Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity with Social Justice in the Twenty-first Century

by Steven R. Brechin, Peter R. Wilshusen, Crystal L. Fortwangler, Patrick C. West

Overview

Contends that effective biological conservation and social justice must go hand in hand.

How can the international conservation movement protect biological diversity, while at the same time safeguarding the rights and fulfilling the needs of people, particularly the poor? Contested Nature argues that to be successful in the long-term, social justice and biological conservation must go hand in hand. The protection of nature is a complex social enterprise, and much more a process of politics, and of human organization, than ecology. Although this political complexity is recognized by practitioners, it rarely enters into the problem analyses that inform conservation policy. Structured around conceptual chapters and supporting case studies that examine the politics of conservation in specific contexts, the book shows that pursuing social justice enhances biodiversity conservation rather than diminishing it, and that the fate of local peoples and that of conservation are completely intertwined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791457764
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	08/28/2003
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Steven R. Brechin is Professor of Sociology at Syracuse University. He is the coauthor (with Patrick C. West) of Resident Peoples and National Parks: Social Dilemmas and Strategies in International Conservation. Peter R. Wilshusen is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Bucknell University. Crystal L. Fortwangler is Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College.

Table of Contents

PREFACE


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


1. CONTESTED NATURE
Conservation and Development at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century
Peter R. Wilshusen, Steven R. Brechin, Crystal L. Fortwangler, Patrick C. West


PART I: POLITICS, POWER, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION


2. THE WINDING ROAD
Incorporating Social Justice and Human Rights into Protected Area Policies
Crystal L. Fortwangler


3. EXPLORING THE POLITICAL CONTOURS OF CONSERVATION
A Conceptual View of Power in Practice
Peter R. Wilshusen


4. WANDERING BOUNDARIES AND ILLEGAL RESIDENTS
The Political Ecology of Protected Area Deforestation in South Sumatra Indonesia from 1979 to 1992
Steven R. Brechin


5. TERRITORY, NATURE, AND CULTURE
Negotiating the Boundaries of Biodiversity Conservation in Colombia's Pacific Coastal Region
Peter R. Wilshusen


6. UNMASKING THE "LOCAL"
Gender, Community, and the Politics of Community-Based Rural Ecotourism in Belize
Jill M. Belsky


7. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ECOTOURISM
Pendjari National Park and Ecotourism Concentration in Northern Benin
Patrick C. West, Crystal L. Fortwangler, Valentin Agbo, Michael Simsik, Nestor Sokpon


8. PRIVATIZING CONSERVATION
Jeffrey Langholz


9. THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF BIOPROSPECTING IN AMAZONIAN ECUADOR
History, Political Economy, and Knowledge
Michael K. Dorsey


PART II: INSTITUTIONS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES
Conceptual Tools for Constructing Biodiversity Conservation with Social Justice


10. CRAFTING CONSERVATION GLOBALLY AND LOCALLY
Complex Organizations and Governance Regimes
Steven R. Brechin, Peter R. Wilshusen, Charles E. Benjamin


11. THE REGIONAL APPROACH IN NORTHERN MADAGASCAR
Moving Beyond Integrated Conservation and Development
Lisa L. Gezon


12. SCALING UP FROM THE GRASSROOTS
NGO Networks and the Challenges of Organizational Maintenance in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula,
Peter R. Wilshusen, Raúl E. Murguía


13. YOUR PARK, MY POVERTY
Using Impact Assessment to Counter the Displacement Effects of Environmental Greenlining
Charles Geisler


14. THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS OF COMMUNITY-BASED COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
San Salvador Island, Philippines
Patrick Christie, Delma Buhat, Len R. Garces, Alan T. White


15. THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Toward Nature Protection with Social Justice
Steven R. Brechin, Peter R. Wilshusen, Crystal L. Fortwangler, Patrick C. West


WORKS CITED


LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS


INDEX

Editorial Reviews

..".Contested Nature opens new vistas on how social justice can be furthered through the establishment and management of protected areas while still meeting critical nature conservation objectives."

From the Publisher