Whose Diversity Counts? The Politics and Paradoxes of Modern Diversity

Abstract

Is -diversity‖ a modern concept, like indigeneity or biodiversity, which is conceived precisely at the time that it seems to be threatened and on the verge of disappearing? In the face of perceived threats to diversity, projects and policies have been crafted to protect, promote, or conserve diversity, but in doing so they have often demonstrated a paradoxical propensity toward purity and authority in representations of diversity. Perceptions of -pure‖ natural diversity might represent native forests comprised solely of native species; -pure‖ cultural diversity might represent indigenous peoples who still speak indigenous languages and wear native dress. If purity is emblematic of diversity, what, then, is the place of hybrid landscapes and peoples? In our study, we draw on a range of examples-of agrobiodiversity conservation in Bolivia, satellite mapping initiatives in Madagascar and Ecuador, scientific authority about anthropogenic climate change, indigenous language and identity in Peru, and a comparison of the Amazon and Atlantic Forest in Brazil-to demonstrate gaps between representations of diversity, and the heterogeneous local realities they obscure. We suggest that hybridity is a form of diversity unto itself-albeit a form of diversity that is more complex, and thus harder to codify and categorize. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2013, 5 2496

Climate Change: Implications for the Assumptions, Goals and Methods of Urban Environmental Planning

“…The concept doesn't consider whether or not a species is well suited to a particular region as its climate changes. This makes the central concept of "native species" vulnerable to becoming completely outdated in the next few decades (Baker et al, 2013;Sorte, 2013). It also points out limitations in the way that the concept of sustainable development has been applied in U.S. urban environments, because of its conceptual dependency on the idea of sustaining pre-development processes (Hobbs et al, 2014;Palmer & Ruhl, 2015).…”

Dai Identity in the Chinese Ecological Civilization: Negotiating Culture, Environment, and Development in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

“…Dai communities, therefore, are expected in state and development narratives to be close to nature, and their self-identified interest in expanding their market economy through eco-tourism development is anomalous and no longer culturally authentic, which consequently renders them unattractive to state and development agents. A similar dynamic has been noted in the body of conservation literature that characterizes indigenous peoples as "noble savages" living in harmony in nature, in which deviations from the "tribal slot" often lead environmentalists to portray indigenous people as enemies of nature who have lost their traditional ways (Cronon 1995;Holt 2005;Baker et al 2013). This results in a "conservation catch-22," in which "[c]onservation awareness arises when people exert use pressure on resources and recognize the potential for overexploitation, conditions concurrent with population growth, adoption of Western technologies, and market production.…”

Indigenous Food Systems and Climate Change: Impacts of Climatic Shifts on the Production and Processing of Native and Traditional Crops in the Bolivian Andes

“…Despite these barriers, many of these products are already available in Cochabamba’s urban markets and are sold in bulk quantities. Although some of this market is supplied by smallholder farmers, some industrial processing efforts are underway, including the production of potato chips from native varieties in Colomi, facilitated by Fundación PROINPA ( 68 ). Similar processing barriers have also been overcome in the case of another native crop; for quinoa, technologies for removing bitter saponins, which historically involved heavy manual labor, have been substituted similarly effective mechanized processes ( 65 ).…”

“…To thrive under these conditions, Andean farmers have used wind, water, sunlight, and cold to detoxify unpalatable or potentially poisonous crops and to preserve crop harvests over long periods, as discussed below. Recent studies have drawn attention to the capacity of native foods to be adopted by and persist in commercial or industrial agricultural food provision, pointing out that traditional processing practices may, in some cases, be expanded upon or substituted by technological innovations ( 65 – 68 ). However, the potential impacts of climatic changes on the household processing techniques that detoxify native crops, increase their palatability, or ensure their long-term storage, are as yet understudied.…”