Political ecology is almost like environmental economics, except broader - it incorporates not only the economic and social factors that play into environmental economics, but political factors as well. These, combined with environmental issues, are what constitute the essence of political ecology. Despite the fact that this topic is so broad, there are a handful of "fundamental assumptions" that are constant across the board. These assumptions were created by authors of the book, Third World Political Ecology: An Introduction, Raymond L. Bryant and Sinéad Bailey, and include the following: "The costs and benefits associated with environmental change are distributed unequally", "This unequal distribution inevitably reinforces or reduces existing social and economic inequalities", and "The unequal distribution of costs and benefits and the reinforcing or reducing of pre-existing inequalities holds political implications in terms of the altered power relationships that now result." Political ecology, however, is not merely made up of these somewhat negative assumptions. As Paul F. Robbins, the author of Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, states, political ecology has a "normative understanding that there are very likely better, less coercive, less exploitative, and more sustainable ways of doing things."
If I am to go by Robbins's quote, I would have to say that political ecology is going to impact our group's project in the sense that the Rowan University Wildlife Conservation Society is attempting to find those "likely better, less coercive, less exploitable, and more sustainable ways of doing things" that he mentioned, and apply those ways to the way we treat the campus's various environments and wildlife. At the present, birds are what we lack on campus, and considering the fact that birds are indicators of the health of an environment, we can safely assume that the campus's environment needs to be managed with more care. By balancing the political, economic, social and environmental factors, we hope to begin to do just that.
Sources: Wikipedia.org
ü Articles on Political Ecology ü
- Day Biehler, Dawn, and Gregory L. Simon. "The Great Indoors: Research Frontiers On Indoor Environments As Active Political-Ecological Spaces." Progress In Human Geography 35.2 (2011): 172-192. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
- Peluso, Nancy Lee, and Peter Vandergeest. "Political Ecologies Of War And Forests: Counterinsurgencies And The Making Of National Natures." Annals Of The Association Of American Geographers 101.3 (2011): 587-608. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
- HIRONS, MARK. "Managing Artisanal And Small-Scale Mining In Forest Areas: Perspectives From A Poststructural Political Ecology." Geographical Journal 177.4 (2011): 347-356. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
Article Summary: In their article, "The Great Indoors: Research frontiers on indoor environments as active political-ecological spaces", authors Dawn Day Biehler and Gregory Simon explain that nature-society geographers often focus more on outdoor spaces than indoor spaces during studies of political ecology. Day Biehler and Simon, however, argue that nature-society geographers need to focus just as much on indoor spaces as they do outdoor spaces, especially because recent research indicates that indoor spaces, such as homes, factories, and shopping malls, play an important role in developing both the nature and scale factors of political ecology as well as environmental citizens. Essentially, Day Biehler and Simon believe that indoor spaces are not as "fixed and unnatural" as they seem to be at first glance.
ü Additional Information ü
An Internet article on political ecology.
A Harvard University PDF on political ecology.
The Center for Energy and Environmental Policy's (CEEP) Internet article on political ecology.
The website of the Center for Political Ecology (CPE):
"[The CPE] sponsors research and facilitates public access to political ecology by supporting the work of fellows, associates, and CPE members who document and explore the inter-relationships between economic activity, politics, culture, human rights, and the environment."
The Wikipedia article on political ecology.
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