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Issue 17.1 Abstracts
Mediating constructivism, nature and dissonant land use
values: The case of northwest Saskatchewan Métis
By Brian Joubert & Debra J. Davidson
The basis of environmental-resource conflicts is often attributable to heterogeneous values systems between user
groups that share particular landscapes and accompanying resources. A strong case can be made for the construction of these values through a dialectic between the physical landscape and lived experiences within that landscape i.e. environmental values as hybrids of social constructivism and real material environments. Using the benefits of an ‘artefactual constructivism’ epistemology we highlight the land use and value conflicts between two cultural groups with differing environmental values: state-corporate forest managers and Métis Aboriginal groups in Saskatchewan province, Canada. This paper highlights the value struggle between these groups over the same landscape and examines the impact on Métis traditional land uses, the resulting land management paradigm based on the dominant value system and the detrimental outcome of this power struggle to effect landscape change has had on traditional land users like the Métis.
Keywords:Métis, forestry, Northwest Saskatchewan, land-use conflict, mediated realism-constructivism.
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An ethnozoological survey of medicinal animals commercialized in the markets of Campina Grande, NE Brazil
By Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves, Maria das Graças Gerônimo Oliveira, Raynner Rilke Duarte Barboza, Luiz Carlos Serramo Lopez
Numbers of animal species are commercialized by herbalists in markets throughout Brazil. Nevertheless, there is a general lack of information about this type of trade in the country. This study aimed to obtain information on the trade of animals for medicinal purposes in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba State. Data were obtained through semistructured questionnaires applied to traders of medicinal animals. The trade of medicinal animals includes 32 species, which are extracted for zootherapeutic products recommended for the treatment of 25 illnesses. Interviewees described the existence of a multi-state trade network of medicinal animals. Some of the traded animals are listed in the Brazilian list of threatened species, and this shows the urgent need to consider zootherapy in the context of biodiversity conservation in Brazil. Our results reveal the importance of zootherapy as a therapeutic alternative and demonstrate the need for further studies on the subject.
Keywords: zootherapy, medicinal animals, traditional medicine
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Debt, Structural Adjustment, and Biodiversity Loss: A
Cross-National Analysis of Threatened Mammals and Birds
By John M. Shandra, Laura A. McKinney, Christopher Leckband, and Bruce London
There has been increasing interest by social scientists in the cross-national determinants of environmental problems.
One area of inquiry that has received little attention is biodiversity loss. We seek to address this gap in the literature by conducting a cross-national study of threatened mammals and birds in 2005. In doing so, we use negative binomial regression models for a sample of 65 nations to evaluate hypotheses drawn from several theoretical perspectives. We
find substantial support for dependency theory that higher levels of debt service, structural adjustment, and primary sector exports are associated with higher numbers of threatened mammals and birds. We also find support for world polity theory that higher levels of non-governmental organizations are associated with lower numbers of threatened mammals and birds. We conclude with a discussion of the findings, some policy implications, and possible directions for future research.
Keywords: debt service, biodiversity loss, dependency theory
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A Critical Human Ecology of Water Use at the County-Level in Texas, 2002.
By Matthew Thomas Clement
The structural factors shaping human society’s relationship with water have only begun to be quantitatively explored by environmental sociologists. The current study aims to contribute to this discovery by asking the question: Why did some counties in the American state of Texas consume greater amounts of water than others in the year 2002? To help answer this question, using county-level data from two main sources (the United States Census Bureau and the Texas Water Development Board), agricultural and non-agricultural water use are regressed on a selection of variables informed by the critical human ecology approach. The results of the regression analysis indicate that these two dependent variables are positively related to critical human ecology factors. This analysis supports the argument that the societalecological dialectic plays an important role in the maintenance of the hydrologic cycle and freshwater provisioning services for humans, especially in the context of anthropogenic global warming.
Keywords: water use, Texas, critical human ecology, hydrology
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Seeking Resiliency in the Development of Sustainable Communities
By R. Warren Flint
Achieving community sustainability requires understanding connected economic, social, and environmental consequences of actions that support informed choices allowing people to lead healthy, productive, and enjoyable lives, now and in the future. Designing successful sustainable development strategies reveals a tight connection between resilience, diversity, and long-lasting stability of social-ecological systems. Dauphin Island (AL) wanted to secure a resilient and sustainable future after experiencing destruction from two hurricanes. During 10 months of a transparent, all-inclusive public consultation process, culminating in a community initiated, driven, and concluded strategic plan, stakeholders designed a program of consensus-building and policy-making toward a more sustainable community with a resilient future. Facilitated stakeholder groups used the Community Capitals Framework to evaluate how various issues historically played important roles in community development. A “spiraling capital assets” model was employed to define points of decline and potential strategic improvement milestones. Resulting plans included shifting the tax base from reliance on expensive rental home lodging and property taxes to growing a more diverse, small business community emphasizing cultural heritage. As an outcome of the planning processes stakeholders examined all community assets (environmental, cultural, historic, etc.) they possessed to determine leverage points for reversing rural economic leakage patterns and promoting new local forms of valueadded economic development that protected environmental resources.
Keywords: sustainable community development, resiliency, Gulf Coast communities, community capital, public participation, spiraling assets analysis
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A Social History of the Slaughterhouse: From Inception to Contemporary Implications
By
Amy J. Fitzgerald
This paper traces the development of the slaughterhouse as a specialized institution through three major periods. The first began with increasing concerns about animal slaughtering in the eighteenth century and resulted in “public slaughterhouse” reforms, which marked the beginning of the concentration of animal slaughter and its movement away from the gaze of the public. Second, slaughterhouses became industrialized, as exemplified by the development of the notorious Union Stockyard in Chicago during the late nineteenth century. Finally, during the latter part of the twentieth century, slaughterhouses in the United States were relocated to small rural communities, which began to exhibit negative consequences. This paper represents a modest step in developing an historical understanding of the slaughterhouse as a unique institution and moving towards an understanding of the consequences of modern slaughterhouses in what Bulliet (2005) refers to as “postdomestic” societies.
Keywords: slaughterhouse; meatpacking; abattoir; slaughterhouse communities
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Ignoring Nature: Why We Do It, the Dire Consequences, and the
Need for a Paradigm Shift to Save Animals, Habitats, and Ourselves
By Marc Bekoff & Sarah M. Bexell
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