The neoliberal multicultural state and the urban Indigenous associative model in Santiago de Chile

This article argues that since the recovery of democracy in Chile in the early 1990s, the state has been reshaping the Indigenous socio-political landscape by adopting neoliberal multiculturalism as a governance model. By not posing significant challenges to the state's neoliberal political and economic priorities, Indigenous cultural activity has been carefully channelled to meet state expectations of what constitutes urban indigeneity. Drawing on the minority and multicultural studies literature and ongoing ethnographic fieldwork, this article analyses how Mapuche civil society navigates the complexities of two relational models of state/ethnic minority interaction: ethno-bureaucracy and strategic essentialism. Although Mapuche associations have tried to accommodate their interests within the limits of neoliberal multiculturalism, the article argues that this governance model has established incentives for inclusion and exclusion in the socio-political apparatus, resulting in a fragmentation of the Mapuche associative landscape in urban Chile.     

Environment,Security, and Terrorism in the Trinational Frontier of the Southern Cone

This article analyzes the transformations of notions of governmentality, security, and sovereignty behind recent processes of securitization in the trinational frontier of the Southern Cone, which encompasses the cities of Puerto Iguaz? (Argentina), Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), and Foz do Igua?? (Brazil). It examines how early concerns with security that were primarily focused on the territorial integrity of nation-states have been replaced with security concerns of a more global nature, which call into question established mechanisms of control, particularly those related to the defense of national borders. It examines how environmental concerns are increasingly becoming conflated with other current forms of securitization such as terrorism, popular unrest, and narcotraffic and it analyzes devastating effects of these processes on peoples of the South, particularly the poor.     

Workplace occupation and the possibilities of popular power in Chile and Argentina, 1972–6

ABSTRACT

The recent wave of occupations has had a transformative effect on radical politics, but, to date, many have been restricted in their social and spatial expansion. Reflecting on these challenges, this article examines workplace occupation in the coordinadoras interfabriles in Argentina (1975–6) and the cordones industriales in Chile (1972–3) to understand how they overcame barriers to such expansion. Starting from debates in critical geography and social movement studies on space and occupations, I unpack the possibilities for popular power that emerged in this period by using approaches from critical labour studies and autonomist Marxism. First, I outline the generative role of the workplace in producing these possibilities in a context of wider social change. Second, I demonstrate how the capacity for expansion lay in the simultaneous capacity to disrupt and reconstruct social relations derived from solidarities that exceeded the existing physical space of occupation.     

Environmental Globalization,Organizational Form,and Expected Benefits from Protected Areas in Central America*

Abstract Environmental globalization has led to the implementation of conservation efforts like the creation of protected areas that often promote the interests of core countries in poorer regions. The creation of protected areas in poor areas frequently creates tensions between human needs like food and shelter and environmental conservation. Support for such conservation efforts partially depends on expectations of benefits by those impacted. This article considers the effects of different organizational models on local expectations of benefits to be derived from protected areas. Our analysis indicates that individuals are more likely to expect that benefits of the park go to other communities or the nation as a whole than to expect direct benefits for themselves. Forms of park organization also impact these expectations. Individuals exposed to the zoned park, as opposed to a conventional, strictly protected park, were more likely to expect benefits from the park regardless of the beneficiary considered. In addition, for those exposed to the zoned park, location of residence is related to expectation that individuals will benefit themselves. However, our interviews with park residents also indicate that the expectations of individual benefits are rarely met, creating potential dissatisfaction and sometimes animosity toward the park administration.     

Reconciling Competing Globalizations through Regionalisms? Environmental Security in the Framework of Expanding Security Norms and Narrowing Security Policies

Abstract

This article examines environmental security regimes in 16 regional organizations and asks whether regions can effectively implement environmental security norms. It first defines these norms and discusses their emergence at the international level. At the same time, through the literature review, the article posits that the globalization of security threats has simultaneously led to a retrenchment of coercive non-state security strategies. Consequently, the article contends that the globalization of security norms has made them ineffectual because they have not properly addressed tangible security threats. At the same time, nation-state-based hard power security measures (especially border controls) have not adequately addressed the underlying causes of transnational threats related to human and environmental security. For this reason, the article examines how well regional approaches to security contribute to both protection against imminent violence and the promotion of human and environmental security through medium-term development strategies. The article contends that the emergence of regional environmental security regimes should be fostered by reinforcing regional security architectures through public participation mechanisms.     

Many Faces of Security: Discursive Framing in Cross-border Natural Resource Governance in the Mekong River Commission

Abstract

In the past decade, security has emerged as a new discourse in water governance beyond transboundary conflicts and cooperation. This paper will examine how security is framed in the context of international river basin organizations (RBOs), key regional organizations in transboundary water governance operating in many international river basins around the world. As an example of cross-border governance, RBOs can promote joint cooperation and information sharing, and serve as a form to bring together diverse stakeholders. This paper focuses on the discursive construction of ‘security’ in a particular context of cross-border river basin governance in the Mekong River Basin. We ask: How is security framed in the discourse of RBOs? We examine how diverse actors frame security in the context of RBOs and at various scales and around certain management actions in a case study of the Mekong River Commission, a well-established RBO. Attention will be paid to the links between water security, food security, and energy security in the broader water and development discourse. We analyze what the findings mean for cross-border governance more broadly.     

Scale,networks, and information strategies: exploring indigenous peoples' refusal of a protected area in Suriname

In this article, we examine the response of three indigenous communities in western Suriname to the proposed establishment of a protected area on their traditional lands. In particular, we focus on how the transnational, national and sub‐national networks associated with indigenous rights and protected areas influenced the decision the communities made to reject the protected area. Central to the analysis are the concepts of scale, networks and information; we explore how a national indigenous rights organization used scale and networks to relay information strategically and empower communities in their decision‐making. However, while scale was an empowering political tool, it has also served to disempower indigenous peoples in Suriname through the continuing importance of the state in protected area implementation and legal claims to lands and resources.     

“I’m not a greenie but…”: Environmentality,eco-populism and governance in New Zealand Experiences from the Southland whitebait fishery

The experiences of nascent local institutions in regional resource management issues in New Zealand can help to inform the important analytical projects of considering the impacts of neoliberalism on environmental management as well as the meanings of governance as the new order in rural and natural resource management. This study considers how devolved governance shapes individual subject positions relative to the environment in a neoliberal context, deploying Agrawal's optics of “environmentality” to analyze a case study of the political ecology of the whitebait fishery in Southland, New Zealand. This research demonstrates that the devolution of resource governance in New Zealand has cultivated empowered, ‘accidental environmentalists’ and related environmental subjectivities. The extent and quality of individual involvement in governance influences whitebaiters’ perceptions of environmental change and resource management priorities. At the same time, a strong ‘eco-populist’ conceptualization of resource management infuses the fishers’ environmental subjectivities and potentially constrains the depth and degree of fishers’ opposition to environmental degradation.     

“Let’s talk about the real issue”: Localized perceptions of environment and implications for ecosocial work practice

ABSTRACT

This interpretive study investigated how residents from socioeconomically challenged communities in North St. Louis understand and make meaning of environmental change and its impact on their well-being. Based on these localized data, we argue that racial minorities facing socioeconomic challenges may experience some environmental issues as less of an immediate concern than violence and racism. However, race and racism shape both the realities of environmental threats as well as residents’ perceptions about environmental injustice in their communities. This study informs ecosocial work practices such as educating communities on local environmental issues and mobilizing community members toward environmental decision-making.     

Environmental Security in Transnational Contexts: What Relevance for Regional Human Security Regimes?

Abstract

The year 2015 was meant to be a seminal year in global geopolitics due to the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This transition was significant because the MDGs, even though they raised global consciousness around the need to combat poverty, remained indicator-based, and thus, they did not adequately address socio-economic inequalities and power imbalances in global affairs. For this reason, much of the discussion surrounding the definition of the SDGs and the post-2015 global development agenda contextualized sustainable development within the framework of ‘transformation’, specifically prioritizing concepts such as equity, security, justice, and rights. While these debates correctly discussed power imbalances and relational obstacles to human development they remained abstract because they focused only on the international level. In this regard, discussions did not adequately examine mechanisms that facilitate or block the emergence of sustainable development as a political priority, nor did they address specific policy proposals to link environmental justice to human development strategies. Thus, this special issue introduction argues that human and environmental security should be framed in terms of transnational discussions rather than being limited to international debates. The special issue undertakes an examination of the interactions between human and environmental security, border studies, and comparative regional integration; and interactions between competing globalizations. The articles in the special issue address the relationships between international norms, transnational human and environmental security issues, and the regionalization of governance.     

Protecting Older People From Burglary: Prevalence of Security Devices in the Homes of Older Adults in Perth,Western Australia

ABSTRACT

Fear restricts the activity of older adults, potentially leading to social isolation and unhealthy life styles. Consequently, this population remains a priority for home security research and intervention. One option is to increase home security by installing security devices. However, little is known about how older adults protect their homes. In this study, 5,582 community-dwelling older people completed a cross-sectional survey. The survey was able to document the prevalence of security measures taken by older adults. More than 70% of the respondents had security screens and key-operated deadlocks and 148 (2.7%) respondents reported no security features. Respondents living alone had the lowest prevalence of home security devices. Female living alone protected their home differently from male living alone by installing different security devices. Logistic regression analysis indicated that older adults living in detached houses feel particularly vulnerable to burglary (p < .001). These survey findings have practical implication for burglary prevention.     

Repossessing Border Space: Security Practice in North American Border Art

Abstract

This paper discusses how the visual arts engage in representing border crossing experiences and, more specifically, how art interrupts border security practices and their rituals. After introducing the history of North American border art and different approaches to issues of border crossing, the paper will concentrate on specific works. It argues that the selected works of art perform interventions that confront the public with the borderlands as a place of violence and death. At the same time, artists are shown to employ different artistic strategies of symbolically re-possessing the borderlands for undocumented migrants who – when crossing it – experienced it as an existential obstacle.     

Incorporation and Gated Communities in the Greater Metro-Los Angeles Region as a Model of Privatization of Residential Communities

ABSTRACT

The privatization of urban public space has accelerated through the closing, redesign, and policing of public parks and plazas, the development of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that monitor and control local streets and parks, and the transfer of public air rights for the building of corporate plazas ostensibly open to the public. In the suburbs, privatization also takes the form of conservation easements that restrict access to public lands, the creation of shopping malls and new town centers relocated within these private commercial developments, and the building of gated residential communities. Accompanying this expansion of private interests are changes in strategies of governance and regional differences in how local governments and residents are encouraging private encroachment on public space. This article focuses this third set of privatization practices by discussing how gated communities manipulate municipal and town planning laws to control public space and tax dollars. To accomplish this task, I discuss the emergence of gated communities as a new form of privatization of urban/suburban space and then tease out the legal and institutional underpinnings of this spatial governance. The geography of gated communities in greater metro-Los Angeles region and their use of the strategy of incorporation to capture public taxes for private use is employed as a model for understanding the future of gating in the United States. The Los Angeles model is then compared to current gating patterns in urban and suburban gated communities in New York and Texas. These manipulations of private land use controls in the United States are not necessarily new, but with gating there is an accelerating trend away from governmental and public control of land use toward an increased reliance on privately created controls. The consequences of this shift toward privatization of land use control is an impoverishment of the public realm and access to public resources, especially public space.     

Inclusive Water Governance: a Global Necessity. Lessons from India

Efficient water management has emerged as a critical challenge of environmental protection and human security in the twenty-first century. Lack of water management affects the hydrological cycle of the earth, leading to a major influence on the livelihood of the people. This paper reviews the enhanced role of IWRM in water management. It discusses the functioning of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as a global approach to overcome the challenge(s) regarding the efficient management of water. Further, the paper argues for ‘inclusive water governance’ developed at the local level as against IWRM developed at the global level. The paper emphasizes on the approach of inclusive water governance as a practical solution to address the water management crisis in India, in particular, and developing countries, in general. Inclusive water governance is sensitive to equitable access to water, as a human right, and also to sustainability of water, as an important resource.

¡Hasta La Victoria!: Murals and Resistance in Santiago,Chile

The article considers in detail mural painting in Santiago, Chile. It examines the history of mural painting, from the early days of support for Salvador Allende's attempt to combat inequality and provide for the basic needs of all citizens, through the repression of the military dictatorship, to the reemergence of the phenomenon in the transition to democracy and up to the present day. It identitifes a range of themes in the contemporary murals: resistance to repression and misrepresentation, past and present; memorials to dead and disappeared people with varying degrees of fame; the situation of women (their roles in resistance and building the future, as well as their specific demands for an end to violence against women and for reproductive rights); and the struggle of the indigenous Mapuche people of Chile for recognition and justice. Analysis explores examples of murals on each of these themes from a number of areas throughout Santiago, with a particular focus on La Victoria, an area noted for solidarity in the face of state repression and the inequalities fostered by neoliberalism.     

Does urbanization affect the seasonal dynamics of bird communities in urban parks?

The environmental factors affecting the spatial dynamics of bird communities in urban parks are well understood, but much less attention has been paid to the seasonal dynamics of bird communities. Since migrant and resident human commensal birds might have contrasting responses to environmental factors of urban parks, we expected different seasonal dynamics among parks. On the other hand, because bird species can have different habitat relationships throughout the year, we also expected different responses of bird richness to environmental variables between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Bird surveys were conducted in 14 small urban parks (1–4 Ha) of Mar del Plata city (Argentina) for one full annual cycle. Bird richness changed between seasons, but bird abundance remained constant. Bird community composition did not vary between seasons, but urban parks near the urban center, with the highest pedestrian traffic and isolation to other green areas had the least seasonal change of composition. During the breeding season, bird richness was negatively affected by the percentage cover of high buildings surrounding the immediate limits of parks, whereas during the non-breeding season bird richness was not related with any environmental variable. Bird composition variation among parks was affected by the distance to the urban center during both seasons. Results showed that urbanization promotes a seasonal homogenization of bird communities in urban parks, probably by affecting the presence of migrant species and promoting the temporal stability of human commensal species.     

Correlates of Urban Stress and Mental Health: The Impact of Social Context on Resilience

Abstract

Since the beginning of time, the development of larger communities and subsequently cities have served as havens that offered protection from the dangers of living in isolated areas and a potential source of opportunity to develop new skills and “create a new life.” These beliefs are still a reality today as we see continued yearly migration of immigrants from abroad and inhabitants of rural areas to large cities. Despite the opportunities provided by the urban environment, the work of Srole, Langner, Pearlin, and others suggests that living in urban areas potentially incurs physical and emotional costs. Thus, we can legitimately ask whether the urban environment continues to provide the same security and opportunity it once did. In this paper, we will explore the evidence that suggests that the characteristics of urban communities elevate stress levels and consequently increases the risk for mental disease. Further, we will explore how community factors can promote individual resilience to protect against the vulnerability of chronic stress and the risk of mental pathology.     

Urban-rural influences in U.S. environmental and economic development policy

Despite the fact that rural communities have the most to gain and lose in matters involving economic development and environmental preservation, they often are given the least voice in the political processes that create policies in these areas. Agendas are set, policies formulated and implemented by policy-makers, administrators, and practitioners in urban areas. These outside policies may not be consistent with how rural communities view the tradeoffs between the environment and the economy. We call for decentralization of economic and environmental policy. It is understood, however, that such an approach may involve risk. What if rural-based policy-makers and practitioners are, for instance, aggressively antienvironmental and pro-economic growth? Using results from a national sample of rural development officials, this study examines the environmental and economic development attitudes of development officials based on a population continuum. The findings suggest that rural-based development officials often have a greater appreciation of rural environmental quality of life features compared to their urban counterparts. The implications of the findings are detailed and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Migrant encounters with neo-colonial masculinity: producing European sovereignty through emotions

The EU/European political community’s reaction to irregular migrants is ambivalent. On the one hand, migrants are produced as people to be pitied, rescued, and saved. On the other hand, they are feared, despised, and left to die. The article explores this ambivalence from a gender perspective and asks how sovereign masculinities are produced through emotional performances in the politics of migration control and management. It will be argued that emotions such as fear, disgust, and compassion are performed in the biopolitical security governance of irregular migration by producing a “socially abject” life as its object. This is a life that is to be killed, despised, and saved. Encounters between the irregular migrant and a European border security actor constitute a neo-colonial masculinity. During the moment of the encounter with the other’s life, sovereignty is produced through emotional performances of border security actors. The discussion concludes with illustrations of how racialized bodies and lives are produced as objects of fear, disgust, and compassion through European neo-colonial masculinity. The article speaks to the debates in the literature on masculinities in global politics, emotions and politics, and critical border studies.