Doing political ecology inside and outside the academy

Abstract

The chapter presents a survey of political ecology (PE) scholarship in, and beyond, academic institutions. This interdisciplinary field makes a contribution to understanding environmental and social justice issues, that require explanations at multiple scales, often challenging powerful state and corporate actors. Radical and critical scholarship like PE survives because of sustained student demand, but in neoliberal universities battling financial shortfalls and sometimes a reluctance to invest in research areas that offer critique of powerful institutions and of injustice. Political ecologists have a substantial presence in North America and Europe, either as individual scholars or in small research clusters, but are found across the world and are networked virtually and through key events and collaborative ventures. Publishing outlets include at least three dedicated journals. The extent to which academic political ecology can, and should, make a contribution to engaged scholarship, stepping beyond the boundaries of academic investigation into the messy world of environmental politics is debated, but embraced by some academics, numerous NGOs, and civil society organizations. The future of the field is assured if environmental despoliation, denial of access to resources, and inequality continues; and if its hopes for better world are not extinguished by much more powerful actors in and outside the university system. This chapter reflects on some practical settings in which political ecology is done inside and beyond academia. 1

The Public Administration Effectiveness in the Field of Environmental Safety on the Example of Industrial Regions of the Russian Federation

“…There are even publications that focus only on this issue with a specific approach to political ecology. For example, «Journal of Political Ecology» (editors: Professor Simon P J Batterbury, Professor Casey Walsh) [11].…”

Conflictos socio-ambientales en la sociedad moderna: aportes de la ecología política Latinoamericana y la teoría de la acción comunicativa

“…La importancia de la EP recae también en sus características como proyecto que nace desde lo académico (pero que debe superar este espacio) y se nutre de lo práctico, permitiendo estudiar las relaciones que existen entre las desigualdades de poder y la degradación de la naturaleza, a través de relaciones altamente politizadas, tanto discursiva como materialmente (Batterbury 2015;Blaikie 2014;Bustos et al 2015), que van dando forma a los conflictos socio-ambientales que intentan equiparar el poder que tienen otros actores. Para la EP el poder es parte esencial de los conflictos socio-ambientales, lo que para Martínez-Alier (2011b) significará la capacidad que se tiene para imponer una decisión sobre otros, y su vez, de imponer a todas las partes implicadas en un conflicto socio-ambiental, una valoración única del lenguaje.…”

Engagement in a Public Forum: Knowledge, Action, and Cosmopolitanism

“…On the other hand, benefits of engagement from an academic perspective can include more informed and socially useful research questions, more accurate and thorough data collection, epistemological depth, broader dissemination of results, higher probability of research application and action, and lower transaction costs in pursuant engagement efforts (Bacon et al ; Balazs and Morello‐Frosch ; Batterbury ; Fortmann ; Kindon et al ; National Research Council ). Benefits to non‐academic partners can include useful information, analytical depth, new contacts and allies, publicity, expanded resource access, and greater internal capacity for future knowledge building, community organizing, and communications (Fortmann ; Garzón et al ; Kindon et al ; McGuirk and O'Neill ; National Research Council ; Young and Gilmore ).…”