Environmental Transformations and Cultural Responses

Environmental Transformations and Cultural Responses
Author: Eveline Dürr
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2017-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137533498

This book explores the various ways in which different communities and peoples in Oceania respond to and engage with recent environmental challenges and concurrent socio-political reconfigurations. Based on empirical research, the book discusses topics such as belonging, emotional attachment to land, and new forms of environmental knowledge. The theoretical framework of the book is inspired by current debates among diverse conceptualisations of the environment and thus, of various ways of knowing, making sense of, and interacting with worlds. With this focus in mind, the book provides new insights into recent socio-cultural and environmental dynamics in the Pacific.

Affect, Emotions and Power in Development Studies Theory and Practice

Affect, Emotions and Power in Development Studies Theory and Practice
Author: Tanya Jakimow
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2023-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1003850278

This book advances new research directions that explore the emotional and affective dimensions of development. Going beyond merely placing emotion and/or affect as the objects of study, it examines ‘development’ in fresh ways through analysis of its affective dimensions. Affect and emotions are complicit in the structural conditions that sustain material and social inequalities and deprivations, and critical to the potential for disruption and transformation. The chapters in this volume demonstrate how affect and emotions enrich understandings of, or rethink power configurations in development while being attentive to forces of destabilization and creativity. They unravel the subtleties of power in development from micro to macro scales, enhance the understanding of development as an inherently political process, and highlight the possibilities for resistance and transformation. The book introduces new lines of enquiry to understand power in development theory and practice, grounded in rich empirical research from across Asia and Australia and will be a valuable resource for students and researchers of anthropology, third world studies, development studies and development theory. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Beyond Belief

Beyond Belief
Author: Johannes M. Luetz
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2021-04-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030676021

This interdisciplinary book explores the science and spirituality nexus in the Pacific Islands Region and as such makes a critical contribution to sustainable climate change adaptation in Oceania. In addition to presenting case studies, literary analyses, field projects, and empirical research, the book describes faith-engaged approaches through the prism of: • Context: past, present, and future prospects• Theory: concepts, narratives, and theoretical frameworks• Practice: empirical research and praxis-informed case examples• Doctrine: scriptural contributions and perspectives• Engagement: enlisting religious stakeholders and constituencies Comprising peer-reviewed works by scholars, professionals, and practitioners from across Oceania, the book closes a critical gap in the literature and represents a groundbreaking contribution to holistic climate change adaptation in the Pacific Islands Region that is scientifically sound, spiritually attuned, locally meaningful, and contextually compelling.

Mineral Fibres

Mineral Fibres
Author: Andrea Bloise
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 118
Release: 2019-07-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3039211447

In the last decades, there has been increasing interest in Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA) and asbestos containing materials (ACMs) as a source of possible environmental risk. A crucial theme of interest related to environmental pollution is the enhanced mobilization of asbestos minerals affecting soils and rocks due to human activities (e.g., road construction, mining activity) in comparison with natural weathering processes. The volume has aimed to gather contributions and to compare results derived from various experiences of research groups regarding NOA minerals as a source of possible environmental risks for population. Case studies from various geological contexts are presented. Moreover, contributions presenting novel and classical approaches for ACM inertization and recycling, together with possible solutions for reducing asbestos exposure, has been also presented.

Chronology of Americans and the Environment

Chronology of Americans and the Environment
Author: Chris J. Magoc
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2011-02-18
Genre: History
ISBN:

Covering the 17th century to the contemporary era, this chronological overview of the role of the environment provides many insights into one of the most important aspects of American history. Environmental issues such as deforestation, water pollution, extinction of indigenous animal species, and climate change have long existed in the United States. Fortunately, the American people and their government have demonstrated a willingness to address environmental concerns. Chronology of Americans and the Environment encompasses more than four centuries of dynamic and transformational environmental change that illustrate the central importance of the environment, natural resources, and "nature" throughout American history. The author provides a chronological overview of the significant events, major figures, and public policy developments throughout the history of our relationship with the environment, illustrating the sequence of historical events, cultural ideas, and trends that have led Americans to take action to protect the environment and public health. This book also touches upon prehistoric occurrences and events prior to the arrival of European explorers that provide context for Native American ideas and attitudes toward nature.

British Art and the Environment

British Art and the Environment
Author: Charlotte Gould
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2021-07-21
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1000408213

This book explores the nature of Britain-based artists’ engagement with the transformations of their environment since the early days of the Industrial Revolution. At a time of pressing ecological concerns, the international group of contributors provide a series of case studies that reconsider the nature–culture divide and aim at identifying the contours of a national narrative that stretches from enclosed lands to rising seas. By adopting a longer historical view, this book hopes to enrich current debates concerning art’s engagement with recording and questioning the impact of human activity on the environment. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, contemporary art, environmental humanities, and British studies.

The Political Prospects of a Sustainability Transformation

The Political Prospects of a Sustainability Transformation
Author: Daniel Hausknost
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2021-06-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1000403955

Half a century ago, many democratic states started to respond to environmental pressures that had arisen in the wake of rapid industrialization. They set up environmental ministries and agencies and issued legislation to control the pollution of air and water and to manage industrial processes, wastes and toxic substances. This was the birth of the environmental state. With planetary ecological challenges like climate change spiraling out of control and dwarfing the environmental state’s classical tasks of environmental management, new questions about the transformative capacities of the state are becoming acute today. How large is the state’s capability to transform enhanced industrial societies into sustainable post-carbon societies? Do its new environmental functions empower the state to prioritise ecological goals over economic growth? Can the state’s environmental management capabilities be radicalised to turn it into a ‘sustainability state’? Can democracies be enhanced to enlarge the state’s transformative capacities? The Political Prospects of a Sustainability Transformation: Moving Beyond the Environmental State explores these and other questions from a variety of theoretical and empirical angles, covering the fields of democratic theory, theories of the state, political economy, political sociology, rhetoric and political philosophy. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Environmental Politics.

250 Years of Industrial Consumption and Transformation of Nature: Impacts on Global Ecosystems and Life

250 Years of Industrial Consumption and Transformation of Nature: Impacts on Global Ecosystems and Life
Author: Hubert Engelbrecht
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2017-12-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1681086018

Anthropogenic changes in the environment, caused by 250 years of economic growth and utilization of fuel and mineral resources, have considerably impacted the natural environment. The resulting physical and chemical alterations to the Earth's sphere and our adaptive responses in the biosphere are detailed in this reference book. Readers will learn about concepts relevant to Earth’s history, the evolution of life, economy, ecology, environmental history, biology, and medicine and how these concepts can be linked to environmental change. The scope of this interdisciplinary work entails to convey the true degree of responsibility for the universal consequences of ecosystem degradation resulting from industrial processing, human consumption and the transformation of natural sites due to industrialization and urbanization. Topics covered in the book include: -ecosystem transformations by natural and anthropogenic forces -the Anthropocene epoch -a short history of industrialization -environmental sites and the impact of socio-economic influences -the current environmental crisis, This textbook is intended for graduate students in economics, civil engineering, architecture, agronomics, forestry, technical and mining sciences, political sciences, business studies and humanities. General readers who wish to understand the basic philosophy behind environmental studies and their relation to human activity can also benefit from this book.