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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.10.010 Byline: Kersty Hobson Abstract: This paper is positioned within on-going debates about the expansion and re-theorization of political geography's ambit. It argues that animals could and should be included as subjects within sub-disciplinary research. Whilst political ecologists regularly employ animal conservation case studies to detail the complexities of struggles over resource distributions, this work often frames animals as static components of a thoroughly human sociality. This paper draws on conceptual debates within cultural geography, in particular those pertaining to 'animal' and 'hybrid' geographies. It argues that animals be viewed as dynamic beings, inextricable to political processes, and integral to the formation and operation of the political networks that regulate, protect and exploit them. This assertion is elaborated here through discussions of recent campaigns to end bear bile farming in East Asia, in particular, the work of the Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia Foundation. This example aims to illuminate the potential strengths and limitations of arguing through a 'hybrid geography' lens, and aims to stimulate further debate around the standing of animals within an enlarged and enlarging political geography. Author Affiliation: Department of Human Geography, The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

'Consumption' is a central concept in the global environmental sustainability agenda. However, one important argument from Agenda 21--that all social actors must now practise 'sustainable consumption'--has been publicly and politically marginalised in high-income countries such as Australia. Geographers potentially have a role in bringing consumption back onto the agenda by constructing a critical geography of consumption. Such research can help understand how the contextual use of natural resources is perceived and practised, and how consumption helps to shape contemporary social relations. This body of knowledge is vital for building sustainable development into everyday lives. Yet a focus on urban consumption perceptions and practices appears somewhat lacking in Australian geography. Ways forward can be drawn from international geography, such as in the United Kingdom where a substantial body of work has drawn a complex picture of contemporary consumption and environmental understanding. It has also challenged prevailing 'ecological modernisation' policy approaches, which ignore consumption's cultural facets. In sum, considering consumption in Australia can offer insights into cultural practices expressed through consumption; can challenge and add to European geographical literatures, and can also contribute to sustainability debates by offering alternatives to currently ineffective policy discourses. KEY WORDS sustainable consumption; lifestyles; human geography; urban

The article examines whether sustainable lifestyles or social justice motivates individuals to behave in an environmentally responsible manner. Rationalizing lifestyles fails to address social concerns of individuals, and was found to actively alienate some individuals. Data were obtained from interviews with participants in the United Kingdom's Action at Home program.

Circular Economy (CE) is now a key governance framework that aims to reconfigure how value is extracted from resources. Despite its widespread uptake, CE commentary to date tends towards descriptive and/or celebratory. In response, in this paper I outline some ways that environmental politics researchers have much to contribute to CE research, arguing that current examples of CE policies and practices potentially accelerate resource use into this century. A key weakness is how proponents frame us all as particular forms of 'user-consumers'. Such framings fail to account for what is at stake for all of us as part of the CE project: and I conclude this paper by posing several key research questions, to encourage more critical environmental politics research on and around issues of CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper describes the challenges faced, and opportunities identified, by a multidisciplinary team of researchers developing a novel closed loop system to recover valuable metals and reduce e‐waste, focusing on mobile phones as a case study. This multidisciplinary approach is contrasted with current top‐down approaches to making the transition to the circular economy (CE). The aim of the research presented here is to develop a product service system (PSS) that facilitates the recovery of valuable functional components and metals from mobile phone circuit boards. To create a holistic solution and limit unintended consequences, in addition to technological solutions, this paper considers appropriate component lifetimes; the (often ignored) role of the citizen in the circular economy; customer interaction with the PSS; environmental life cycle assessment; and social impacts of the proposed PSS. Development of enabling technologies and materials to facilitate recovery of components and metals and to provide an emotionally durable external enclosure is described. This research also highlights the importance of understanding value in the CE from a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]