History of Environmentalism/Contested Environments

Question 1

Environmental geography

Answer 1

studies humans and the environment = interactions to produce a society -> discipline focuses on the ideas and methods needed to produce these societies

Question 2

environmental geog aims to bridge the divide between human and physical geog (Castree et al., 2009)

Answer 2

worsened through the 1990 sciences wars (Viles, 2005) -> specialisation, grants, jargons and different journal publications worsens this (Goudie, 1986; Demeritt, 2009)

Question 3

geographical divider -> Chorley 1971 argues leads to more effective research

Answer 3

Quaternary research -> needs specialists e.g. glaciologists and geomorphologists (Viles, 2005)

Question 4

Massey -> overcome the geographical divide

Answer 4

incorporating phys and human on certain topics e.g. time and space (1999)

Question 5

Environmental geog as multidimensional

Answer 5

extends and interacts with a wide array of different part of the discipline (Castree et al., 2009)

Question 6

Environment -> concept defined differently either through its wider interactions or physical conditions

Answer 6

west -> views the env as a object through the culture/nature dichotomy (Benson, 2020)

Question 7

early environmental definitions

Answer 7

Herbet (19th century) -> environment was a singular thing -> did not interact with the wider surroundings

Question 8

alternative environment definitions

Answer 8

body -> microbes and bacteria
library -> silence, books and chairs
critical zone -> replace the term = conditions in which an organism is at risk and cannot thrive = clearer meaning (Benson, 2020)

Question 9

Todd (2016)

Answer 9

deconstructing the nature/culture binary = indigenous ontologies misappropriated by western scholars

Question 10

1. approach to environmental geog

Answer 10

Geographical Experiment -> understand the intersection of the natural sciences within humanities -> MacKinder 1887 and led to exploration

Question 11

2. approach to environmental geog

Answer 11

Natural Hazards and ‘political ecology’ -> 1970s/80s environmental issues became a focus and the role of politics in shaping these -> later social ecology proposed to address the social impacts of environmental problems (Benson, 2020)

Question 12

3. approach to environmental geog

Answer 12

global environmental change -> need to incorporate environmental issues into science-based research e.g. Liverman analysing impacts of C.C and Goudie (1986) analysing human impacts on the environment

Question 13

4. approach to environmental geo

Answer 13

production of nature -> capitalism as the problem in exploiting nature (Harvey, 2004)

Question 14

5. approach to environmental geo

Answer 14

MTHG -> agency of the nonhuman needs to be better recognised e.g. ANT and ecocentrism (Greenhough, 2014)

Question 15

6. approach to environmental geo

Answer 15

Geographies of the Anthropocene -> rejected geological epoch = led to greater considerations of the human-environment relations -> no. of articles written on it have exponentially increased (Aspinall, 2010)

Question 16

environmentalism -> protecting the natural env from human activity (OED, 2017)

Answer 16

several waves have taken place

Question 17

elite environmentalism = those with money -> have the means to not be concerned with environmental issues e.g. private jets

Answer 17

figures like Attenborough and Prince William -> privilege led to protectionist stance

Question 18

environmental citizens

Answer 18

everyday citizens who engage in pro-environmental behaviour e.g. Zapatistas in Mexico = political self-determination

Question 19

core global environmental problems

Answer 19

biodiversity loss, deforestation, land degradation, nuclear radiation, HCFCs, microplastics, air pollution, sewage, disease spread, animal welfare, antibiotic resistance, obesity etc.… -> often transboundary (impact a different region to where they were produced) (Lemos and Agrawal, 2006).

Question 20

roots of western modern environmentalism

Answer 20

religion - stewardship, resource management, public health (19th century sanitation health acts), recreation and romanticism - nature as a place to relax e.g. National Parks

Question 21

west in control of environmental policy

Answer 21

e.g. mechanisms like World Bank and IMF (Liverman, 1999)

Question 22

First Wave Environmentalism

Answer 22

1892 Sierra Club (John Muir): romanticising elements of nature but dispossessed land from indigenous figures. Established National Parks e.g. Yellowstone in 1872 and Yosemite in 1890 -> Peak District and Lake District in the UK (1951) -> often acted to serve the elite by national governments e.g. Access to the Countryside Act after WWII for middle classes to visit.

Question 23

Second Wave Environmentalism (a)

Answer 23

More of a focus on protecting the earth (1960s) -> e.g. James Lovelock and Gaia Hypothesis & satellite imagery -> environmental protection from the 1970s = 1972 Declaration of the Human Environment and UN Environment Programme after the Stockholm UN Environmental Conference.

Question 24

Second Wave Environmentalism (b)

Answer 24

Silent Spring (Carson, 1962) criticisms of the use of DDT led to their ban in 1972, criticisms of pollution e.g. Bhopal disaster 1984 -> pesticide spill 16,000 died.

Question 25

Second Wave Environmentalism (c)

Answer 25

Tragedy of Commons + Limits to Growth from Club of Rome (1972) -> computer modelling of the world’s resources (Meadows et al., 1972) -> produced technocentrics and those in favour of ontological change.

Question 26

Second Wave Environmentalism (d)

Answer 26

Brundtland Report (1987) (Lemos and Agrawal, 2006) -> sustainability became a focus -> 1992 Rio Conference highlighted the importance of biodiversity (Livermann, 1999) = Agenda 21 outlines future pathway for environmental research (Castree, 2015).

Question 27

Third Wave Environmentalism

Answer 27

neoliberalisation -> right-wing shift from the 1980s -> deregulation of markets -> green consumers/corporations -> sustainability mainstream -> emergence of eco-modernists -> 1995 environmental turn as discussions entered academia (Castree, 2015) -> discussions on pollution became more evident (Liverman, 1999)

Question 28

Third Wave Environmentalism -> policy

Answer 28

COP21 -> 2015 Paris Agreement -> Global Agreement: 1.5C warming above pre-industrial temperatures -> USA pulled out, but are now back in? -> COP26 2020 Glasgow Summit -> COP27 Egypt – economic gain or meet environmental aims.

Question 29

anti-environmental groups = Lomborg (1998) Skeptical Environmentalist

Answer 29

-> manipulated the truth through half-statistics

Question 30

Environmentalism and intersectionality

Answer 30

-> Kinder Scout mass trespass – social issue, prioritization of white narratives for environmental issues -> should humans or nature be considered first?