Search

Copyright of Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses is the property of Universidad de La Laguna and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract This research focuses on the importance of management strategies, green innovation, and sustainable practices in the agricultural sector. These factors are crucial for job creation, food security, and environmental conservation. Particularly in water-scarce regions, effective management is necessary to overcome natural resource constraints and encourage a shift towards digital agriculture (AGRI). The study aims to identify and analyze the challenges and issues related to agricultural research and technology in Asian countries. The collected data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis in the SPSS software. The analysis revealed a range of issues and challenges for agricultural development, including those related to the structure and policy framework, the availability and quality of resources and infrastructures, and the provision of effective support services, all of which encompassed factors such as research and technology investment, research management, productivity, research culture, networking, and the integration of higher education and agricultural research. To estimate the efficiency of technology development, agricultural development, and support services for AGRI, an artificial neural network (ANN) was utilized. The ANN was trained by incorporating changes in management strategies, green innovation, and sustainability across a broader range of experimental scenarios. The evaluation of the ANN's predictions showed that improvements in management strategies and the adoption of green innovation and sustainability significantly impacted the productivity of technology development, agricultural development, and support services for AGRI. The accuracy of the ANN's predictions was further assessed using linear regression. The results indicated an acceptable level of error when compared to the target results obtained from experimental tests. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of effective management, green innovation, and sustainable practices in driving advancements in technology and agricultural development.

Amitav Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse explores the deep connections between colonialism, capitalism, and environmental destruction, offering a critique of how these forces have shaped the modern ecological crisis. By tracing the history of the nutmeg trade in the 17th century and the violent Dutch colonization of the Banda Islands, Ghosh links the exploitation of natural resources during colonial times to contemporary ecological degradation. This paper examines how Ghosh uses storytelling as a form of resistance, blending personal, historical, and cultural narratives to highlight the interconnectedness of environmental and human violence. Ghosh critiques the Anthropocene, arguing that its roots lie in centuries of colonial exploitation and capitalist expansion, which continue to harm marginalized communities and ecosystems. Through comparisons with his other work, The Great Derangement, and postcolonial ecological literature by authors like Arundhati Roy and Vandana Shiva, Ghosh's arguments are situated within a broader literary context. Ultimately, this paper contends that The Nutmeg's Curse calls for a radical rethinking of humanity's relationship with nature and the global economy, offering important insights into contemporary environmental and geopolitical debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper is about the contemporary issues of migration, place-attachment and trauma in Randa Abdel-Fattah's novel Where The Streets Had A Name (2008). The novel is centered on the lives of displaced Palestinians from their native land. The novel has been analyzed through Lawrence Buell's concept of space, place and imagination. The theory of Eco-criticism is built in large part around the concept of raising awareness about natural world. The forceful migration of people from their native land causes trauma and constant longing to return to their homeland. The paper illustrates that the displaced Palestinians are connected to their land. They all share same culture, traditions, and history so they feel connected to each other and to their land. The paper is also valuable for social awakening as it aims at sensitizing the human race towards the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Snapshot: Climate issue of Southern Cultures includes photography and reflections on climate impacts across the southern states by Jenny Adler, Austin Anthony, Kate Auger, Arden Barnes, Monica Patrice Barra, Robin Boggs, Jared Bramblett, Lily Brooks, Hannah Brown, Becca Burton, Matthew Busch, Gordon Campbell, Natalie Chanin, Vanessa Charlot, Walter Coker, Justin Cook, Cameron Davidson, Marquetta Dickens, Brandon Dill, Benjamin Dimmitt, Rory Doyle, Ryan Emanuel, Cameron Evans, J Henry Fair, Megan Faust, Annie Flanagan, Kathleen Flynn, Jerod Foster, John Gaulden, Hermina Glass-Hill, Allison Grant, Jerry Dickson Greer, Joshua Dudley Greer, Anna Hamilton, Virginia Hanusik, John Lusk Hathaway, Chuck Hemard, Tom Kimmerer, Virginie Kippelen, Jeremy M. Lange, Nate Larson, Mark Long, Jordan Lovejoy, Megan May, Roger May, Lisette Morales McCabe, Rob McDonald, Andrew Moore, Stephen B. Morton, Anna Gage Norton, Jocelyn Painter, Elena Peterman, Daniel Pullen, Tom Rankin, Robert Rausch, Jeff Rich, Beth Roach, Derek Slagle, Michael O. Snyder, Michael K. Steinberg, Bryan Thomas, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Simon Tye, Turcois Vazquez, Jordan Vonderhaar, Jason Matthew Walker, Will Warasila, Carlton Ward Jr. Brooke White, William Widmer, and Devin Wright. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecocriticism is a theory that studies the relationship between humans and non-humans critically. The perception becomes the need of the hour as it stresses the interconnectedness between humans and Nature in the era of environmental sabotage. As Barbara Ward says, 'We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do' rather, humans pollute and erode the Natural elements. The interdependency between the environment and humans should be understood to lead to a better quality of life. Ecocriticism amidst the global crisis strives to reattach humans to their natural world. This article, stressing the significance of entwined movements like ecofeminism, eco-theology, ecosophy, and so on, shows realistic evidence to bring out the emergency to discuss, understand and practice the idea of Ecocriticism out in the practical world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental destruction and exploitation of natural resources are some of the main causes of humanitarian conflicts, which are often international in scale. One instance was the crime of genocide conducted by Al-Bashir, which was triggered by exploitation of natural resources (resource war), causing pollution of vital water sources, and ending with conflict in Darfur, Sudan. This case is evidence that environmental destruction can be a driving factor for crimes against humanity. In response to this, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a Policy Paper, which sets out considerations to prosecute cases of environmental destruction and illegal exploitation of natural resources, which is referred to by some as ecocide. With growing demand of the international community, not only natural persons, but corporations are urged to be prosecuted before the ICC for ecocide. This research is normative legal research. It is intended to outline the current rise of demand for the ICC to prosecute cases of ecocide, whilst challenging the existing jurisdiction of the ICC based on the Rome Statute. This paper will discuss whether the ICC have jurisdiction to adjudicate ecocide, expanding the Court’s jurisdiction to prosecute corporations, and crimes conducted in and/or by citizens of States that are not members of the Rome Statute, such as Indonesia. This paper concludes with constructive recommendations for businesses to start re-evaluating their business plans to put environment and human rights awareness into priority concern.

This article explores how the Aikanã, speakers of an isolate language, who live in the south-eastern Amazon, in the Brazilian State of Rondônia, make sense of the drastic transformations brought about by the colonisation of this region. Through an analysis of Aikanã narratives and life histories, the article highlights how Aikanã social memory gives meaning to experiences of contact, land loss and environmental destruction. It will contemplate the temporal markers, i.e. periodisations that occur in narratives and life histories and that delineate Aikanã historicity. These temporal markers refer predominantly to an experienced past between the beginning of the 20th century and the present, from a distant period of displacement from their traditional territory and the severe loss of human lives to the transformation of the forest into pastures for cattle and soy. In this vein, temporal markers are also anchored in space, unveiling sentiments of nostalgia and ecological grief for a past fertility of social life, interconnected with the fertility of the more-than-human world of the lost forest. Exploring Aikanã narrativity and its operation in the construction of social memory, the article aims to contribute to contemporary debates on Amazonian historicities, as well as to the theoretical and political role of Amazonian socialities in face of the current environmental crisis.

The article presents the result of an investigation and explains the current problems of the construction of a fertilizer plant in the bay of Topolobampo, Sinaloa, established by Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente, a Mexican subsidiary of the Swiss-German Holding Proman, which will generate anhydrous ammonia as a fertilizer input, and therefore, the need to implement real protection based on public policies focused on the preservation of the bay, which is a Ramsar site. The construction of the plant began in 2014; forging confrontations with residents canceling its construction. Therefore, we detail the impacts in case of construction of the plant, proposing protection of the bay based on public policies for the benefit of the site. Keywords: Fertilizers, ammonia, Ramsar, environmental destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author, although an analyst, is an initiate into the topic of environmental destruction. Following Wendell Berry, she enters the dark and begins a journey of dream-like reflection, weaving images from her own dream and drawing on the work of Vaughan, Bernstein, Soloveitchik and Sacks. She asks, 'not if but where does climate change enter the room?'. The second half of the paper focuses on the manifestations of environmental destruction in dreams and sandplay from three patients and one dream group participant. The paper argues that the analyst must see and intuit before our patients can access the objective layer of environmental destruction in dreams and symbolic material. In this way, the climate becomes the wounded patient, and the analyst as wounded healer must first access his/her own relationship to the wounds inside. Finally, using an ancient Jewish mythological story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author argues that Jungian analysts must work to find balance between the inner world of depth psychology and the outer world with its challenges and problems that include environmental destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco criticism is a critical theory that has the center of attention to studying the relationship between literature and the environment. This research paper identifies deep-rooted causes that arise when society comes into interaction with Nature. The main proponent of this theory was Cheryll Glotfelty who was the editor of the famous book “The Eco-critical Reader”. Ecocriticism is a neologism term in the field of literature. Ecology is the science of nature and its connection with humanity. It is a multidisciplinary study that focuses on sustainability and the existence of man. The present study aims to study The Hollow Men (1925) by T.S Eliot, which draws the picture of the hollowed world after world war. The poem under study has major concern for society and culture which are suffering from a lack of belief, optimistic approach, righteousness, ethics, and humanity. Humanity which is empty and corrupted lost its will to perform a beneficial part in the progress and preservation of nature. The researcher employs a qualitative research methodology. The goal of qualitative research is to clarify the traits of the subjects it examines as they are understood by people. Thus, rather than aiming to collect and analyze factual facts, qualitative research instead explores subjective experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Recursos Rurais is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the Algonquin concept of wetiko, or windigo--a ruthless cannibal spirit--to explain the state of America today. Native American scholars such as Jack Forbes and Basil Johnston suggest wetikos really exist, and that their insatiable hunger and psychopathic lack of regard for others is at the root of globalization, neo-liberal economics, the destruction of the environment, and the widescale oppression of the world's people. This paper investigates the relationship between modernism and wetiko, and proposes an origin to the wetiko mindset, asking whether it is archetypal, and therefore potentially present in all of us, though more actualized in some. Finally it asks how indigenous societies have historically guarded against wetiko and how we can learn from them to resist wetikos now, since if we fail to confront them, they will eat us all alive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greta Thunberg's prominence in the climate justice movement symbolically positions girls at the epicenter of geopolitical resistance, but, while she is given immediate authority across media outlets, other girls' visions of a more equitable future are often disregarded; this demands our careful attention. We discuss the work of five New York City-based girl activists of color engaged in this movement. We explore the ways in which their intersectional identities and social positions shape their mobilization strategies and draw connections to other popular social justice movements; their activist playbook reveals the transformative potential of intersectional feminist politics in the hands of Generation Z. These girl activists of color generate sophisticated, relational platforms for climate justice informed by the interconnected issues of racial and economic injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental destruction, unfortunately, constitutes a common by-product of armed conflicts. Such destruction ravages the natural environment, and negatively impacts the livelihoods of vulnerable individuals that are disproportionately affected by such destruction. This article first examines how the Islamic law of armed conflict can be utilised to protect these vulnerable individuals. The article argues that a faith-based approach, which includes the role of religious leaders and faith-based organisations, provides an effective framework to help restore the natural environment and the livelihoods of those affected in an armed conflict. This is due to the emphasis placed by Islam and the Islamic law of armed conflict on protecting the environment, specifically by limiting the types of land that can be targeted and the types of weapons that can be used in armed conflicts. Examples from the conservation efforts in post-war Iraq are used to demonstrate the usefulness of a faith-based approach presented in this article. This article concludes that the Islamic law of armed conflict provides an essential source of protection for the vulnerable and the environment, and should be widely utilised in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to describe the form of Indonesia's accountability to countries that are directly affected by the haze caused by Indonesian forest fires according to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution rules. This research is intended only for written legislation (law in books) and other legal materials. In normative research, the author will use doctrinal research methods that refer to legislation (statute approach) and a comparative approach (comparative approach). The results of this study indicate that Indonesia's accountability for cross-border smoke haze pollution due to forest fires is stipulated in Article 3 of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Furthermore, the rights of countries affected by transboundary haze due to forest fires are regulated in Article 16 of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution which states to increase preparedness and minimize risks to human health and the environment.

Summary: This flash piece asks what development means for rivers, indigenous farmers, and tourists when we redirect, move, and siphon water from one region to another. The work considers rivers as traces of time, peoples, and environments, following my chronology and physical residence(s) in California, Hunan, Guangxi, and Yunnan in China. I begin in the Bay Area, where I grew up, and move to my time spent on five rivers in Southern China: the Xiangjiang, the Li, the Jinsha, the Lancang, and the Nujiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consequences of Boko Haram insurgency on the Nigerian state has enjoyed robust interrogation. However, most of the studies have concentrated on human and material losses to the neglect of the environment. Yet, the activities of the insurgents as well as the counterinsurgency strategies of the Nigerian armed forces, have negatively affected the environment. This study interrogates the impacts of the insurgency on the environment, using cases such as soil and water contamination, mining of landscapes, indiscriminate killings, and the destruction of habitats, farmlands and cultural landscapes as empirical evidence. The study concludes that activities of the militants and the military have had debilitating effects on the physical environment in northeastern Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island of Borneo has been the subject of starkly different portrayals. On the one hand, the devastation of the island's great rainforests, choking haze from fires set to clear land for oil palm plantations, and open-pit coal mining have prompted visions of environmental collapse. On the other hand, Indonesian President Joko Widodo's 2019 announcement that the national capital will be moved from Jakarta to East Kalimantan prompted utopian dreams that massive investment and technology will create a glorious future. This article explores how these competing portrayals of Borneo emerged historically through European and American fiction – including utopian novels, lost race stories, and pulp and science fiction – and are reflected and reproduced in Indonesian political thinking. The final section examines how these long-standing ideas about Borneo as the site of the fantastic and the phantasmagoric have colored media reporting and commentary about President Widodo's planned new capital in East Kalimantan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese environmental sociology has developed many original perspectives, including the social structure of victims, the benefit versus victimized zone theory, and life environmentalism. Developments in the field can be divided into three stages. The first, to 2001, is characterized by the early organizing of environmental sociologists, including the establishment of the Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology (JAES), and its accompanying journal, and a focus on local environmental destruction case studies. The second, to 2011, is characterized by the institutionalization of the field, while the third was triggered by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The third stage is currently one of diversification and a crisis of academic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that the concept of alienation should be mobilized to develop a ' geo-social ' critique of the generic forms of life that sustain contemporary capitalist societies, in a time when the stability of the Earth system is increasingly at risk. I contend that retrieving the full heuristic potential of the concept demands engaging the fields where it has been traditionally discussed (notably social philosophy and environmental philosophy) to demonstrate how their insights on alienation can be fruitfully combined. By putting greater emphasis on how society and nature are mutually embedded, this new approach to alienation highlights the anthropocentrism that critical theory has long conveyed and indicates how it could be at least partially corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the possibilities and challenges facing international criminal law as a method of meaningfully responding to environmental destruction. Noting the interconnections between environmental destruction and the causes, conduct and impacts of mass violence, scholars have explored multiple ways in which international criminal law might be better equipped to respond to such harms. These have ranged from using existing provisions to introducing a new crime against the environment. This paper examines the evolution of these approaches and considers the capacity of international criminal law to respond to environmental destruction. In light of the challenges associated with introducing a new crime, it focuses on the possibilities associated with 'greening' the Rome Statute. Building on this approach, the paper considers whether the reparation framework adopted by the International Criminal Court offers an opportunity to meaningfully respond to environmental destruction and related human rights violations. It argues that there are three main ways in which this might be done: (i) by introducing the concept of 'eco-sensitivity' to reparations designed to respond to other anthropocentric harms; (ii) by awarding reparations that explicitly recognise the harm caused by environmental destruction when possible; and (iii) by exploring the possibilities of an environmental approach towards 'transformative reparations'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mens rea, basically owned by humans, this becomes an obstacle to punishing corporations with sanctions that are appropriate considering that in Indonesian criminal law, there is a principle that colors the Criminal Code, namely geen straf zonder schuld (no criminal without wrongdoing). The purpose of this research is to analyze the application of strict liability concepts to companies that commit crimes of environmental destruction, constraints in the application of strict liability concepts to companies that commit crimes of environmental destruction. The research method used in this research is a qualitative research method with a normative approach. The secondary data collection consists of primary legal materials and secondary legal materials obtained through literature studies. Companies that commit crimes of environmental pollution are quite seen from the actions and impacts it produces (actus reus, criminal act), so the element of error (schuld) is not very considered for example concerning the accountability (mens rea, criminal responsibility) of the perpetrators, it will be complicated to determine the fault of the company because the company does not have the soul and will (mens rea) to do the deed. Constraints on the application of strict liability concept to companies that commit crimes of environmental destruction are due to the human resources factor of law enforcement and its legal application factor, namely in the fact that the application of this concept in Indonesia is not easy, among others, that so far no cases have been brought to court to demand strict liability. Therefore, a strict liability concept has never been applied in Indonesia because it has never been resolved through a court mechanism. Based on the above conclusions, it is necessary to accept the principle of Strict Liability by law enforcement, especially judges, to apply evidence of wrongdoing to the company and the need for efforts to formulate the principle of strict liability against corporations perpetrators of environmental crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alustath is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examined reasons why information pertaining to nonhuman animal welfare and liberation should be introduced during childhood. Studies indicate that animal-welfare activists' and abolitionists' efforts to date may be insufficient given the pervasive environmental destruction and ongoing animal suffering. Moreover, research reveals that education related to animal welfare and liberation is systematically excluded from children's education, and they thus remain unaware of the sources and associated health hazards of meat they consume. Conversely, children's knowledge about animal welfare increases when exposed to literature on the topic, which enables them to make informed choices regarding meat consumption. This paper draws on animal-welfare and liberation literature to argue that augmenting children's knowledge about animal welfare and liberation can foster children's understanding, language, philosophy, and ability to make informed choices about their relationship with animals and the environment in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ivory Coast, the Gulf of Guinea country, faces numerous social and economic problems on the road to its development. These problems make the country one of the poorest countries in the world, and lead to an increase in load on the environment. National Sustainable Development Strategy of the country consists of seven sections, focusing on institutional indicators. Commission on Sustainable Development recommends using economic, social and environmental indicators. Therefore, in this article, on the basis of ecological and economic analysis of the country, we offer a system of indicators covering all groups of indicators.

Though the archetypal analysis of a given text was a popular tool available with the scholars during the decades annmd 1930s and 1940s, its utility as a scholastic method could be rediscovered even. to this day as we have a plethora of other critical theories. The present study intends to examine Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness in the light of this observation with a view tojuxtaposing eco-chticism, environmental studies and mythical methods-all in one In the paper, the Biblical character of Mammon, appropriated via Milton, offers a critical space for inquiring into the projection of Conrad's Kurtz with the possibilities for a discourse on environmental destruction. The recurrence of themes and concurrent metaphorical similarities of the characters Kurtz in Heart of Darkness and Mammon, a character in the Bibleasone among the fallen angels shares the similar archetypal patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines engagements with the natural environment in Indonesian contemporary art, with a specific focus on Yogyakarta-based multimedia artist Setu Legi. After discussing various historical models of Indonesian creative engagements with the environment, I argue that Legi's work deals with environmental problems by personalising the political as well as highlighting political aspects of the personal. Using the work of Félix Guattari and T J Demos, I show how his art offers a form of eco-aesthetics that disentangles the interconnections between art, politics and the natural environment. I analyse Legi's critical exploration of the concept of 'homeland' (tanah air) and the geopolitics of West Papua through his creation of alternative maps of the Indonesian archipelagic state. Finally, I demonstrate how Legi relates cultural and environmental destruction as well as possible solutions for these problems to a range of religious and spiritual ideas and practices in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process of development of Ivory Coast as all countries of Africa is based on the exploitation of natural resources. But this economic development pattern leads to the destruction of the environment. To solve this problem at the end of the twentieth century there was a key concept of modern ecology: the concept of sustainable development. Every country in the framework of this concept defines its development strategy to preserve its natural wealth, to ensure reduction of social disparities without damaging the environment. The article analyzes the major environmental problems Ivory Coast and the main directions of the concept of sustainable development.

Environmental problems have become increasingly more destructive. For this reason, environmental education and awareness have gained importance. This study had two objectives: to determine the factors affecting the attitude and behavior of Faculty of Agriculture students towards the environment and to test if the education given creates a significant difference in students' environmental attitude and behavior. The study was conducted on 160 first and fourth year students at Gaziosmanpasa University, Faculty of Agriculture, during 2016. Data were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire which collected data for „Environmental Awareness and Attitude Scale‟ consisting of 21 elements and „Environmental Behavior Scale‟ consisting of 24 elements. Factors affecting the attitudes and behaviors were determined separately by Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in attitudes and behaviors of the first and fourth year students. Based on Kruskal Wallis test results, significant difference was found between the first and the fourth year students for “Environmental destruction” (P< 0.01) and “Environmental responsibility” (P< 0.05) factors. In other words, environmental courses taken by students throughout their four study years in the school created an awareness and changes in their attitudes. In addition, “Environmental education” (P< 0.01) and “Environmental protection” (P< 0.01) factors were significantly different in the first and fourth year students. The present study showed that it is possible to train agricultural engineers with high levels of environmental awareness and sensitivity using a well-planned four-year education program supported with an efficient environmental education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the destruction of the environment and the repeated crises of capitalism have been discussed by a wide range of books. More specifically, great attention has been paid to the concepts of Anthropocene and of the second machine age. The link between these two strands consists not only in the common view that we are facing massive changes to our way of life for ecological and for economic reasons, but also in the idea that these two phenomena are interconnected. Accordingly, the destruction of the environment is a consequence of capitalism, and, at the same time, capitalism is nearing its material, natural limits. In this paper I shall briefly evaluate these diagnoses and some of the proposed remedies. Furthermore, I shall point out some philosophically relevant consequences of said debate, particularly concerning the concepts of freedom and political action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fictional form, this piece explores two possible ways in which the current environmental crisis (in general) and climate change (in particular) might unfold in coming years. In each case there is great suffering and many things are lost. However, in the first humanity and other species are simply devastated, and little human learning has been accomplished. In the second, a profoundly new appreciation of our connection with and dependence on the natural world has replaced the now dominant attitude and practice of domination and exploitation.

Rare metals are less common metals that are generally perceived to be scarce. The media often presents one-track thinking on the depletion of mineral resources. Despite this common notion, the supply of most rare metals – including rare earth metals (REMs) – in terms of the amount of minerals available in known deposits is not a serious problem. Key factors that determine the supply of rare metals are the costs of mining and smelting, and related environmental destruction. These are the major practical constraints, rather than the amount of mineral deposits in the earth. When extracting rare metals from recycled feed material, harmful wastes generated from natural ore processing can be avoided. This is the primary advantage of the cyclical use of rare metal resources. In this article, bottlenecks of rare metal supply, and the importance of recycling, are discussed, using REMs as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the relationship between capitalism and environmental destruction, a critical perspective. The objective was to demonstrate the specific relationship between human beings and nature established in capitalist society and its destructive effects, compared with other contradictions of capitalism and the future possibilities. The capitalist mode of production is the key element to understand the process of environmental destruction in modern society, especially in its dynamic marked by the reproduction of capital. Ideologies aimed at solving the environmental problem within capitalism are discarded because of this specific characteristic of capitalism. Environmental destruction is one of the contradictions of capitalism and can become the most important, promoting the end of capitalism or of humanity. However, the end of capitalism is not without human action and it is this that determines what will replace it. This highlights our responsibility in shaping the future of humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel Gardens in the Dunes based on the theoretical framework of ecocriticism, a current of literary criticism that, in face of the world environmental crisis today, seeks for models of thought and practice that emphasize the close relationship between humans and the natural world. Thus, the article foregrounds the Amerindian worldview, whose main pillars are based on the environmentally just cohabitation and the distributive balance of social and ethnic groups and regions.In this novel, Silko invites readers to approach marginalized, destitute people, living in environmentally and socially problematic areas, intending thereby to denounce the oppression of indigenous peoples and the excessive consumption of goods that characterizes our time. Alternatively, the author presents experiences and symbols that celebrate inclusion, diversity and plurality.

Focusing on a study of Taiwan’s United News Daily archive and the shifting discourses of the Green Revolution and the organic food movement, the project analyzes the narrative frameworks produced on the apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) in Taiwan. Apple snail has become invasive to many East Asian countries since the 1980s; it is considered among the world’s 100 most invasive species. During the era of the Green Revolution, the economy of killing the apple snail with pesticide was generated by a narrative of how greedy merchants imported invasive apple snail and led to the systematic disruption of Taiwan’s ecology. The paper explores how the organic food movement responded to and was shaped by such a narrative of innocence lost, and emphasizes the importance of going beyond the hyper-real narratives of irreparable ecological destructions by recognizing sites of memories left behind by global capital flow.

This study examined how Nigerian newspapers cover the effect of Boko Haram violence on the environment, the areas of the environment mostly affected by the Boko Haram violence, the prominence given to the coverage of the Boko Haram violence, the perspective from which the media reported the violence within the period of study and the forms of presentation of the reports on Boko Haram violence in Nigerian newspapers. The sample size for the study was 162 editions of three national dailies - The Punch, the Vanguard and the Daily Sun. The instrument of data collection was the coding guide and coding sheet because the research methodology was content-analysis of selected newspapers - The Punch, the Vanguard and the Daily Sun. Two hypotheses were tested using the chi-square analytical tool and the results showed that Nigerian dailies did not give prominence to Boko Haram-induced environmental problems during the period of study (December 2011, January 2012 and February 2012) and that Boko Haram violence significantly affects the environment. The result of the research revealed that the violence affects the environment, especially the land, which bears most of the brunt. The Nigerian dailies gave prominence to the Boko Haram insurgence, but little attention was paid to the environmental implications of the violence. On the basis of the findings, the researchers recommended to mass media operators that environmental beats should be given utmost priority in their organizations especially by separating this beat from property and housing beats, which are often merged with the environmental beat in most organizations. This merger could be playing down the pertinence of environmental reporting. Feature stories and editorial comments should be used more while presenting the environmental effects of Boko Haram activities in order to give a more in-depth interpretation to such happenings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais is the property of Centro de Estudos Sociais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Povijesni Prilozi is the property of Croatian Institute of History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Barbara S. Nowak examines gender relations among Btsisi', an indigenous, coastal community which traditionally engaged in maritime-related activities. She explores the diversity in livelihood activities that formed the basis of a community-based resource management adaptation that openly invited and supported women's full participation in fisheries activities. Environmental damage and the over-exploitation of resources have limited the livelihood options and left them with little ability to absorb shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nihilist is one who wants nothingness in the place of what is. Does John Gray in his book, Straw Dogs, wish the end of the world? No: but he does contemplate with calm and even some pleasure the end of the human race, or at the least its diminishment to a small fraction of its current numbers. He is appalled by the irrepressible human destructiveness of nature, whether animals, plants or inanimate formations, and finds in this destructiveness the ironical source of human self‐destruction. The only way in which human destructiveness can end is for the human race to end or be substantially reduced. The restored health of nature demands the ruin of humanity, which, unchecked, ruins nature while preparing its own ruin. Much of the book is devoted to deflating human pride as shown in its claim to specialness. This claim is the principal source of human destructiveness of nature. Humanism, the Enlightenment and doctrines of progress bear much of the responsibility for such pride. If we could see through the claim to human specialness, we would not lament in advance the inevitable passing of humanity from the scene. The success of Gray’s deflationary project is mixed, but his book is completely successful as a work of provocation and may even, despite its apparent intentions, inspire some of its readers to adopt a chastened humanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence that confirms the existence of the Acheulean or Acheulean-like technology at sites in Southeast and East Asia, especially for its earliest appearance at ~0.8 Ma, and two competing hypotheses have been proposed to interpret its origins. Regardless of whether this technology is due to Acheulean population movements or to independent invention, however, one clear feature of these earlier sites is the significantly low lithic densities and infrequent numbers of Large Cutting Tools (LCTs) (e.g., for sites in the Bose Basin). Various hypotheses have been proposed to account for these low artefact densities. In this paper, we consider the interplay between cataclysmic events in the environment and population dynamics during the Acheulean in the Bose Basin, which has received little attention with regard to ecology. We focus on two sudden penecontemporaneous geological events at ~0.8 Ma: the Australasian tektite fall and the oldest Toba super-eruption, both of which have been well documented in Southeast Asia and the southern part of South China and have been confirmed as causing severe environmental change (e.g., deforestation). We propose that this destruction of the original habitat created a population bottleneck effect for the toolmakers, who very likely occupied the landscape at approximately the same time as the cataclysms. This study broadens our understanding of the regional character of the Acheulean sites in Southeast and East Asia, and it provides an interesting case study that highlights the potential relationship between Acheulean population dynamics and sudden environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]