Bibliography (page 5)

Schnaiberg, Allan, and Gould, Kenneth Alan. Environment and society: the enduring conflict. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.

An excellent critical analysis of the relationship between natural and human interests in industrial societies; the authors recognize from the outset that the modern system, based on capitalist ideologies of economic expansion and profit motives, is "built on a central belief that [it] can progress by conquering nature and expanding production" (v). The authors conceive of this system as a "treadmill of production" and argue that it "has continued to erode environmental systems and to impoverish increasingly larger numbers of people. Indeed,... the inherent logic of this political-economic system is in fundamental and enduring conflict with the realities of both global environment and social justice within and between societies" (v). The authors explore this premise throughout their work to suggest that the modern, capitalist system based on economic expansion and growth is inherently self-destructive, exploitative, unsustainable, and degrading to both the environment and to human societies around the world. In the context of this thesis, two chapters by Schnaiberg and Gould are particularly representative of the manifestation of this conflict between Southern and Northern countries. The first - "Opting Out or Waiting to Enter?: The Underdeveloped Countries" - concentrates on the relationship between Northern and Southern countries in relation to the treadmill of production. According to the authors, the South has historically been forced into a position of dependency based on the drive for economic expansion and resource extraction embraced by Northern, political and economic ideologies. The authors begin with a good summary of colonization, which has consistently forced upon Southern countries "the negative social, economic, and environmental impacts of the colonial experience" (166). The main aim of colonialists' subjugation of Southern peoples and lands "was to enrich themselves and their nations by removing anything of value from the South and repatriating that wealth to the North" (166). The authors make the important connection that Northern wealth, industrialization, technology, and military strength has been made possible by the continued plunder and domination of Southern peoples and resources; the ideologies of economic growth and extraction have been made possible thanks to significant social and environmental injustices committed against Southern peoples and resources (168-169). Because Northern modernization has been made possible at the expense of Southern social and environmental vitality and self-sufficiency, the attempts to create a Southern treadmill are bound to fail, contributing only to Northern power (and to further human impoverishment and environmental degradation) rather than Southern autonomy, "democracy," and "progress." Even if certain Southern nations are able to embrace modernization as a guiding force for economic and political "development," it is clear that the resulting social and environmental ills involved with this move will not promote human and natural interests; "those national governments that are most willing and able to deny or suppress social equity and environmental goals may ultimately prove to be the fastest developers" (195). The second chapter - "Ecological Sustainability: Of What? For What?" - provided some excellent insights into the issues of sustainability. Clearly, based on the authors' discussion of power relationships between the North and South, the treadmill of production is not a sustainable model of social and environmental reproduction in the long-term. Regardless of the way in which "sustainability" is intended (i.e. economically or environmentally), it is clear that the assumptions underlying the treadmill - of endless growth and endless resource supply - are invalidated by the fact that we live on a finite planet with finite resources (202-203). "If economic expansion is constrained in the long run by these ecological limits, then any socioeconomic system predicated on the assumption that infinite economic expansion is possible, desirable, and necessary must ultimately fail. Thus, if ever increasing global poverty and unemployment are not sufficient to bring the assumption of economic expansion into question, the collapse of the global ecosystem on which all life depends will" (202). Based on this acknowledgment, the authors stress that the "long-term economic, social, and ecological sustainability" (205) of any socioeconomic system must be judged by its capacity to sustain its human and natural resources and to make possible social and environmental justice. The authors then use the phrase, "reduce, reuse, and recycle," to suggest ways in which societies can embrace possibilities towards sustaining the resources upon which a socioeconomic system (and life on this planet) depends. Ultimately, "reduction" and "reuse" represent the most significant departures from the treadmill, as they demand that people not only lower consumption, but fundamentally embrace principles at odds with the dominant and prevailing model of economic growth, expansion, and extraction. This would require such significant changes to the current system that the authors feel it is unlikely that they would be realistically possible within the next 20 to 50 years. However, it is also clear that recycling - which does not require significant changes in the modern power structure and social system - is only prolonging the inevitable self-destruction of the treadmill. Under the circumstances, the authors suggest that a transition to a "recreation industry economy" may provide the best possibility for embracing more sound models of environmental and social sustainability in the near future. Recreation and tourism have the potential of being less extractive of resources and degrading of the environment, and could be a first step in raising people's awareness to the aesthetic and spiritual importance of the natural world. However, the authors admit quite honestly that tourism and recreation are not the ideal answers; they may be the first step towards sustainable economies, but they "still produce many negative environmental impacts" (214). Tourism and recreation provide a short-term escape for elites that can afford it, but the poor (especially in the developing world) generally cannot afford it, and if their resources are to be used for environmental protection, "they must be given a means by which to reap economic benefits" (214) from this protection. Tourism and recreation can also "overload local infrastructures" and contribute to severe degradation if access into and pollution of "pristine" areas are not restricted. Limiting access should not be based on money, the authors argue, as this merely reinforces the negative power dynamics and relationships which provide the underpinnings for the treadmill. Tourism and recreation also create negative social impacts - especially in the context of Southern countries - by encouraging people to rely on the cash economy rather than on local production and self-sufficiency. In effect, there is a clear danger inherent in tourism and recreation economies to preserve and increase dependency and degradation rather than reversing these processes. This suggests that at least some structural change is necessary if these economies are to be most effective (i.e. wealth needs to be redistributed, local communities must be able to control the resources and the benefits of the economies, etc.).

Sheil, Douglas. "Tanzanian coastal forests - unique, threatened, and overlooked." Oryx 26, no. 2 (1992): 107-114.

A good summation of information relating to coastal forests in Tanzania, which are rich in biodiversity but ignored by most national and international conservation efforts. Centers on the case study of Kirengoma Forest to give a sense of exploitation in the form of logging, encroachment, and charcoal production based on the basic needs of local people. The author suggests that conservation strategies involve the consultation and direct involvement of local people in the sustainable development process.

Shiva, Vandana. "Globalism, biodiversity, and the third world." In The future of progress: reflections on environment and development, edited by Edward Goldsmith, Khor, Martin, Norberg-Hodge, Helena, Shiva, Vandana, & others, 50-67. Foxhole, Dartington: Green Books, 1995.

A good consideration of biodiversity, exploitation, and colonization in India. In relation to this thesis, the first several pages provide a good consideration of the ways in which Western solutions are being encouraged for ecological crises while indigenous ideas in the South are being ignored. The author argues that this situation is disconnected from the historical realities of massive, Southern exploitation by Europe and America from colonial periods to modern times; indigenous systems primarily allowed for ecological sustainability while European colonization "began a worldwide rape of the Earth's resources" (50) that has continued in the globalization of Western, socioeconomic systems today. Shiva argues that Western, reductionist science provided a foundation for conquering nature through a male-dominated colonialism that sought to destroy the sacredness of nature and the idea of "nature as held in common by and for all" (51). The privatization of "the commons" and the Crown's disregard for the commons as "wastelands" in England set up a pattern that was to be repeated throughout the South; the needs of indigenous peoples were ignored just as were the English peasants'. Shiva recognizes that the destruction of biodiversity in favor of genetic uniformity in agriculture has been increasingly destructive in the Third World, encouraging economic expansion for the West and environmental and social disasters for the South.

Simbotwe, M. P. "African realities and western expectations." In Voices from Africa: local perspectives in conservation, edited by Dale Lewis, and Carter, Nick, 15-21. Washington, D.C.: World Wildlife Fund, 1993.

A good criticism of the ignorance and indifference among colonialists and modern conservationists that has shaped the lack of consideration of the importance of African cultural values and beliefs in relation to sustainable development and effective land management. The author argues that traditional African practices generally had built-in ways of conserving wildlife and protecting natural resources so that they were not overutilized, through the use of taboos, a complex nomenclature identifying the importance of certain plants and animals, etc. The importance of these beliefs has been totally disregarded by the West and this has helped contribute to the massive environmental pressures that have emerged in Africa today. The author argues that Western conservation philosophies are often untenable in Africa because they are based on an understanding of nature - and a policy towards the preservation of "aesthetic beauty" - that does not apply in the African case. Effective conservation in the future must embrace much more seriously what traditional African ways of conserving wildlife have to offer.

Stahl, Michael. "Land degradation in East Africa." Ambio 22, no. 8 (1993): 505-508.

Based on the author's extensive experience with development administration, the article provides a good analysis of the problems of soil erosion in the East African highlands. According to Stahl, agriculturalists in the highlands tend to follow destructive land-use techniques based on short-term harvests and production because of basic needs that must be met in a Third World setting. Land degradation may be halted or reversed if sustainable resource management techniques are implemented, but usually these programs in bunds and terracing, agroforestry, and livestock management have had limited success because they are instituted at the government level; more involvement "on the ground" must take place for local communities to reap the benefits of conservation and embrace its long-term advantages.

Veit, Peter G., Mascarenhas, Adolfo, and Ampadu-Agyei, Okyeame. Lessons from the ground up: African development that works. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute, 1995.

An in-depth account of development and conservation issues looking at poverty, high population, lack of community inclusion in decisions, and lack of national aid and encouragement in developing countries. The authors consider possibilities for improvement through 23 case studies that seem to help local peoples' situations from a grassroots level and help make conservation profitable and integral to human survival and diversity.

Vivian, Jessica. "NGOs and sustainable development." In Development and environment: sustaining people and nature, edited by Dharam Ghai, 167-193. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994.

An excellent consideration of the roles of NGOs in developing countries; despite the supposed capacity of NGOs to provide alternative development strategies based on local concerns and community-based involvement, they have traditionally been restricted in their ability to be truly innovative due to a number of factors, including their narrow focus on particular projects and their lack of involvement with communities on a long-term basis, but most important of which is the unrealistic and restricting expectation of donors of NGO success stories with development projects and programs. In recent years, NGOs have been increasingly considered the best option for promoting sustainable development in developing countries because they are supposedly well-suited to dealing with the issue on a small-scale, individual basis. The author uses the case study of Zimbabwe to explore the effectiveness of NGOs further, presenting a concise analysis of environmental degradation in the country which has historically been complicated by a number of socioeconomic factors, including poverty, lack of resources, and lack of land ownership by women, to suggest that an understanding of power dynamics in Zimbabwe is necessary if development policies are to be truly effective (187). Vivian reinforces this idea further by presenting a historical analysis of colonial and postcolonial rural development policies to demonstrate the ways in which official mismanagement of rural areas and mistrust of rural peoples has led to marginalization and continued impoverishment of local communities (180-182). However, the post-independence government has also attempted to explore new possibilities that might involve rural communities more in the process of reversing environmental degradation, including crop diversification and indigenous crop promotion programs, as well as wildlife production programs through CAMPFIRE, although it is unclear how many communities this is ultimately useful for. The author then explores rural NGO operations in Zimbabwe, based on firsthand studies, to suggest that although NGOs have the potential to be flexible, to respond quickly to changing situations, to provide services to the "poorest of the poor" in local communities, and to help create programs that can be sustained by local communities, their record to date evidences their failure to accomplish these tasks in reality. Vivian suggests that NGOs have been partly limited by their inability to connect focused project plans and limited time frames to the greater context of socioeconomic impoverishment and degradation in Zimbabwe and in the Third World in general. Even more importantly, NGOs have been unable to explore innovative approaches to involving rural communities within project attempts, and have tended to echo official mentalities towards local peoples, because they have been hampered by donors' supply of funds for projects conditioned by donors' expectations of success stories in regards to the projects. The author argues that for NGOs to be truly effective in Zimbabwe, and in general, they must be allowed to be innovative and flexible. Donors should not expect success stories but should allow for the consequences of failures that truly innovative approaches entail. The author recognizes that in addition to overcoming this "magic bullet" mentality, NGOs must respond to the socioeconomic realities that face specific communities; "only when innovations make sense in technical, economic, and social terms, are they likely to be successfully adopted... and lead to improved environmental outcomes" (191).

Good quote on colonial mismanagement in Zimbabwe: "The most important obstacle that conservationists came up against was the resistance of the rural people. Beinhart (1984: 52) notes that rural anti-colonial struggles coincided with the periods of the government's heightened commitment to agricultural development schemes in the 1940s and 1950s, and argues that 'the two phenomena are not unconnected.' Indeed, it is clear that in colonial Zimbabwe rural people were justified in equating 'development' with oppression and impoverishment" (181).

Vos, Robert O. "Thinking about sustainable development: what's theory got to do with it?" In Thinking about the environment: readings on politics, property, and the physical world, edited by Matthew Alan Cahn, and O'Brien, Rory, 281-291. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1996.

A good summation of a number of theoretical perspectives presented within the book that consider Western philosophy and social theory by classic and contemporary minds on the subject of socioeconomic and political systems within the realm of environmental ideologies. In particular, the author focuses on the issue of sustainable development and reassesses "classic and contemporary political thought" to provide insights into the subject. According to the author, Aristotle's theory of freedom and necessity can be linked to sustainable development to provide for a new definition of the issue: "environmental policy choices that, at a minimum, sustain freedom and democracy for future generations" (281). The author recognizes that such a consideration of sustainable development has rarely been attempted, but that by revisiting classic and contemporary theories on human freedom and sociopolitical systems we can begin to connect the environment to these texts. The author actively investigates this by beginning with Aristotle's ideas on freedom and necessity, and concludes that Aristotle's conception of present actions increasing the realm of necessity and encroaching upon the freedom of future generations is directly applicable to the sustainability of natural resources and the environment in general, especially because so many later theorists embraced Aristotle's basic ideas on the subject of freedom and necessity. Vos then proceeds to consider John Locke's ideas on property and freedom, recognizing that the idea of "sustainability" and of limited natural resources was not an issue for him (an interesting point as Locke's theories have been instrumental in capitalist ideologies). The author also points out that Locke's ideas of wasted, unused land represent "an undervaluation of ecological systems, creating a legacy with which we must still grapple today" (283). Moving on to Rousseau, Thoreau, and Emerson, the author argues that although these theorists "could not anticipate the theory of sustainability" (284), they nevertheless were concerned with "the effect of modernity on human freedom" in a more metaphysical sense: Rousseau was concerned that people had become too accustomed to luxuries, which had increased their conception of necessity and narrowed their abilities to live freely; Thoreau was deeply concerned that material possession had distanced humanity from spiritual and more basic needs; and Emerson argued that an embracing of natural experiences, and dropping our materialist preconceptions can be extremely liberating experiences. Emerson and Thoreau were also deeply concerned with the disenchantment and domination of the "other" (the realm of necessity and nature), which they did not consider at all desirable, as it had the potential of ultimately dominating human nature as well. The author connects these ideas together and suggests that our current path - which involves massive changes and degradation of the environment - robs future generations of the ethical choices for the "good life;" as the realm of necessity becomes greater on a metaphysical and physical level (materialism, luxuries as "needs," degrading of water, air, and food sources, etc.), the concerns of these theorists in relation to the infringement on the liberty of later generations become especially meaningful. The author then considers the ideas of Marx and Marcuse to demonstrate ways in which theorists began to directly address the implications of modernization and environmental change in the modern age. Based on references Marx made in his work to the importance of nature as a source of wealth comparable to labor, recent reinterpretations of Marx have considered the possibility of an ecological crisis emerging out of capitalism resulting from the destruction of nature's use-values, "a crisis of supply" (288). Marcuse argues that capitalism significantly threatens the human potential for liberation from necessities as we have known them by "the implanting of material and intellectual needs that perpetuate obsolete forms of the struggle for existence," evidenced in the effects of pollution, environmental degradation, and appropriation that make the purchasing of clean air, water, and "natural splendor" necessary (289), a situation that is clearly being played out today in First and Third World nations alike. The author suggests that Marx's and Marcuse's theories in combination evidence some of the contradictions inherent in capitalism today, the crises that it is self-destructively leading towards, and the freedoms and liberties that it is taking away from future generations. From this discussion the author concludes that considerations of human democracy and sustaining nature are intrinsically linked: "When the broader public awakes to the close connection between protecting the biosphere and preserving freedom for the future, support may finally emerge to launch the serious transformations required to achieve ecological sustainability into the next century" (290).

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