Background: Flying is a mode of travel used mainly by the wealthier part of the planets’ inhabitants, while it is the poor parts of the world that suffer the consequences from climate change the most. Coping with climate change is one of the largest challenges of the century, especially for low-income developing countries. Important stakeholders have realized that it’s a global responsibility to lower the anthropogenic impact on the climate. Political ecology will be used to place the problem with unequal distribution of consequences in a larger context, while environmental economics will be used to examine the flight tax implemented in Sweden on April 1st2018. Purpose: Toexamine student’s attitudes towards excise taxation as an incentive to reduce emissions from air traffic, and whether there was a difference in attitudes between students from different disciplines. Research question: What are Swedish students’ attitudes towards excise tax onflights to reduce emissions? Is there adifference in attitude towards the flight tax depending on the students’ field of studies? Method: Quantitative approach with questionnaire responses as the main empirical data material for analysis. Conclusion: A majority of students participating were positive towards the newly implemented flight tax. Students from an environmental discipline were positive to a greater extent than other students.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T14:49:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4249174 bytes, checksum: 00ccf3205e55eda7043d9e64a1191e5b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This is a case study of Political Ecology, wherein we deal with the analysis of the Social Environmental Conflict of industrial pollution in the Basin of Rio Gramame, in the community of Mumbaba de Baixo. Although, this conflict began in the decade of 1960, it wasn t until recently that it has been recognized. As we have sought to understand the complexities of this study, we draw a methodological road of analysis from the conflict to each part of which it is comprised. In this way, we identify all those involved, their actions, articulations, powers, and their influence on the conflict. From a Social-anthropological methodology, we utilize the participant s observations, with the "snowball" technique, as well as semi-structured interviews, mental models, analysis of perceptions and photographic records. We did this in order to map the conflict and analyze the form of treatment that it was given, the mediation, as well as the perspectives of resolution to the problem of the conflict that, although it is now clear, and it s watched closely, still manages to remain hidden. All those that are involved, are not well versed in their articulation, and the majority of them do not follow their script as defined by legislation, which commits the perspectives of resolution, where as a result, the situation is only perpetuated. However, the State Department (prosecuting counsel) has found a conflict mediator by lawful means, keeping in mind that the fact of this situation is part of a much bigger conflict. This work becomes prominent by bringing to the surface all of the voices that go unheard, and by that, it is in itself a provocative work. The community of Mumbaba, now fits into a much larger political picture, where participation and articulation seek more information from everyone involved, well beyond the act of signing and the consolidation of partnerships. As far as everyone else involved, it falls on the act of rendering it effective, as well as their rights, and a process of a Social Environmental sensitizing. In conclusion, it is a matter of Environmental Justice, where not only an assembly of humans is affected, but a whole ecosystem. / Este é um estudo de Ecologia Política. Trata-se da análise do Conflito Socioambiental de poluição industrial na Bacia do Rio Gramame, na comunidade de Mumbaba de Baixo, iniciado na década de 1960, mas que só muito recentemente passou a ser entendido como tal. Como buscou-se compreender a complexidade do objeto em estudo, traçamos um caminho metodológico de análise do conflito a partir das partes que o compõem. Desta forma, identificamos os atores, suas atuações, articulações, poderes e influência no conflito. A partir de uma metodologia socioantropológica com a utilização da observação participante, técnica bola de neve , realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas, modelos mentais, análise de percepções, registros fotográficos e outros, também pudemos mapear o conflito e analisar a forma de tratamento que se tem dado a ele, a mediação, assim como, as perspectivas de resolução do problema e do conflito que ora manifesta-se ora permanece velado, encoberto. Os atores não estão articulados e, em sua maioria não desempenham seu papel definido por legislação, o que compromete as perspectivas de resolução, fazendo com que a situação se perpetue. No entanto, o Ministério Público tem procurado mediar o conflito por meios legais, tendo em vista o fato de esta situação ser parte de um conflito maior. Este trabalho torna-se relevante por trazer à tona vozes que são silenciadas e, por isso, é um trabalho provocativo. À comunidade de Mumbaba, cabe maior participação política, articulação e busca de informações junto aos demais atores, além de a firmação e consolidação de parcerias. Aos outros atores, cabe a efetivação de suas atribuições e a todos, cabe a sensibilização socioambiental, pois se trata de Justiça Ambiental, onde não apenas um conjunto de humanos é afetado, mas todo o ecossistema.

Water scarcity and water contamination are persistent problems facing large numbers of people in India. In order to combat scarcity, the Indian Federal government designated 2016 to be the Year of Water Conservation. In order to prepare for the success of this initiative, different management strategies and awareness campaigns began in 2015. Critics have generally responded favourably to these shifts in water management because conservation is considered a benevolent and even environmentally-friendly, or “green” process that can successfully combat water scarcity. However, these initiatives often change the ways in which people access water based upon new governing mentalities. The governing mentality most strongly underpinning these initiatives is based on a neoliberal rationality, which is generally admonished by academics and activists due to the production of uneven socio-economic landscapes under neoliberal economics. Similarly, in an effort to combat water contamination, governing authorities have initiated programs and policies to ensure that safe water is provided for citizens. However, this too has often been influenced by neoliberal governing mentalities. In order to analyze these shifts, this dissertation takes a closer look at the narratives of water conservation, water scarcity, and water contamination using a political ecology framework in three states in North Western India: Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana. The following manuscript style thesis consists of five independent papers, plus an introduction and conclusion, linked thematically through the discussion and analyses of the shifting nature of the hydro-social cycle under the pressure of various neoliberal reforms and processes initiated by federal and state governing authorities in North Western India. Having independent papers lends itself to a more nuanced discussion of the ways in which neoliberal water management strategies are lived-out in various communities. Neoliberalism is not an overarching hegemonic project or phenomenon, and as such the discourses of neoliberalism have had different consequences for different communities and populations. As such, this thesis highlights the ways in which the shifting hydro-social cycle has changed gender-related activities of water collection, the ways in which contamination is a form of slow violence, the ways in which defacto public-private partnerships operate in water scarce urban centres, and the ways in which discourses of conservation can be misleading and even manufactured. / Graduate / 2019-05-23

Globalization and international competition put pressure on local communities to adjust to international standards of price and quality in production. Tirupur in India produces clothes for exports to the first world market. Because of the process of dyeing and bleaching of fabrics the river Noyyal that flows through the town and the surrounding ground water have become polluted. At the local level actors, like the state, business, NGOs and grassroots take action in different ways depending on their interests. The aim with this thesis is both to analyze the situation at the local level from the views and actions of different actors and how the local situation is influenced by globalization. Qualitative interviews have been made with representatives from these actors in Tirupur and its surroundings. This material has then been analyzed from the theory of Third World political ecology and globalization. The conclusions drawn from this study are that the situation in Tirupur cannot exclusively be explained at just one level. Local, national and global politics affect Tirupur. A politicized environment characterizes the local situation where actions against the pollution are not taken for the benefit of the powerful. People also lack empowerment to take action because of dependency on the industry. At the national level centralization is a problem in India because it results in difficulties for the civil society and people to reach elected representatives and influence from the local community. Another problem is the policy maker’s lack of understanding of the local situation. At last globalization limits the way to handle the pollution because of the global competition and the retreat of the state. But it also gives possibilities for the civil society to grow stronger internationally, perhaps with the possibility to create a change.

Quilombolas são descendentes de escravos africanos. Os quilombolas do Ribeira estão estabelecidos em áreas remotas ao longo da Bacia do Rio Ribeira de Iguape (sul do Brasil), cobertas pela vegetação da Mata Atlântica, um dos hotspots de biodiversidade do mundo. Desde os primórdios da ocupação (século XVIII), os quilombolas tem sido historicamente dependentes do cultivo de arroz, milho, mandioca e feijão pelo sistema de corte-e-queima. No entanto, desde a década de 1970, seus estilos de vida vem sendo profundamente alterados por mudanças da economia-política regional como, por exemplo, a construção de estradas e escolas rurais, o estabelecimento de áreas de conservação na região e pela implementação de programas governamentais de transferência de renda. Assim, algumas tendências locais consistem no aumento da renda e na substituição do cultivo de corte-e-queima pela intensificação agrícola e trabalho assalariado. Para compreendermos como as mudanças nas estratégias produtivas podem estar interagindo com os padrões nutricionais locais, coletamos dados de dieta, antropometria e alocação de tempo dos indivíduos de duas comunidades quilombolas peri-urbanas/rurais. As pessoas da primeira comunidade encontram-se mais voltadas para o plantio de cultívares comerciais, trabalho assalariado e artesanato do que aquelas da segunda, que orientam suas atividades produtivas sobretudo para a agricultura de subsistência e para o extrativismo de produtos florestais não madeireiros. Apesar das diferenças nas estratégias produtivas, encontramos os mesmos padrões de dieta e de atividade física em ambas as comunidades: seus núcleos calórico-proteicos parecem ser constituídos por comidas ricas em calorias, processadas ou provenientes de animais domesticados e em ambas as comunidades parece haver uma tendência de redução quanto à demanda energética associada às atividades produtivas a ocorrência simultânea destas tendências caracterizam a ocorrência de um processo demográfico mais amplo chamado Transição Nutricional (TN) (Popkin e Gordon-Larsen, 2004). Em conclusão, nossos dados sugerem que independentemente da estratégia produtiva adotada, ambas as comunidades passam por de TN e que as mulheres vêm sendo mais impactadas pelo processo do que os homens, em razão destes últimos, provavelmente, ainda se manterem envolvidos, em algum nível, com atividades agrícolas. Os programas governamentais de transferência de renda (bolsa-família) podem ser relevantes na definição das similaridades nos padrões de consumo alimentar encontrados. / Quilombolas are African slave descendants. The Ribeira Valley is one of the most important areas of concentration of Quilombos in Southern Brazil. The Ribeira Quilombolas are settled in remote areas along the Ribeira River system covered by Atlantic rain forest vegetation, one of the worlds biodiversity hotspots. Since the first settlements (18th Century), they have been historically dependent on shifting cultivation of rice, maize, manioc and beans. However, since 1970\'s their life style has been profoundely affected by changes in regional political economy, such as the opening of a roadway, the establishment of conservation areas in the region and the setting-up of rural schools. Some of the local trends consist of replacing shifting cultivation and increasing household income mainly through agricultural intensification, wage labour and government cash transfer programs. In order to grasp the way changes in economic strategies have affected the nutritional patterns, we collected data of diet, anthropometry and time allocation of individuals from two Quilombola peri-urban/rural communities. People from the first community have become more oriented to commercial crops, wage labor and handicrafts than people from the other one, still more tied to subsistence agriculture and the gathering of non-timber forestall products. Despite the differences in productive strategies, we found the same diet and physical activity patterns: the energy-protein core consisted of the same energy rich and processed foodstuff or foods from domesticated animals, and Quilombolas seem to have had their energy demands reduced, probably because of the decrease of agricultural activities. However, only men are still significantly involved in agricultural oriented activities. We concluded that regardless of the economic strategy adopted, both communities are undergone Nutrition Transition process (a global trend that consists of increasing the comsumption of energy rich foodstuff and of decreasing of energy expenditure levels (Popkin e Gordon-Larsen, 2004)) and women might be more impacted by the process than men. Additionally, government cash transfer programs seem to affect the diet and physical activities patterns found.

A agricultura de corte-e-queima é praticada há milhares de anos nas áreas florestadas do planeta, principalmente nas regiões tropicais. Muitos estudos atestam a sustentabilidade desses sistemas quando praticados tradicionalmente e sob baixas densidades populacionais, mantendo, ou mesmo, promovendo a biodiversidade local e garantindo a subsistência de milhões de pessoas pobres rurais. No entanto, é crescente na literatura acadêmica e no debate político o papel que a agricultura de corte-e-queima vem desempenhando no desmatamento e demais impactos ambientais e sócio-econômicos. Esse processo é conseqüência das mudanças no uso do solo, intensificação agrícola e aumento demográfico que estão alterando as práticas e comprometendo a sustentabilidade desses sistemas agrícolas tradicionais. No Vale do Ribeira, sudeste do Estado de São Paulo, comunidades quilombolas têm sofrido um processo acelerado de mudanças nos seus padrões de subsistência. Dessa forma, esse estudo traz uma revisão da literatura sobre a agricultura de corte-equeima com o objetivo de traçar um panorama geral do que foi produzido até o momento, identificar as principais correntes teóricas envolvidas e apontar as alternativas propostas para sua manutenção. Em seguida, são caracterizados o perfil demográfico e sócio-econômico de nove comunidades quilombolas do Vale do Ribeira e identificados os principais fatores responsáveis pelas mudanças recentes nos seus padrões de subsistência. Por fim, é feita uma análise etnográfica, através de informações levantadas em três comunidades quilombolas pré-selecionadas, para a caracterização das atividades agrícolas praticadas atualmente e no passado recente, bem como o processo de mudanças ocorridas e os impactos causados no sistema agrícola de corte-equeima. Os resultados mostram que as restrições impostas pela legislação ambiental, os conflitos de terra, a construção de uma rodovia na região, a crescente inserção no mercado regional, e a atuação de órgãos governamentais e não-governamentais de desenvolvimento são os principais fatores responsáveis pelas mudanças observadas no sistema agrícola de corte-e-queima e, conseqüentemente, na organização socioeconômica destas populações. / Slash-and-burn agriculture has been practiced for thousands of years in the forests around the world, especially in the tropics, where it provides for the livelihood of countless poor rural populations. Many studies claim that slash-andburn agriculture is sustainable when performed under conditions of low human demographic density, maintaining or even increasing local biodiversity. However, it is growing in the academic literature, as well as in development debates, the concern regarding the role that this system has been playing in the deforestation of the planet´s tropical forests. This process appears to be closely linked to changes in land use patterns (agricultural intensification) and urban and rural demographic growth. In Ribeira Valley, State of São Paulo, Quilombola communities have had a significant increase of changes in their subsistence system. On the thread of these concerns, this study presents a critical review of the international and national academic literature on slash-and-burn agriculture. Thus, this review intends to draw a broad scenario of the current academic debate on this issue, as well as to identify the main alternatives strategies proposed to maintain or replace this cultivation system. Following this study aims to characterize the socioeconomic and demographic profile of nine Quilombola populations in the Ribeira Valley, and to identify the main factors responsible for the recent changes in their subsistence system. Por fim, an ethnographic analysis is done, through informations gathered in three pre-selected Quilombola communities, to characterize the agricultural activities practiced nowadays and in the recent past, besides the change process and impacts on the slash-and-burn agriculture. The results show that restrictions imposed by environmental laws, conflict over land, the construction of a major road in the region, the growing insertion into a market economy, and the intervention of governmental and nongovernmental development agencies are the main factors behind the changes observed in the subsistence system and, consequently, in the socioeconomic organization of these populations.

Until very recently, Colombia was the only country in the world that still permitted the eradication of illicit crops –primarily coca and to a lesser extent, opium poppies— through aerial fumigation. It was a controversial practice for a number of reasons, chiefly the damage caused to plants, animals, and people living in or near fumigated areas. A favored tactic in the U.S.-supported War on Drugs, aerial eradication actually contributed to the spread of illicit crops to increasingly remote areas of Colombia, such as the collectively titled lands of both indigenous and black communities. Concerns about the practice of aerial eradication, however, appeared completely disconnected from the positive framing of the policy and guidelines governing its implementation. Employing mixed methods, both ethnographic and cartographic, this dissertation examines how these contradictory discourses —aerial eradication explained by officials involved in its operation versus described locally by people living in or near fumigated areas— materialized in 2015, the last year the aerial eradication program was in operation. This study engages critical social science theory to deconstruct dominant conceptualizations of territoriality, geopolitics and environmental conservation, while at the same time proposing alternative understandings of those concepts grounded in local experiences. This research finds that aerial eradication authorities overstated the accuracy of aerial eradication operations by: 1) downplaying the incidence of pilots spraying legal crops, 2) invalidating local reports on the effects of aerial eradication, and 3) requiring technical evidence far beyond the means of poor rural Colombian farmers. Furthermore, in the specific context of the collectively titled black communities of the Pacific region, aerial eradication authorities did not respect the right to previous consultation per Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169. This dissertation concludes that that aerial eradication —justified by notions of security and environmental conservation that had little to do with black communities of the Pacific region— operated as a means of displacement. This displacement was literal in the sense that aerial eradication made life difficult for people to live in affected communities and figurative because local knowledge was pushed aside in favor of the external interpretations of the effects of this counternarcotics policy.

No description available.

This study analyses the wolf (canis lupus) and human relations in Swedish landscapes. By addressing the change of ideas influencing land use and nature management during the time when the wolf was considered functionally extinct, two parallel realities appear that is shown to be something that the participants in this study relates and recognizes as their reality. These realities in turn can be understood against the background of environmental philosophy and the anthropocentric and eco-centric view of nature and the instrumental and intrinsic value that the nature may carry. Life story interview is used as a method to grasp these details in an individual’s perception of the wolf and nature. Since the wolf is considered to be as a division between rural and urban people, the study also analyses how people sharing the space with the wolf is referring to these dichotomies and how they identify with their surroundings. With contradictory, data a new way of conceptualize this is suggested: that urbanity and rurality is something that could be seen as performativity, something that you do rather than something that you are (Butler 2007). One might express identification with rural space but have an urban performativity i.e. working, living part-time, influenced by ideas represented in urban lifestyles. While the rural performativity is mirrored by living, working and sharing the ideas of how that landscape is used.

This thesis is about the tensions faced by communitarian water service providers in peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia, in their continued dependence on private water vending businesses, despite efforts to socialize service delivery. Based on fieldwork conducted in Cochabamba from May-July, 2013, this thesis argues that due in part to a lack of government intervention and regulation, many communitarian water associations in Cochabamba are being held captive by private water vendors who exploit the city’s unequal distribution of water resources for profit. It makes this argument by exploring two main points: that communitarian water associations leverage progressive forms of organization to improve service delivery, but are hindered by barriers which lie outside their control; and that small-scale water businesses are able to exploit the failures of the formal state/public and informal communitarian systems by positioning themselves as a necessary operation, in a way which limits the state’s ability to regulate their activities.