Transdisciplinary research in environmental change: A political ecology approach
Introduction
Political ecology pays attention to economic, social, cultural and political processes in relation to environmental issues and associated power relations (Vandergeest and Roth, 2017). It is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of disciplines, including political science, anthropology, sociology, development studies, and environmental science. Traditionally, political ecology has focused on rural issues, but more recently has also paid attention to urban environments and the entwined relationship between urban and rural. Political ecology tries to contextualize rural and urban transformation to the larger political and economic context to explain changes that occur at the local level. Moreover, political ecology pays significant attention to the issue of environmental justice regarding control, access and use over the environment by different groups in society. Robbins (2012) identifies five common themes addressed by political ecology:
How rural environments becomes degraded as local agro-ecological production systems are transformed by market expansion and modernist production methods that lead to agricultural intensification. Of concern are how these transformations benefit some groups and marginalize others within communities;
How normative claims and associated narratives for environmental “conservation” – including the creation of national parks and other conservation areas – result in the exclusion of minority groups, including indigenous people, from traditional access to upland areas including forests and land;
How conflict over environmental resources, such as land and fisheries, can redistribute control, access and use and result in socially-produced resource scarcity. One common issue is acts of enclosure by powerful state and business actors, that leads to the dispossession of small-holder private property and the enclosure of the commons;
How new environmental subjects and identities are produced in relation to the environment. This theme also considers how peoples’ relationship with the environment is mediated by ‘environmental knowledge’ of it. Thus, ecological knowledge and ecological governance co-produce each other (Jasonoff, 2004).
How nature and society co-produce one another. This gives consideration to how human actions are continually producing the environment at scales from the local to the global, but also how the materiality of non-human living and living objects and processes act upon humans through assemblages of human and more-than-human networks.
Aim of this session
The aim of this session is three-fold: 1) To problematize the relationship between environment and society to reveal their fundamental interdependence. Here, it is also emphasized how knowledge production shapes the co-produced relationship between environment and society and its governance. 2) To highlight the inherently political nature of environment-society relations, drawing on the field of political ecology and its key themes: scarcity, ecological modernization, the market and processes of commodification, and the commons. 3) To explore examples of transdisciplinary research in relation to real-world challenges of environmental change.
Links to transdisciplinary research and teaching
The environment as a complex problem, and political ecology as a lens towards understanding and engaging within it, is very suited to transdisciplinary research methods. The field of political ecology tends towards producing knowledge that aims to address injustices and render visible the economic, social and political processes that create them (Robbins, 2012:20). This is typically an issue of concern when researching the environment and generating policy towards it. As highlighted by Loftus (2015), academic political ecologists have long deliberated the relationship between the work of academics and the work of practitioners in producing political ecology knowledge. Loftus argues that academic researchers and activists can constructively coproduce knowledge together whilst also maintaining distinct roles.
Summary of main points
The environment and society are fundamentally co-produced. Knowledge produced towards this relationship also restructures it by changing power relations, values, behaviors, and practices
The relationship between environment and society is therefore inevitably political. The field of political ecology has explored this relationship and offers useful insights towards its analysis (i.e. apolitical and political ecology)
“Environmental issues” are very suited to transdisciplinary research methods. This ranges from critical approaches, such as explicitly situated approaches such as Thai Baan, to more institutionalized approaches initiated by academics to better solve “sustainability problems.”
Use of reading material
There are three suggested core readings for this session. The first reading by Robbins (2012) helps problematize the relationship between society and the environment. It draws out apolitical and political readings of the environment, and through this introduces key themes in political ecology. This reading should be the priority for all participants.
The second reading by Aeberhard and Rist (2009) offers an insightful historical analysis of how the development of organic agriculture in Switzerland transformed from an approach broadly aligned with transdisciplinary methods of knowledge co-production in its early stages when farmers and researchers worked closely together, to a significantly lesser degree as the industry grew and specialized and as state-funded research institutes worked independently of organic farmers. It will help the participant appreciate the diversity of approaches that transdisciplinary research might adopt.
The third reading by Djenontin and Meadow (2018) provides a contemporary review of research design for transdisciplinary studies that relate to climate science and other environmental and agricultural sciences. It offers the participant practical insights based on a wide literature review as to how to design and conduct transdisciplinary research that best fits their research context, stakeholder needs, and research team capacities.
Additional comments to the presentation
The presentation does require a certain amount of knowledge on political ecology. Robbins (2012) is an excellent textbook on political ecology that a trainer could read to prepare. Some additional notes are provided in the PowerPoint presentation that draw mainly from the reading materials.
The PowerPoint also includes some group discussion questions to provoke participant self-reflection and group discussion. The first question (What is ‘the environment’) is a fundamental discussion that is intended to reveal how society and the environment are co-produced. The first question should be discussed before revealing the second question (‘What role (if any) did (various groups of) people play in producingthat environment?‘) In some group discussions, the relationship between society and the environment may already be revealed from the initial discussion, whilst in other group discussions this may need to be emphasized by the trainer.
Another opportunity to engage the participants is the chains of causality on „Where does your electricity come from?“ Here, the challenge for the participants is to link their actions consuming electricity in their everyday life, including the training venue, and the environmental impacts it is causing at a distance (by burning coal or gas, changing rivers through hydropower etc).
The last discussion on „How do we know the environment?“ focuses on the how knowledge and categories related to the environment are produced, and the politics of that knowledge. Here, it should also be emphasized that asides from ‚modernist‘ knowledge of the environment, there are many other ontologies of the environment for example of various indigenous groups.
Concluding remarks
Transdisciplinary research is very aligned with a political ecology lens on environment-society relations. For participants keen to learn more, the textbook by Robbins (2012)[6]is highly recommended. For those who would like to understand more about political ecology in Southeast Asia, the book chapter by Vandergeest and Roth (2017)[7]is a good introduction.
Reflections
Like many of the other sessions in this training series, the PowerPoint slides may need to be adapted to the background of the participants. Other case studies could be identified by the trainer that the participants are more familiar with, for example. Furthermore, the role, strategies and activities of the state, business, civil society, the media etc depend upon the political context of the country, and this should also be emphasized in the training.
References
Jasonoff, S. (2004). States of knowledge: the co-production of science and social order. London, Routledge.
Loftus, A. (2015). Chapter 13: Political Ecology as Praxis. The Routledge Handbook of Political Ecology. T. Perreault, G. Bridge and J. McCarthy. London and New York, Routledge.: 179-187.
Robbins, P. (2012). Political Ecology. Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell.
Vandergeest, P. and R. Roth (2017). A Southeast Asian Political Ecology. Handbook of the Environment in Southeast Asia. P. Hirsch. London and New York, Routledge: 82-98.