communities

"Climbing the Ladder of Participation: Symbolic or Substantive Representation in Preparing Uganda for REDD+?"

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Robert Mbeche argues that even though REDD+ claims to be democratic and participatory, the Uganda program allows the input of only a few selected stakeholders – mainly the government actors and a limited number of NGOs.

"Theorising Derecognition of Local Government Authorities as Political Injustice: The Effects of Technical Claims in Senegal's Forestry"

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Papa Faye shows that “derecognition” is effectively a new “recognition” dynamic in decentralized forest management in Senegal, in which Forestry officials and agents derecognize elected local governments (ELGs) drawing upon technical claims.

"Feigning Democracy: Performing Representation in the UN-REDD Funded Nigeria-REDD Programme"

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Emmanuel O. Nuesiri critically examines the United Nations’ REDD and REDD+ programmes (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus the sustainable management of forest and enhancement of carbon stocks) in Nigeria and finds them to exclude politically weak rural people.

Canadian Countercultures and the Environment

This collection contributes a sustained analysis of the beginning of major Canadian environmental debates between the 1960s and 1980s, and examines a range of issues related to broad environmental concerns, topics which emerged as key concerns in the context of Cold War military investments and experiments, the oil crisis of the 1970s, debates over gendered roles, and the increasing attention to urban pollution and pesticide use.

"Democracy in the Woods"

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Dan Brockington reviews the book Democracy in the Woods: Environmental Conservation and Social Justice in India, Tanzania, and Mexico (Studies in Comparative Energy and Environmental Politics) by Prakash Kashwan.

"Rangeland Use Rights Privatisation Based on the Tragedy of the Commons: A Case Study from Tibet"

Yonten Nyima Yundannima provides an empirical analysis of rangeland use rights privatization through an empirical case study from Pelgon county in the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. She criticizes the applicability of the tragedy of the commons model to Tibetan pastoralism, arguing that this has led to a disruption of the essence of pastoralism in the region.

"Drilling through Conservation Policy: Oil Exploration in Murchison Falls Protected Area, Uganda"

Catrina A. MacKenzie, Rebecca K. Fuda, Sadie Jane Ryan, and Joel Hartter use interviews and focus group discussions to assess the interaction of oil exploration with the three primary conservation policies employed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority: protectionism, neoliberal capital accumulation, and community-based conservation.