Organizing in the Anthropocene
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Dancing on the Volcano: Social Exploration in Times of Discontent
Copyright © 2019 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Carpenter, S. R., C. Folke, M. Scheffer, and F. R. Westley. 2019. Dancing on the volcano: social exploration in times of discontent. Ecology and Society 24(1):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10839-240123 Perspective Dancing on the volcano: social exploration in times of discontent Stephen R. Carpenter 1, Carl Folke 2,3, Marten Scheffer 4 and Frances R. Westley 5 ABSTRACT. Radical recent developments such as Brexit, the rise of extreme nationalism, the gilets jaunes, polarizing leaders, the Arab Spring, and fundamentalist movements are indications of societal discontent with the status quo. Other societal phenomena such as gender fluidity, veganism, and bartering are also associated with a perceived need to change. The context is the Anthropocene, a human- dominated biosphere challenging the resilience of a livable planet. Such a broad set of developments may be interpreted in the light of new insights from theory of complex systems about what happens as resilience of the current pathway (societal organization as we know it) decreases. Rising fluctuations characterize a phase of uncertainty and exploration, potentially leading into a transition of the system toward a new pathway. We reflect on global changes that may contribute to social destabilization such as rising wealth concentration and environmental degradation and ask how responses may be understood from social-psychological forces such as the need for group identity and managing the terror of mortality. The emerging image is that of a society engaged in multifaceted experimentation. Maintaining such experimentation may help inspire novel pathways to desirable futures, but there is a risk of societies becoming trapped in backward-looking narratives that threaten long-term sustainable outcomes. -
Stepping up Local Climate Action
Localizing climate change: stepping up local climate action Author Bond, Meghan Published 2010 Journal Title Management of Environmental Quality DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/14777831011025553 Copyright Statement © 2010 Emerald. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/37809 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Localizing climate change: Stepping up local climate action Meghan Bond, Griffith University ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the current literature and ideas on how local climate change action (both mitigation and adaptation) could be intensified. Approach: A literature review on the current views of effective local climate action within academic journals and policy documents was undertaken. Additional data on Australian grassroots community activities was compiled from the Internet, participant observation and secondary sources. Findings: The paper argues that local climate action is important and three key aspects could provide effective avenues to step-up local climate action. These three avenues are: increased attention to local adaptation; the linking of adaptation and mitigation efforts together and with other local ecological concerns; and greater engagement with active community members and grassroots community-initiated climate change actions. These three key aspects could give climate change a local saliency and tangibility, spur more effective action, build community resilience and reduce vulnerability. Implications: Research is in the explorative stages and, therefore, only tentative conclusions and possible future directions can be suggested. -
Green Economy Or Green Utopia? Rio+20 and the Reproductive Labor Class
Green Economy or Green Utopia? Rio+20 and the Reproductive Labor Class Ariel Salleh University of Sydney [email protected] Sociologists use the concept of class variously to explain and predict people's relation to the means of production, their earnings, living conditions, social standing, capacities, and political identification. With the rise of capitalist globalization, many sociologists focus on the transnational ruling class and new economic predicaments faced by industrial workers in the world-system (see, for example, Robinson and Harris 2000). Here I will argue that to understand and respond to the current global environmental crisis, another major class formation should be acknowledged - one defined by its materially regenerative activities under "relations of reproduction" (Salleh 2010). The salience of this hypothetical third class is demonstrated by the 2012 United Nations Rio+20 summit and its official "green economy" negotiating text The Future We Want (UNCSD 2012). Clearly, the question that begs to be asked is - who is the "we" in this international document, and whose "utopia" does it serve? Part of the answer is found in a recent G20 media release, suggesting that "current high energy prices open policy space for economic incentives to renewables [...] investors are looking for alternatives given the low interest rates in developed countries, a factor that presents an opportunity for green economy projects” (Calderon 2012). The UN, together with the transnational capitalist class, looks to technology and new institutional architectures to push against the limits of living ecologies, and these measures are given legitimation as "economic necessity." Yet empirically, it is peasants, mothers, fishers and gatherers working with natural thermodynamic processes who meet everyday needs for the majority of people on earth. -
Analytical Environmental Agency 2 21St Century Frontiers 3 22 Four 4
# Official Name of Organization Name of Organization in English 1 "Greenwomen" Analytical Environmental Agency 2 21st Century Frontiers 3 22 Four 4 350 Vermont 5 350.org 6 A Seed Japan Acao Voluntaria de Atitude dos Movimentos por Voluntary Action O Attitude of Social 7 Transparencia Social Movements for Transparency Acción para la Promoción de Ambientes Libres Promoting Action for Smokefree 8 de Tabaco Environments Ações para Preservação dos Recursos Naturais e 9 Desenvolvimento Economico Racional - APRENDER 10 ACT Alliance - Action by Churches Together 11 Action on Armed Violence Action on Disability and Development, 12 Bangladesh Actions communautaires pour le développement COMMUNITY ACTIONS FOR 13 integral INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT 14 Actions Vitales pour le Développement durable Vital Actions for Sustainable Development Advocates coalition for Development and 15 Environment 16 Africa Youth for Peace and Development 17 African Development and Advocacy Centre African Network for Policy Research and 18 Advocacy for Sustainability 19 African Women's Alliance, Inc. Afrique Internationale pour le Developpement et 20 l'Environnement au 21è Siècle 21 Agência Brasileira de Gerenciamento Costeiro Brazilian Coastal Management Agency 22 Agrisud International 23 Ainu association of Hokkaido 24 Air Transport Action Group 25 Aldeota Global Aldeota Global - (Global "small village") 26 Aleanca Ekologjike Europiane Rinore Ecological European Youth Alliance Alianza de Mujeres Indigenas de Centroamerica y 27 Mexico 28 Alianza ONG NGO Alliance ALL INDIA HUMAN -
Capitalism and Earth System Governance: an Ecological Marxist Approach
Capitalism and Earth System Governance: An Ecological Marxist Approach Michael J. Albert Global Environmental Politics, Volume 20, Number 2, May 2020, pp. 37-56 (Article) Published by The MIT Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/758097 [ Access provided at 16 Sep 2020 13:35 GMT from School of Oriental and African Studies ] Capitalism and Earth System Governance: An Ecological Marxist Approach • Michael J. Albert* Abstract Growing recognition of the Anthropocene era has led to a chorus of calls for Earth Sys- tem Governance (ESG). Advocates argue that humanity’s newfound sociotechnical pow- ers require institutional transformations at all scales of governance to wield these powers with wisdom and foresight. Critics, on the other hand, fear that these initiatives embody a technocratic impulse that aims to subject the planet to expert management without addressing the political-economic roots of the earth system crisis. This article proposes a more affirmative engagement with existing approaches to ESG while also building on these critiques. While advocates of ESG typically ignore the capitalistic roots of the earth system crisis and propose tepid reforms that risk authoritarian expressions, their critics also have yet to systematically consider the potential for more democratic and postcap- italist forms of ESG. In response, I propose an ecological Marxist approach based on a structural analysis of capitalism as the primary driver of the earth system crisis and an “ecosocialist” vision of ESG that subordinates the market to democratic planning at mul- tiple scales. I argue that an ecological Marxist perspective is needed to foreground the structural political-economic constraints on earth system stability, though existing ap- proaches to ESG can in turn inform ecosocialist strategies for global institutional design and democratization. -
Vaclav Smil, Harvesting the Biosphere
UCLA Electronic Green Journal Title Earth system governance. Ruling climate across society Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9ps3g2wh Journal Electronic Green Journal, 1(40) Author Ferrara, Enzo Publication Date 2017 DOI 10.5070/G314033588 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Earth system governance. Ruling climate across society Enzo Ferrara Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica & Istituto di Ricerche Interdisciplinari sulla Sostenibilità (IRIS), Torino, Italy Extended review of Biermann, Frank. Earth System Governance. World Politics in the Anthropocene Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2014. 288pp + xx. ISBN 9780262526692. US $32.00, paperback, alkaline paper. Series: Earth System Governance. Torney, Diarmuid. European Climate Leadership in Question: Policies toward China and India. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015. 285pp + xviii. ISBN 9780262527828. US $30.00, paperback, alkaline paper. Series: Earth System Governance. Baber, Walter F. and Bartlett, Robert V. Consensus and Global Environmental Governance. Deliberative Democracy in Nature's Regime. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015. 272pp + xviii. ISBN: 9780262527224. US $30.00, paperback, alkaline paper. Series: Earth System Governance. Abstract This essay collects notes and reflections emerging from the survey of three volumes published in the Earth System Governance MIT Press series, dealing with issues of world politics, international institutions, consensus, deliberative democracy, and leadership of global governance in the dawn of the Anthropocene. The gathering arguments of the texts discussing the social, cultural, economic, and practice difficulties actually hindering the transition to a viable society worldwide ruled according to safe conditions for the environmental cycles and living beings. Progressively, the series unpacks implications for global-scale governance at the epoch of the ever-increasing impact of men. -
Less Meat Initiatives: an Initial Exploration of a Diet-Focused Social Innovation in Transitions to a More Sustainable Regime of Meat Provisioning
This is a peer-reviewed, final published version of the following document: Morris, Carol, Kirwan, James ORCID: 0000-0002-4626-9940 and Lally, Rhonwen (2014) Less Meat Initiatives: An Initial Exploration of a Diet-focused Social Innovation in Transitions to a More Sustainable Regime of Meat Provisioning. International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 21 (2). pp. 189-208. Official URL: http://www.ijsaf.org/archive/21/2/morris.pdf EPrint URI: http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3794 Disclaimer The University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material. The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited. The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT. Int. Jrnl. of Soc. of Agr. & Food, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 189–208 Less Meat Initiatives: An Initial Exploration of a Diet- focused Social Innovation in Transitions to a More Sustainable Regime of Meat Provisioning CAROL MORRIS, JAMES KIRWAN AND RHONWEN LALLY [Paper first received, 31 October 2013; in final form, 16 May 2014] Abstract. -
Permaculture and the Social Design of Nature
Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography ISSN: 0435-3684 (Print) 1468-0467 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rgab20 Permaculture and the social design of nature Gerald Taylor Aiken To cite this article: Gerald Taylor Aiken (2017): Permaculture and the social design of nature, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2017.1315906 Published online: 14 May 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 4 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rgab20 Download by: [The UC San Diego Library] Date: 19 May 2017, At: 13:34 GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER: SERIES B, HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2017.1315906 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Permaculture and the social design of nature Gerald Taylor Aikena,b aIPSE, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; bSt. John’s College, Durham University, Durham, UK ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Permaculture-based social movements proliferate as a response to Received 18 April 2016 environmental challenges, a way to pursue the ‘good life’, and a vision Revised 28 February 2017 of a more harmonious way to be in and belong to the world. Accepted 15 March 2017 Ecovillages, bioregionalisation, and the Transition (Town) movement all KEYWORDS apply permaculture principles in designing social systems. Core to Permaculture; transition; permaculture is designing based on, and in harmony with, patterns nature; social movements identified in nature. Yet, as is often highlighted, identifying, using, and thinking through ‘natural’ patterns are problematic. -
Global Sustainability Governance After the 'Rio+20' Earth Summit
Curtain Down and Nothing Settled Global Sustainability Governance after the ‘Rio+20’ Earth Summit Frank Biermann December 2012 2 | Earth System Governance Working Paper No. 26 Citation and Contact This paper can be cited as: Biermann, Frank. 2012. Curtain Down and Nothing Settled. Global Sustainability Governance after the ‘Rio+20’ Earth Summit. Earth System Governance Working Paper No. 26. Lund and Amsterdam: Earth System Governance Project. All rights remain with the author. Author Contact: Frank Biermann, Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Lund University, Sweden. Email: [email protected] Working Paper Series Editor Ayşem Mert Amsterdam Global Change Institute VU University Amsterdam ([email protected]) Abstract The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, was probably the largest event in a long series of mega-summits on environmental protection and sustainable development. Roughly 44000 participants descended on Rio de Janeiro to take part in ten days of preparatory committee meetings, informal consultations, side events, and the actual conference. Yet despite this unprecedented high attendance by participants from governments and civil society, the outcome of the conference is less than what many had hoped for. In this paper, I review the outcomes of the 2012 Rio Conference in detail, with a special focus on its contributions towards the reform of the institutional framework for sustainable development. Following this review, I discuss the way ahead, including whether mega- conferences will continue to play a major role in the governance of our planet. Acknowledgement I owe my gratitude for valuable comments on earlier versions to Aarti Gupta, Mairon Bastos Lima, Kathrin Ludwig, and Ruben Zondervan. -
Transition Towns Movement, Which Is One of the More Promising Social Movements to Emerge During the Last Decade in Response to the Overlapping Problems Outlined Above
! 11 THE TRANSITION MOVEMENT Questions of diversity, power, and affluence 1. Introduction1 As the global economy continues to degrade planetary ecosystems (Rockstrom et al., 2009); as biodiversity continues to decline (United Nations, 2010); as climate scientists offer increasingly confident and dire warnings (IPCC, 2013); as peak oil arrives (Miller and Sorrell, 2014; Brecha, 2013); as fresh water and other key resources become scarcer (Brown, 2011) while population continues to grow (UNDSEA, 2012); and as financial systems continue to show signs of instability (Tverberg, 2012), the question of how nations around the world are going to ‘transition’ to a stable, just, and sustainable society is more pressing than ever. Things seem to be getting worse, not better, which calls for new thinking and new action, both at the personal and social levels, but also at the macroeconomic and political levels. If early in the environmental movement it was assumed that buying ‘green’ products, switching to energy efficient light bulbs, and taking shorter showers were the ‘lifestyle’ solutions to environmental problems, more recent evidence firmly indicates that such measures are not working or are not going to be anywhere near sufficient, necessary though they may be. The extent of ecological overshoot is too great (Global Footprint Network, 2013). Furthermore, many promised efficiency gains that were supposed to flow from technological advances seem to be getting lost to the Jevons Paradox and rebound effects (Herring and Sorrell, 2009; Polimeni et al., 2009), meaning that technology – the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 This chapter is a lightly revised version of Simplicity Institute Report 14g, co-authored by Samuel Alexander and Esther Alloun. -
Ideas for a Sustainable Development Outlook
Ideas for a Sustainable Development Outlook Jorge Laguna-Celis May 2012 2 | EARTH System governance working paper No. 24 Citation This paper can be cited as: Laguna-Celis, Jorge. 2012. Ideas for a Sustainable Development Outlook. Earth System Governance Working Paper No. 24. Lund and Amsterdam: Earth System Governance Project. All rights remain with the authors. Author's Contact: Jorge Laguna-Celis, Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations. Email: [email protected] and twitter: @jorgelaguna The author has prepared this paper in his personal capacity and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations. There is no remuneration or honorarium associated with the preparation or publishing of this paper Working Paper Series Editor Ayşem Mert Amsterdam Global Change Institute VU University Amsterdam ([email protected]) Abstract The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability recently recommended a Global Sustainable Development Outlook (SD-Outlook) in addition to other science-related initiatives, such as the appointment of a chief scientific adviser and the inclusion of representatives of the scientific community in relevant national bodies dealing with sustainable development. As a response, Mexico proposed the establishment of an integrated and scientifically credible global sustainable development assessment to support decision-making processes at all levels, to assist member states in identifying policy options to speed up the achievement of the sustainable development goals and to inform, including through an agreed summary for policy makers, the high-level discussions of the forum responsible of following the Sustainable Development agenda. -
The Idea of Earth System Governance
Working Paper 10/2013 der DFG-KollegforscherInnengruppe Postwachstumsgesellschaften Ariel Salleh The Idea of Earth System Governance Unifying tool? Or hegemony for a new capitalist Landnahme? ISSN 2194-136X Ariel Salleh: The Idea of Earth System Governance. Unifying tool? Or hegemony for a new capitalist Landnahme? Working Paper der DFG-KollegforscherInnengruppe Postwachstumsgesellschaften, Nr. 10/2013, Jena 2013. Impressum © bei den AutorInnen DFG-Kolleg- ForscherInnengruppe – Postwachstumsgesellschaften Humboldtstraße 34 07743 Jena Internet: www.kolleg-postwachstum.de Redaktion/Layout: Christine Schickert [email protected] Die DFG-KollegforscherInnengruppe „Landnahme, Beschleunigung, Aktivierung. Dynamik und (De-) Stabilisierung moderner Wachstumsgesellschaften“ – kurz: „Kolleg Postwachstumsgesellschaften“ – setzt an der soziologischen Diagnose multipler gesellschaftlicher Umbruchs- und Krisenphänomene an, die in ihrer Gesamtheit das überkommene Wachstumsregime moderner Gesellschaften in Frage stellen. Die strukturellen Dynamisierungsimperative der kapitalistischen Moderne stehen heute selbst zur Dis- position: Die Steigerungslogik fortwährender Landnahmen, Beschleunigungen und Aktivierungen bringt weltweit historisch neuartige Gefährdungen der ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Reproduk- tion hervor. Einen Gegenstand in Veränderung – die moderne Wachstumsgesellschaft – vor Augen, zielt das Kolleg auf die Entwicklung von wissenschaftlichen Arbeitsweisen und auf eine Praxis des kri- tischen Dialogs, mittels derer der