Political Ecology

Themes and Goals in Current Research

Political ecology research consists of a diverse array of themes. These can loosely be categorized into four areas:

1. The first overarching goal of political ecology is to explore the reasons behind environmental degradation and marginalization, based on an understanding of the ecological situation as a result of its larger context in political economy. Political ecology provides a comprehensive analytical tool to reconceptualize three aspects of environmental problems. First, the social construction of environmental problems is analyzed. Environmental change is usually termed a problem or crisis where [Page 2210]it affects human interests adversely. Political ecology challenges the apparent causes of environmental problems and argues that most, if not all, environmental problems are not primarily ecological but in fact rather social problems. Prominent examples are land cover change and loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, air and water pollution, famines, floods, deforestation, land degradation, and desertification. Second, uneven exposure and vulnerability in environmental crises are analyzed. Environmental problems are often perceived by the socioeconomic dimensions of their impact on society, not by their ecological significance. This indicates underlying influences of power, access, and representation on the construction of environmental problems. Resource deprivation is not a uniform process. Environmental problems such as degradation and scarcity of resources receive much more attention when powerful elites are affected rather than vulnerable groups. Third, unequal power relations regarding resource access are analyzed.

2. The second goal of political ecology focuses on the social definition and political implementation of environmental conservation. This work aims at the social construction of conservation and nature itself. It challenges our understanding of concepts such as “nature,” “wilderness,” “natural resources,” “sustainable resource use,” and “aesthetic landscape,” asking how they are constructed and reinforced by powerful hegemonic structures in society and how they affect our regulation of land use and protected areas. The use and protection of natural environments are socially defined (e.g., “resource,” “sustainable use,” “scientific forestry,” “illegal harvesting,” “poaching,” “invasive logging”) and underlie the powerful paradigms that are derived from and reinforced by cultural practices and social norms.

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