Political ecology of emotion and sacred space: The Winnemem Wintu struggles with California water policy

Dallman, Suzanne; Ngo, Mary Kim; Laris, Paul; Thien, Deborah

doi:10.1016/j.emospa.2011.10.006

Cited by 49 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The desecration of place and people's relationship to place can prompt interventions to protect the emotional symbolism of a place or to extend expressions of care to those affected by such action (Dallman et al . ).…”

Section: Bordering Contested Territorialities and Affinity Tiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Mobilising affinity ties: Kachin internal displacement and the geographies of humanitarianism at the China–Myanmar border

2016

Trans Inst British Geog

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This paper considers how webs of connection bridge people from different social worlds and engender affinity ties that can be mobilised to nurture caring relationships, despite the physical and cognitive borders that exist within and between societies. Territorial contestation between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army has precipitated internal displacement in Kachin state (Myanmar). The situation of Kachin internally displaced people in camps at the China–Myanmar border directs attention to how geographical and geopolitical constraints deter international humanitarian assistance yet provide opportunities to engage a different set of humanitarian actors. The paper first argues that Kachin internally displaced people are treated as surplus populations by the sovereign states in both Myanmar and China. Surplus populations come into existence when nation‐states impose punitive measures that compromise the survivability of populations that are considered threatening to national sovereignty. Second, the paper examines how mobilising affinity ties enables Kachin humanitarian workers to leverage the citizenship resources of empathetic Chinese nationals to negotiate humanitarianism constraints at the China–Myanmar border. Affinity ties refer to connections emanating from a dynamic constellation of cultural attributes to do with history, ethnicity, religion and place among other malleable identity constructs. Interlocking constellations form webs of connections that transverse essentialising categories of social difference and contribute to shared biographies that allow for cultivating emotional attachments to a place and its people. Affinity ties may congeal into durable ties of solidarity and activism, but no less significant are vernacular expressions of affinity that prompt empathy for proximate or distant strangers and a predilection to act on behalf of those experiencing oppression. The paper proposes that conceptualising affinity ties draws out transversal webs of connections that bridge people of differential social positionings. This approach provides a potential ethical stance and productive analytical lens for advancing wider migration and citizenship debates.

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Section: Bordering Contested Territorialities and Affinity Tiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Here, both people's relationship to place and perceptions of co‐inhabitance in the past or present (also see Dallman et al . ) are key to creating affinity ties. I illustrate this through two examples.…”

Section: Forging and Mobilising Affinity Tiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilising affinity ties: Kachin internal displacement and the geographies of humanitarianism at the China–Myanmar border

2016

Trans Inst British Geog

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“…Ces ruptures identitaires et culturelles documentées chez les Innus et d'autres peuples autochtones (Dallman et al ) démontrent l'importance fondatrice du territoire dans la constitution de leur identité. Pareille importance identitaire est résumée éloquemment par une participante : « Sans territoire, qu'est‐ce qu'on est ?…”

Section: Territoire De Confluences : De Rivière à Réservoirsunclassified

La rivière Romaine en chantier : Transformations contemporaines des territorialités des Innus d'Ekuanitshit

Desmeules

Guimond

2018

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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Depuis 2009, les Innus de la communauté d'Ekuanitshit sur la Côte‐Nord au Québec sont confrontés à un mégaprojet hydroélectrique sur la rivière Romaine, partie intégrante du Nitassinan, leur territoire ancestral. Dans cet article, nous étudions les impacts du chantier sur le rapport tant matériel qu'idéel que les Innus entretiennent à la rivière. Nous explorons l'idée qu'il transforme le rapport traditionnel au territoire — marqué par un fort attachement identitaire et symbolique — en un rapport davantage utilitaire, dicté plutôt par des intérêts économiques et politiques. Notre analyse révèle que les territorialités des Innus, bien qu'elles se soient en partie transformées en s'ouvrant sur l'extérieur et l'altérité, demeurent ancrées dans un fort héritage culturel et une identification profonde au territoire. Nous avançons que ces conceptions différenciées en apparence, de traditions et de modernité, ne sont pas incompatibles. Elles composent des territorialités hybrides à la fois internes et externes, ancestrales et contemporaines, culturelles, sociales et politiques.

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“…Dam construction modified entire landscapes, both on-and off-river, in effect creating novel ecosystems and complex human economies (Fiege 1999). However, in an age of growing environmental awareness, the recognition of the rights of the displaced, particularly Native Nations (Dallman et al 2013), and widespread modification of watersheds, dams are increasingly seen as a rigid impediment to systemic resilience. Dam decommissioning is becoming an increasingly accepted method of river restoration as the preservation and restoration of river and riparian ecosystems becomes increasingly important to strengthen lasting social-ecological resilience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultural services are those nonmaterial benefits obtained from ecosystems that are based on human values, e.g., aesthetic and recreational experiences, cultural heritage including spiritual values, and sense of place (Peters et al 2013). Where Native Nations are concerned, the management of river ecosystems for extractive economic gain and related human uses of water may directly conflict with cultural ecosystem services such as spiritual connection with sacred spaces and connection to ancestral lands and traditions (Dallman et al 2013). In the context of whitewater recreation, cultural ecosystem services such as increasing human use as seen on the White Salmon River in Washington State is perceived to be threatening the recovery of the river as it continues to rewild postdam removal (Gimblett et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving conceptions of the role of large dams in social-ecological resilience

Hammersley¹,

Scott²,

Gimblett³

2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Rivers and riparian ecosystems have historically provided a range of beneficial goods and services to human societies. However, floodplains have also posed risks to the humans that came to rely upon them. Although riparian areas are among the most resource-rich and biodiverse ecosystems, they are also some of the most disturbed by human activity. Today, social and economic needs for water diverted off-stream are often pitted against the flow of water needed to maintain crucial instream ecological functions. The construction of dams has been a widely implemented method to control rivers for human purposes, particularly in the western United States. However, there is a growing movement to decommission dams, as stakeholders begin to recognize the ultimate value of restoring ecosystem services, including cultural ecosystem services; indeed, their restoration may be necessary to ensure lasting systemic resilience. Broader questions of dam decommissioning in the United States are receiving increasing attention by scholars and practitioners alike. In this paper, we adapt and apply seminal concepts from the adaptive cycle framework and cultural ecosystem services, particularly for Native Nations, and thereby assess the unfolding case of decommissioning and restoration on the Elwha River in northwest Washington State. The empirical evidence indicates that dam removal coincided with scalar and temporal alignment of multiple adaptive cycles and contributed to both short and long-term resilience. Further, the Elwha case represents an extremely important precedent in the evolution of river management practices, in which stakeholder-based collaborative governance incorporated knowledge coproduction and regulatory maneuvering to successfully overcome obstacles inherent in both dam decommissioning and subsequent restoration. We conclude by reflecting on lessons of broader relevance beyond the specific case of the Elwha.

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Political ecology of emotion and sacred space: The Winnemem Wintu struggles with California water policy

Cited by 49 publications

References 32 publications

Mobilising affinity ties: Kachin internal displacement and the geographies of humanitarianism at the China–Myanmar border

Mobilising affinity ties: Kachin internal displacement and the geographies of humanitarianism at the China–Myanmar border

La rivière Romaine en chantier : Transformations contemporaines des territorialités des Innus d'Ekuanitshit

Evolving conceptions of the role of large dams in social-ecological resilience

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