Within the framework of the new environmental history, this article focuses on the interaction between historical human societies and a given natural environment. Specifically, we study the spatial relationships between wetlands, Roman roads, and contemporary livestock trails, with the aim of verifying the role of wetlands as a support of territory planning since antiquity to the present. The documentation used includes geographical and ecological manuscripts together with ancient sources (texts, archaeology). Our results demonstrate an overlapping that remarks the importance of wetlands in the study area’s territorial ordering during various historical moments. This result also opens the possibility of applying this reality to others parts of the Mediterranean region with the same climatological conditions and a similar history. The clear heritage value of the wetlands are compelling enough to take the necessary protection measures for their conservation in the face of the growing threat of their deterioration and disappearance.
{"title":"Mediterranean Basin Wetlands as a Vertebral Axis of the Territory","authors":"A. Muñoz, F. Guerrero","doi":"10.3167/NC.2019.140104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2019.140104","url":null,"abstract":"Within the framework of the new environmental history, this article\u0000focuses on the interaction between historical human societies and a given\u0000natural environment. Specifically, we study the spatial relationships between\u0000wetlands, Roman roads, and contemporary livestock trails, with the aim of\u0000verifying the role of wetlands as a support of territory planning since antiquity\u0000to the present. The documentation used includes geographical and ecological\u0000manuscripts together with ancient sources (texts, archaeology). Our\u0000results demonstrate an overlapping that remarks the importance of wetlands\u0000in the study area’s territorial ordering during various historical moments. This\u0000result also opens the possibility of applying this reality to others parts of the\u0000Mediterranean region with the same climatological conditions and a similar\u0000history. The clear heritage value of the wetlands are compelling enough to\u0000take the necessary protection measures for their conservation in the face of\u0000the growing threat of their deterioration and disappearance.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2019.140104","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44723813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Discourses and practices of anticipation occupy a hypertrophic space in contexts where uncontrolled industrial growth has inflicted grave damage on peoples and territories, even triggering environmental disasters. This article explores the use of nonhuman species as anticipatory devices in a petrochemical terminal in Sicily, focusing on public representations of three species: scavenger bacteria that play a cleansing role and underline citizens’ moral responsibility to secure their best possible futures through bioscience; migrating flamingos that breed under the petrochemical chimneys, raising the possibility of hopefulness by highlighting ecosystem resilience; and fish affected by spina bifida, which reveal human health status in advance, communicating the need to live in preparation for potential diseases. The analysis reveals the highly contentious character of these anticipatory devices and the contested ideas about possible futures they imply, thus shedding light on the ecological frictions that have repercussions locally and globally, in discourse and social practice.
{"title":"Sicilian Futures in the Making","authors":"Mara Benadusi","doi":"10.3167/NC.2019.140105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2019.140105","url":null,"abstract":"Discourses and practices of anticipation occupy a hypertrophic\u0000space in contexts where uncontrolled industrial growth has inflicted grave\u0000damage on peoples and territories, even triggering environmental disasters.\u0000This article explores the use of nonhuman species as anticipatory devices in\u0000a petrochemical terminal in Sicily, focusing on public representations of three\u0000species: scavenger bacteria that play a cleansing role and underline citizens’\u0000moral responsibility to secure their best possible futures through bioscience;\u0000migrating flamingos that breed under the petrochemical chimneys, raising\u0000the possibility of hopefulness by highlighting ecosystem resilience; and fish\u0000affected by spina bifida, which reveal human health status in advance, communicating\u0000the need to live in preparation for potential diseases. The analysis\u0000reveals the highly contentious character of these anticipatory devices and the\u0000contested ideas about possible futures they imply, thus shedding light on the\u0000ecological frictions that have repercussions locally and globally, in discourse\u0000and social practice.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2019.140105","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45041162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article, we assess whether unionization of national workforces influences growth in national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita. Political-economic theories in environmental sociology propose that labor unions have the potential to affect environmental conditions. Yet, few studies have quantitatively assessed the influence of unionization on environmental outcomes using cross-national data. We estimate multilevel regression models using data on OECD member nations from 1970 to 2014. Results from our analysis indicate that unionization, measured as the percentage of workers who are union members, is negatively associated with CO2 emissions per capita, even when controlling for labor conditions. This finding suggests that unionization may promote environmental protection at the national level.
{"title":"Is Labor Green?","authors":"Camila H. Alvarez, J. McGee, Richard York","doi":"10.3167/NC.2019.140102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2019.140102","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we assess whether unionization of national workforces\u0000influences growth in national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per\u0000capita. Political-economic theories in environmental sociology propose that\u0000labor unions have the potential to affect environmental conditions. Yet, few\u0000studies have quantitatively assessed the influence of unionization on environmental\u0000outcomes using cross-national data. We estimate multilevel regression\u0000models using data on OECD member nations from 1970 to 2014. Results from\u0000our analysis indicate that unionization, measured as the percentage of workers\u0000who are union members, is negatively associated with CO2 emissions per\u0000capita, even when controlling for labor conditions. This finding suggests that\u0000unionization may promote environmental protection at the national level.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2019.140102","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42475770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Anthropocene diagnosis, in which humanity has become a disruptive geological force, indicates an irresolvable political paradox. The political demos is inevitably and necessarily bounded. The Anthropocene, however, heralds the anthropos—the globalized more-than-human identity. The anthropos challenges the maintenance of political boundaries, yet any robust response to ecological predicament must be underpinned by a decisive demos. This article, informed by theories of political agonism, suggests that this paradox importantly provokes ongoing political contestation of the inevitable yet contingent exclusions from politics and the proper place of political boundaries in the Anthropocene. The article concludes that the Anthropocene diagnosis provides an opportunity for a lively democratic politics in which the demos is always prompted to reimagine itself and asks, who are “we” in the Anthropocene?
{"title":"Agony and the Anthropos","authors":"A. Machin","doi":"10.3167/NC.2019.140101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2019.140101","url":null,"abstract":"The Anthropocene diagnosis, in which humanity has become a\u0000disruptive geological force, indicates an irresolvable political paradox. The\u0000political demos is inevitably and necessarily bounded. The Anthropocene,\u0000however, heralds the anthropos—the globalized more-than-human identity.\u0000The anthropos challenges the maintenance of political boundaries, yet any\u0000robust response to ecological predicament must be underpinned by a decisive\u0000demos. This article, informed by theories of political agonism, suggests\u0000that this paradox importantly provokes ongoing political contestation of the\u0000inevitable yet contingent exclusions from politics and the proper place of\u0000political boundaries in the Anthropocene. The article concludes that the\u0000Anthropocene diagnosis provides an opportunity for a lively democratic politics\u0000in which the demos is always prompted to reimagine itself and asks, who\u0000are “we” in the Anthropocene?","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2019.140101","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44713567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite soil’s vital ecological importance, its significance as a belowground tridimensional living world remains under-theorized in social and cultural research. Drawing on the reading of scientific literature and a series of interviews with scientists working at the juncture of soil and climate research, this article pursues a picture that highlights soil’s capacities to shape future climates, including by fostering major planetary tipping points; we elaborate on the cultural and ethical significance of that picture for opening up alternative stories in which agency and change are not human-only prerogatives. We develop a critical stance on the growing expectations of storing more carbon into soils and argue for a better consideration of the situated, heterogeneous, and volatile dynamics of carbon within soils. We eventually call for more responsible ways of thinking about, and caring for, the myriad conglomerates of living, decaying, and dead matter that basically make up the stuff of soil.
{"title":"The Stuff of Soil","authors":"C. Granjou, J. Salazar","doi":"10.3167/NC.2019.140103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2019.140103","url":null,"abstract":"Despite soil’s vital ecological importance, its significance as a\u0000belowground tridimensional living world remains under-theorized in social\u0000and cultural research. Drawing on the reading of scientific literature and a\u0000series of interviews with scientists working at the juncture of soil and climate\u0000research, this article pursues a picture that highlights soil’s capacities to shape\u0000future climates, including by fostering major planetary tipping points; we\u0000elaborate on the cultural and ethical significance of that picture for opening\u0000up alternative stories in which agency and change are not human-only prerogatives.\u0000We develop a critical stance on the growing expectations of storing\u0000more carbon into soils and argue for a better consideration of the situated,\u0000heterogeneous, and volatile dynamics of carbon within soils. We eventually\u0000call for more responsible ways of thinking about, and caring for, the myriad\u0000conglomerates of living, decaying, and dead matter that basically make up\u0000the stuff of soil.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2019.140103","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69583527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
What is environmental expertise? The background to this question is that many scholars consider environmental expertise crucial for discovering, diagnosing, and solving environmental problems but do not discuss in any depth what constitutes expertise. By investigating the meaning and use of the concept of expertise in three general theories within environmental sociology—the treadmill of production, risk society, and ecological modernization— and findings from science and technology studies (STS), this article develops a sociological understanding of environmental expertise: what it is and how it is acquired. Environmental expertise is namely about group belonging and professional socialization around specialized skills; that is, it concerns both substantial competence and social recognition. The implications of this general view on expertise are then used to enrich theories in environmental sociology.
{"title":"Environmental Expertise as Group Belonging","authors":"R. Lidskog, G. Sundqvist","doi":"10.3167/NC.2018.130301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2018.130301","url":null,"abstract":"What is environmental expertise? The background to this question\u0000is that many scholars consider environmental expertise crucial for discovering,\u0000diagnosing, and solving environmental problems but do not discuss in\u0000any depth what constitutes expertise. By investigating the meaning and use\u0000of the concept of expertise in three general theories within environmental\u0000sociology—the treadmill of production, risk society, and ecological modernization—\u0000and findings from science and technology studies (STS), this article\u0000develops a sociological understanding of environmental expertise: what it\u0000is and how it is acquired. Environmental expertise is namely about group\u0000belonging and professional socialization around specialized skills; that is,\u0000it concerns both substantial competence and social recognition. The implications\u0000of this general view on expertise are then used to enrich theories in\u0000environmental sociology.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2018.130301","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46969129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Within the field of climate change adaptation research, “stories” are usually simply mined for data, developed as communication and engagement technologies, and used to envision different futures. But there are other ways of understanding people’s narratives. This article explores how we can move away from understanding stories as cultural constructs that represent a reality and toward understanding them as the way in which adaptation is lived. The article investigates questions such as the following: As climate adaptation researchers, what can and should we do when we are told unsolicited stories? How can storytelling, as a way of life rather than as a source of data, inform and elaborate scientific approaches to adaptation research and planning? In this article, I move away from the literature that seeks to develop narrative methods in adaptation science. Instead, I focus on stories that we do not elicit and the world-making practice of storytelling.
{"title":"Adaptation Lived as a Story","authors":"Nicole L. Klenk","doi":"10.3167/NC.2018.130302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2018.130302","url":null,"abstract":"Within the field of climate change adaptation research, “stories” are usually simply mined for data, developed as communication and engagement technologies, and used to envision different futures. But there are other ways of understanding people’s narratives. This article explores how we can move away from understanding stories as cultural constructs that represent a reality and toward understanding them as the way in which adaptation is lived. The article investigates questions such as the following: As climate adaptation researchers, what can and should we do when we are told unsolicited stories? How can storytelling, as a way of life rather than as a source of data, inform and elaborate scientific approaches to adaptation research and planning? In this article, I move away from the literature that seeks to develop narrative methods in adaptation science. Instead, I focus on stories that we do not elicit and the world-making practice of storytelling.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2018.130302","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43245821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The aim of the article is to discuss the unintended consequences of energy efficiency, in the context of defuturization, by addressing the phenomenon of the rebound effect. The energy discourse is presented as ideological discourse protecting the status quo, even if it contemplates alternatives solutions. The interpretation of energy efficiency in the light of the Luhmannian concept of temporal structures in the modern society is proposed, and two types of expert narratives on the rebound effect are outlined: the mechanistic rebound effect and the systemic Jevons paradox. Finally, we explain why none of them are noticeably reflected in public discourse on energy policy and are limited to the scientific milieu.
{"title":"Efficiency and the Rebound Effect in the Hegemonic Discourse on Energy","authors":"F. Ruzzenenti, A. Wagner","doi":"10.3167/NC.2018.130303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2018.130303","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the article is to discuss the unintended consequences of\u0000energy efficiency, in the context of defuturization, by addressing the phenomenon\u0000of the rebound effect. The energy discourse is presented as ideological\u0000discourse protecting the status quo, even if it contemplates alternatives solutions.\u0000The interpretation of energy efficiency in the light of the Luhmannian\u0000concept of temporal structures in the modern society is proposed, and two\u0000types of expert narratives on the rebound effect are outlined: the mechanistic\u0000rebound effect and the systemic Jevons paradox. Finally, we explain why\u0000none of them are noticeably reflected in public discourse on energy policy\u0000and are limited to the scientific milieu.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2018.130303","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41637214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Understanding that climate change poses considerable threats for social systems, to which we must adapt in order to survive, social responses to climate change should be viewed in the context of evolution, which entails the variation, selection, and retention of information. Digging deeper into evolutionary theory, however, emotions play a surprisingly prominent role in adaptation. This article offers an explicitly historical, nondirectional conceptualization of our potential evolutionary pathways in response to climate change. Emotions emerge from the intersection of culture and biology to guide the degree of variation of knowledge to which we have access, the selection of knowledge, and the retention of that knowledge in new (or old) practices. I delve into multiple fields of scholarship on emotions, describing several important considerations for understanding social responses to climate change: emotions are shared, play a central role in decision-making, and simultaneously derive from past evolutionary processes and define future evolutionary processes.
{"title":"Rethinking Adaptation","authors":"D. Davidson","doi":"10.3167/nc.2018.130304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/nc.2018.130304","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding that climate change poses considerable threats for\u0000social systems, to which we must adapt in order to survive, social responses\u0000to climate change should be viewed in the context of evolution, which entails\u0000the variation, selection, and retention of information. Digging deeper into\u0000evolutionary theory, however, emotions play a surprisingly prominent role\u0000in adaptation. This article offers an explicitly historical, nondirectional conceptualization\u0000of our potential evolutionary pathways in response to climate\u0000change. Emotions emerge from the intersection of culture and biology to\u0000guide the degree of variation of knowledge to which we have access, the\u0000selection of knowledge, and the retention of that knowledge in new (or old)\u0000practices. I delve into multiple fields of scholarship on emotions, describing\u0000several important considerations for understanding social responses to climate\u0000change: emotions are shared, play a central role in decision-making,\u0000and simultaneously derive from past evolutionary processes and define future\u0000evolutionary processes.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/nc.2018.130304","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44137580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gullion, Jessica Smart. 2015. Fracking the Neighborhood: Reluctant Activists and Natural Gas Drilling. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Wylie, Sara Ann. 2018. Fractivism: Corporate Bodies and Chemical Bonds. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
古里安，杰西卡·斯马特。2015年，压裂社区：不情愿的活动家和天然气钻探。马萨诸塞州剑桥：麻省理工学院出版社。Sara Ann Wylie，2018。Fractivism：法人团体和化学债券。北卡罗来纳州达勒姆：杜克大学出版社。
{"title":"“We Do Not Exist”","authors":"Kristen M. Schorpp","doi":"10.3167/NC.2018.130305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/NC.2018.130305","url":null,"abstract":"Gullion, Jessica Smart. 2015. Fracking the Neighborhood: Reluctant Activists\u0000and Natural Gas Drilling. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Wylie, Sara Ann. 2018. Fractivism: Corporate Bodies and Chemical Bonds.\u0000Durham, NC: Duke University Press.","PeriodicalId":46069,"journal":{"name":"Nature + Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3167/NC.2018.130305","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49198014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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