Search

Previous research has established a link between oil production and armed conflict in low- and middle-income countries. Oil-related grievances are viewed as a key variable driving resentment and antistate attitudes. However, the off-the-shelf measures of existing studies (oil exports, oil revenues per capita, etc.) measure dependence and richness, not grievances among the population. This article contributes to filling this gap. Relying on an original opinion poll from the conflict-ridden Niger Delta, the analysis shows that both rebel-pursued, collective grievances (unfair oil revenue distribution) and individual grievances (livelihood destruction due to oil production) make people support antistate violence. These results lend micro-level evidence to the grievance mechanism linking oil and (support for) rebellion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change remains one of the most enigmatic questions that humanity urgently needs to address. Emanating from the ecological crisis, climate change threatens the survival of some species (including humanity) and the depletion of natural resources. The situation is deplorable, but arguably religion/spirituality can contribute to meeting the challenge. This study explores a Zimbabwean Rastafari perspective on praying for rain against the backdrop of climate change. The article posits that praying for rain is integral to Rastafari 'livity' and liturgical life. Among other pertinent questions, the study asks: What is the value Rastafarians accord to nature? How do Rastafarians pray for rain? Do they take responsibility for the environment? The research concludes that Rastafarians operate as post-20th-century Nazarenes, where prayer is a practical and tangible manifestation of work that is crucial to living harmoniously with nature. Rastafari 'green philosophy' is a practical spiritual consciousness that decisively complements global efforts of shared responsibility for nature in the context of the climate change crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries that rely on natural resource rents (that is, the revenue generated from the sale of natural resources) may suffer from a variety of social problems. This exploratory study reviews the natural resource extraction literature to derive a ‘natural resource rents–homicide’ hypothesis. Data for 173 countries for the years 2000 to 2012 are examined to determine if there is a correlation between natural resource rents and homicide rates. Multilevel growth models suggest that natural resource rents are positively correlated with homicide rates within countries (level 1) but not between them (level 2). Importantly, the correlation between natural resource rents and homicide is strongest when natural resource rents are lagged. We conclude by suggesting that increasing natural resource rents may be counterproductive over the long run and sow the seeds for a future increase in homicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently there have been increasing instances of the return of the state as the central agent of development in resource-rich nations globally. Characterised by both a rhetorical and substantive commitment to increasing control over national resource revenues, this so-called new/neo-extractivism has attracted a debate concerning the extent to which it offers a viable alternative to the imperatives of neoliberal resource extraction. Using two examples, this paper analyses the ways in which the Ghanaian and Ecuadorean states discursively imagine such structural transformations. It highlights the value in analysing the politics of language for strengthening studies of neo-extractivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the effects of three interventions and a no-intervention control on the settlement of resource and value conflicts. These variables were arranged in a two (conflict issue: resources vs. values) by four (no intervention vs. other affirmation vs. shared identity vs. transaction costs) between-dyads design in which 127 dyads engaged in a negotiation task. Negotiators reached generally lower joint outcomes in the value conflict compared to the resource conflict, but after the other-affirmation intervention, this pattern was reversed. The shared-identity intervention did not result in higher joint outcomes for value conflicts. Stressing positive concern for the other negotiator may be a more effective strategy than stressing commonalities between the parties: increased concern for self and decreased defense of own opinions may account for this result. Forcing and logrolling behavior are shown to be mediating variables between the type of conflict and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including social use and control of natural resources, popular culture, and religious movements.

Economic development generally promotes women's autonomy. Yet women in resource-rich autocracies fare more poorly than women in similarly wealthy industrial and postindustrial states. Some attribute this puzzling outcome to cultural causes, describing the apparent link between restrictions on women's autonomy in resource-rich countries (especially in the Middle East) as spurious. Others argue that oil and gas rents cause a gendered resource curse through macroeconomic mechanisms. By contrast, we explain the association as a consequence of a political mechanism. We propose a theory of autocratic survival via antisocial policies chosen for the harms they inflict on targeted groups. Autocrats need to placate ideologically motivated members of their winning coalition. Antisocial policies serve as a costly and visible measure of rulers' fidelity to these winning coalition members. Resource rents enable rulers to afford such policies, which would be infeasible in tax-reliant regimes. Restricting women's autonomy thus forms part of a strategy of autocratic rule in resource-rich autocracies. Using quantitative evidence, we demonstrate that variations in women's autonomy correlate with variations in oil income per capita in cross-country regressions. To trace variations within cases, we present case studies of Saudi Arabia and Iran to demonstrate processes consonant with our theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some argue that the right kinds of institutions mitigate, or even prevent, the development of "natural resource curses." Rulers with access to resource wealth, however, are unlikely to adopt such institutions, because doing so would undermine their discretionary power. We examine this proposition by testing whether countries with access to natural resource wealth prove less likely to adopt transparency-promoting Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. Using panel data on 139 countries between 1980 and 2012 (33 years), we find that, after accounting for current levels of democracy and the quality of institutions, countries deriving rents from natural resource are, indeed, less likely to adopt FOI laws. We also find that oil, but not other kinds of resources, is robustly related to a lower probability of adopting FOI laws. However, in countries with strong democracy and high institutional quality, higher income from resources is positively associated with the chance of adopting FOI laws. This suggests that rulers of countries with high resource wealth need to face high political constraints already before they adopt institutional changes. It follows that global policy aimed at increasing transparency within resource-wealthy states should focus efforts on strengthening democracy in ways that increase political competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on struggles in South Africa regarding land and natural resources, and partial displacement and eviction of blacks from Mapungubwe and Madikwe regions, which is now called the Mapungubwe National Park. It mentions that public and private lands were allocated for nature conservation and tourism by forcing dispossession. It states that land restitution claims caused conflicts in the Mapungubwe region.

The question of value is fundamental to contexts of resource scarcity given that contest over use and distribution of scarce resources centres on judgments about rights, interests and access. In mining processes, the use and extraction of water in great volumes commodifies and threatens supplies of what others understand to be a substance essential to all forms of life. In the Atacama, while industrial extraction and commodification by the mining industry are the basis for indigenous people's contestations over water resources, an analysis of everyday water practice and performance (as 'ordinary ethics') demonstrates that an indigenous ethics of resources includes commodity values under certain conditions. This paper examines a field of competing actors engaging in extraction and use of scarce waters in order to make an argument for the importance of considering the complexities and dynamics of ethical practice and water value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the ecofeminist approach on natural resource extraction and rape. Topics discussed include ecofeminism, natural resource extraction industries for naturally occurring resources such as oil and natural gas and the impact of natural resource industries to the increase of sexual violence.

The article discusses an 1847 quotation by the American founder of the Mormon Church Brigham Young on the public's right to own natural resources, through referencing historiography on Young. An overview of the quotation's attribution to Young in the book "Great Basin Kingdom," by Leonard J. Arrington is provided.

This study applies fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to the debate on links between resource scarcity and armed conflict. Previous studies on this relationship have reached contradictory results. This study aims to solve this contradiction by arguing that social, economic, and political conditions play an important role in determining whether armed conflict erupts over resource scarcity. I test three theoretic hypotheses, focusing on weak states, economic situations of households, and human ingenuity. I compare fifteen resource scarce cases with conflict to sixteen cases without armed conflict. My analysis supports the hypothesis that the economic situation of households and the levels of human ingenuity matter. In particular, the impact of high dependence on agriculture and low levels of tertiary education on the link between resource scarcity and conflict is discussed. While employing an fsQCA proves a valuable step in accounting for contradictory results, limits of the methods are apparent as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many natural resource professionals are reaching retirement and attracting young adults to fill the resulting vacancies may prove difficult. Unfortunately, a lack of theoretical exploration of career choices leaves the field without theoretically based methods for recruitment and retention of young adults. Therefore, this exploratory study aims to contribute to research on natural resource career choice by examining supports and barriers encountered throughout career development. Supports and barriers that influenced the early careers of recent hires at the US Fish and Wildlife Service were examined through the lens of the social cognitive career theory. Twenty-two culturally diverse recent hires were interviewed using semistructured, open-ended interviews. Interviewees discussed specific barriers and supports affecting young adults pursuing natural resource careers. Unique barriers and supports perceived by white males and underrepresented groups highlighted the need to design recruitment and retention techniques for specific target populations. By carefully designing support systems for young adults and underrepresented groups, agencies can help them overcome barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years after independence the labour market of western Kazakhstan is strongly oriented towards the resource-extraction industry. The oil sector offers job opportunities not only in mining and exploration but also in connected services such as transport, security and food supply, and maintenance services. Based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork in the region, I argue that the resource-extraction industry provides a blessing for the working population in terms of relatively high salaries; however, it represents a curse in terms of labour conditions. This article highlights, through the example of Aktobe province, workers’ attitudes towards and their agency within the oil sector that influences migration choices. The research suggests that money earned in the oil sector can work as a catalyst for migration and urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01374.x Byline: TARA L. TEEL ([dagger]*), MICHAEL J. MANFREDO ([dagger]) Keywords: attitudes; conflict; human dimensions; values; value orientations; wildlife Abstract: Abstract: North American state wildlife agencies are increasingly faced with the challenge of effectively representing a diverse public. With increasing social conflict over wildlife issues, the future of wildlife conservation hinges on preparedness of the profession to respond to this challenge. In the interest of finding ways to improve response, 19 agencies in the western U.S. joined forces to initiate an investigation that would provide a better understanding of the diversity of wildlife-related interests in the region. Specific objectives, accomplished through use of a mail survey administered in 2004, were to categorize people on the basis of their value orientations toward wildlife and explore how different groups were distributed across states and to examine differences on sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward wildlife-related topics among groups. The focus was on two orientations: domination (view of wildlife that prioritizes human well-being over wildlife and treats wildlife in utilitarian terms); and mutualism (view of wildlife as capable of relationships of trust with humans and defined by a desire for companionship with wildlife). Four types of people were identified on the basis of these orientations. Types differed in their geographic distribution and wildlife-related attitudes and behaviors, revealing how value orientations can form the foundation for conflict on wildlife issues. Our characterizations of stakeholder groups offer a framework that can be applied over time and across geographic scales to improve conservation planning efforts and inform broader thinking about the social aspects of wildlife conservation. Abstract (Spanish): Entendiendo la Diversidad de Intereses Publicos en la Conservacion de Vida Silvestre Resumen: Las agencias estatales de vida silvestre norteamericanas enfrentan cada vez mas el reto de representar efectivamente a un publico diverso. Con el incremento del conflicto social sobre temas de vida silvestre, el futuro de la conservacion de vida silvestre depende del estado de preparacion de la profesion para responder a este reto. Con el interes de encontrar maneras para mejorar la respuesta, 19 agencias del oeste de E. U. A. unieron fuerzas para iniciar una investigacion que proporcionaria un mejor entendimiento de la diversidad de intereses relacionados con la vida silvestre en la region. Los objetivos especificos, cumplidos mediante el uso de una encuesta aplicada por correo en 2004, fueron la categorizacion de personas con base en su orientacion de valores hacia la vida silvestre y explorar como se distribuyeron los diferentes grupos y examinar las diferencias entre grupos en cuanto a caracteristicas socioeconomicas y actitudes hacia topicos relacionados con la vida silvestre. El enfoque tuvo dos orientaciones: dominacion (punto de vista sobre la vida silvestre que prioriza el bienestar humano sobre la vida silvestre y la trata en terminos utilitarios) y mutualismo (punto de vista sobre la vida silvestre que reconoce las relaciones con los humanos definido por un deseo de acompanamiento con la vida silvestre). Con base en estas orientaciones se identificaron cuatro tipos de personas. Los tipos difirieron en su distribucion geografica y sus actitudes y conductas relacionadas con temas de vida silvestre. Nuestras caracterizaciones de los grupos de interes ofrecen un marco de referencia que puede ser aplicado con el transcurso del tiempo y a traves de escalas geograficas para mejorar los esfuerzos de planificacion de la conservacion e informar sobre los aspectos sociales de la conservacion de vida silvestre. Author Affiliation: ([dagger])Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, U.S.A. Article History: Paper submitted February 24, 2008; revised manuscript accepted June 29, 2009. Article note: (*) email tteel@lamar.colostate.edu