitutionalization of the lawn by environmental groups attempts to disconnect the cultural value associated with a well-kept, green lawn as the economic and environmental resources required are now too great to justify. Culturally, this counterinstituionalization is working as people begin to understand that this type of monoculture is outdated and admittedly mundane. Municipal laws are seeing change across the continent as weeds are no longer seen as the enemy they once were. In Canada, the regression from lawn monoculture has been more dramatic than in the US. The movement began in a suburb of Montreal and reached its climax when it was brought before the Canadian Supreme Court. The court ruled that municipalities have the right to ban certain chemicals from its environment which it believes negatively harm their communities. People understand that having a manicured green lawn is not worth environmental degradation or the money, time, and resources required to invest in it. At the same time however, there are neighborhood groups that wish to enforce laws that establish lawn maintenance standards. These are in place to prevent properties from being the eyesore on the street. These laws however, when too strictly enforced, created this problem. There is a middle ground however, where a monoculture of a green, manicured lawn can be replaced with a diversity of native lawn types that can still be aesthetically pleasing, resource non-intensive, and environmentally friendly.
9: Addictive Economies and Coal Dependency: Methods of Extraction and Socioeconomic Outcomes in West Virginia
As authors Robert Todd Perdue and Gregory Pavela explain, the impact that natural resource extraction has on a community is much more closely related to time than originally thought. The case study in West Virginia highlights the extraction of coal as an example of a finite resource being exhausted and the impact that has on a community. While the short term benefits are abundant, they quickly dissipate and leave communities lacking in an sort of economic advantage. Tactics by some attempt to convince these rural communities that their prosperity is like urban environments (fluctuates in the short term but generally increases over the long run), and that the economic benefits will return. However, this is not the case as prosperity is directly correlated with economic opportunity. Once finite natural resources are extracted, the economic opportunity connected to them has been spent and, like the resource, will not replenish. These communities are even worse off because the extraction activities can pollute the environments so much that at a minimum quality of life is reduced but more commonly, public health is reduced as chronic illnesses and death increase. There is a clear pattern of predatory behavior by corporations and governments that exploits these vulnerable communities by exhausting their only economic advantage. These communities are often poor and lacking in alternatives so they accept this fate. Per the data highlighted in this article, market price of surface coal is correlated with per capita income and market cost is correlated with unemployment. This is an example of urban privilege. Cities have the benefit of enjoying a diversity of economic opportunities while rural areas are mono-dependent on a single opportunity. It is decisions and the demand of those in urban areas that destroys the economic mobility of rural.
8: What are Urban, Rural, and Suburban Environments?
Can our past failures at community development be traced back to something as elementary as having accurate definitions of urban rural, and suburban environments? While there are no universal quantitative parameters defining these descriptors, generally, they are used in terms of comparing population density relative to other spaces with different density. What we consider urban areas only exist because we are able to distinguish them from other areas that are noticeably less dense. The density difference is so noticeable that we believe the characteristics of daily life in these areas are different enough that we cannot call them urban areas, but rather rural areas. However, in the last few decades, we have seen a new human environment be created in the space between the urban and the rural in which elements of both environments are combined to form suburban environments that are not quite rural or urban yet are both rural and urban at the same time. This is a widely accepted understanding, but what if its wrong? After further study, anthropologists reveal that the characteristics that define these environments are much more diverse. Economic activity, social diversity, and access to natural resources all contribute to the establishment of urban, rural, and suburban environments. In fact, after reading this section, I would argue that proximity to resources and economic activity exist as two ends of a scale. Areas that have a close proximity to resources and economic activity are urban. Areas that have a close proximity to resources but less economic activity are rural. Areas that do not have a close proximity to resources but have relatively higher economic activity are suburban. Anthropologists and urbanists have to understand that these definitions are fluid with time and subject to change.
7: The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development” and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho
Disconnected attempts at development are prevalent throughout the landlocked African nation of Lesotho. Attempts to improve the commercial productivity of Lesotho’s natural resources have been unsuccessful. Authors James Ferguson and Larry Lohmann highlight specific examples of development projects that fail their intended goal, but instead lead to unintended side effects. In some cases, Lesotho benefits from these miscalculations. These projects can lead to more effective governments and increased infrastructure, the building blocks of sustainable development. Through decades of failed foreign intervention, Lesotho and its NGO (non-governmental organization) allies, are beginning to understand the that the question of, “What should we do?” is more complex that it appears. Each part of this question must be broken down and identified. Additionally, any attempt by stakeholders to expect a practical answer signifies that they fail to understand the complexity of the question. There is no specific project that can realistically and sustainably solve something as intricate as eliminating poverty in Lesotho. This goal cannot be met by even a single question. Instead, this question must be tailored to each specific situation. Efforts to address point opportunities of development will eventually lead to progress in the broader metrics. As an example, “What should we do?” becomes “Which resources could can and should the national government increase access to through foreign trade agreements?” Perhaps the most difficult answer for stakeholders to accept to these questions could be “Nothing”. Often those asking these types of questions have a narrow-minded approach to their answer. Many choose not to accept this answer because it would mean admitting that they asked the wrong question and do not yet fully understand the problem.
6: Economic Growth and the Environment
As urbanism evolves in the 21st century, the role of economic growth in sustainable development is being rebalanced. As Theodore Panayotou, author of Economic Growth and Empowerment, argues, in the past, efforts for economic growth were seen as the common sense catalyst for social development. As evident by the development patterns since the Era of Imperialism, economic growth often fails to take into account the unique factors of each society. This negligence often leads to the opposite of the intended impact. New thinking shows that for more effective development, the fundamentals of sustainability must be taken into account. Economic growth is still a manipulator of the development, but should be balanced with environmental conservation and social equitability. Panayotou highlights specific research that correlates economic growth with and unequal distribution of air pollution among certain income levels. This type of economic-focused development leads to an unhealthy income-environment relationship. Environmental degradation often correlates with efforts to increase economic growth. Recovery efforts to deal with pollution are costly and resource-intensive. However, they are still necessary. A better understanding of the impact of economic and social growth on the environment is, however slowly, leading to more sustainable development patterns. Cities in developing countries have opportunities that developed cities lack. Many see the modern development of urban areas in Southeast Asia and South America as opportunities. These urban areas are fortunate to learn from the mistakes of the past. These urban areas are likely to enjoy a future in which development allows for improvements in the resiliency of environments while seeing quality of life and economic opportunities grow steadily. This advantage will inevitably lead to a restructuring of urban areas around the globe as the sustainable city powerful city.
5: Bhopal: Vulnerability, Routinization, and the Chronic Disaster
The 1984 Union Carbide gas leak left thousands in Bhopal, India dead and even more injured. The disaster was two-fold. The first wave of victims were those immediately killed or injured by the explosion. The second wave of victims were those left with chronic illnesses that have permanently reduce their quality of life. In both cases, a careless and distant corporate culture that prioritized profit over safety left one of India’s largest urban centers with a permanent social handicap. Further, the abandonment of any efforts to seek long-term solutions to this disaster has left a society paralyzed. Failures by the Union Carbide Company, a multinational corporation headquartered half a globe away from Bhopal, to make safety-conscious decisions and take actions contrary to the recommendations of local management officials is only one environmental disaster in a pattern that is all too common. The inability of the Indian state to adequately respond to disasters of this scale, early on in the recovery efforts, led to community-based attempts to organize and advocate. This ability of these groups to do so may be the only positive outcome from this lasting disaster. It is virtually impossible for even the wealthiest cities to prepare for an environmental disaster of this scale. However, the double standard becomes clear when studying the ability of wealthy cities to prevent such disasters. As the author, S. Ravi Rajan suggests, anthropologists, as community leaders and policy makers, are in a unique position to maneuver the public and private sectors to social development. By prioritizing proactive measures over reactive, and installing mechanisms to adequately hold those responsible accountable, the impacts to people and planet can be reduced or hopefully eliminated.