ecology

The authors promote the idea of “Natural Governance” as a new approach to conservation based on three pillars, namely ecology, cooperation, and cultural systems.

Through a case study of the nickel mine Ambatovy in Madagascar, the authors explore local perceptions of the magnitude and distribution of impacts of biodiversity offset projects on local well-being.

In Catastrophic Times: Resisting the Coming Barbarism warns the reader about the possibility that we have already entered a catastrophic time, determined by the apparently uncontrollable impact of anthropogenic activities and the incapability of governments and authorities to respond effectively.

Katharine Suding, plant ecologist and professor at the University of Michigan, outlines the scaling of ecosystem restoration and how scaling is affecting the very notion of restoration in this presentation at the Latsis Symposium 2018.

In Minimal Ethics for the Anthropocene, Joanna Zylinska outlies an ethical framework that could help humans assume responsibility for various occurrences in the universe across different scales. Her goal is not so much to tell us how to live but rather to allow us to rethink “life” and what we can do with it, in whatever time we have left. The book embraces a speculative mode of thinking that is more akin to the artist’s method; it also includes a photographic project by the author.

Gathering Ecologies explores the ethical and political shift towards an ecological conception of the idea of interactivity. It examines the creative potential of differential relations through key concepts from the philosophies of A. N. Whitehead, Gilbert Simondon, and Michel Serres.

In Stolen Future, Broken Present, David A. Collings investigates the relationship between our present impact on the Earth and our perception of the future. He argues that an understanding of our infinite responsibility for ecological disaster could avoid the strange incoherence felt by many in everyday life.

Arjaan Pellis, Annemiek Pas, and Martijn Duineveld build upon Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory to study the multidimensional nature of resource-based conflicts in and around Loisaba conservancy in Kenya.

Pedro Brancalion is a professor of forest restoration at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. In this presentation, he discusses the results of his research conducted in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. He applies these results to other tropical forests across the globe, stressing the importance of global restoration implementation.

Alternative Futures brings together 35 essays on India’s future, written by a diverse set of authors: activists, researchers, media persons, those who have influenced policies, and those working at the grassroots. Divided into four sections—Ecological Futures, Political Futures, Economic Futures, and Socio-Cultural Futures—the book covers a wide range of issues including environmental governance, biodiversity, democracy and power, law, agriculture, pastoralism, industry, languages, learning and education, knowledge, health and sexuality among others.