Student: Sabrina Cerquera
Graduation date: May 2020
Type: Area of Interest (minor)
Date approved: November 2017
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Summary
Varying factors play a role in the implementation of environmental law and the landscape that drives the change across the United States. To see that change, one must become familiar with the structures surrounding environmental law, raising questions of how legal structures represent nature. Addressing and understanding the complexities of legal structures and reasoning brings insight into how effective such rules are to ecological and human wellness (Chazournes, Bodansky 2006). However, to answer such question of political and legal structures, reasoning and understanding needs to be brought to the agents and factors that drive ecological change. Conceptualizing individual’s political participation brings insight to the activities that citizens perform in respect to their beliefs, democracy, and behaviour (Deth 2016). These individual moves and participation can reflect on collective action, demonstrates that group behavior can reflect the interest of individuals, transaction cost, and the success of government institutions (Olson 2009). Drawing on both the institutions that promote rulemaking and individuals, show the complexities of how these systems are always changing can vary by the political agenda that is in place during the presidential term or governing body. Rulemaking promotes the politics of structural choice by assigning elected officials that work for the benefit of groups or individuals (West 2005).
However, as these landscapes and political agenda change by the term of presidential or governance, the individuals and drivers of movements are often left behind and not accounted for. The topic of political ecology brings into perspective of how patterns and movements change over time amongst societies, how does globalization transcend overtime. The tie between engagement of cultural and environmental geography demonstrates the interdependence and relations that humans have to land (Bebbington, Batterbury 2001). This raises questions how institutional change that is often promoted as good, can in reality have varying effects on individuals of different lifestyles and socioeconomic backgrounds. How do these institutional and economic changes take into account the individuals that are affected by it and the country’s political agenda? It is still often seen in developing countries that agrarian lifestyles are still common practice and ingrained into the culture, the changes that are being made are executed by political and economic institutions (Blaikie 1995).
Not only do these political and economic institutions have an effect on the individuals but also on ecological land and movements. Noting that environmental change has cost and benefits that are associated with social and political changes; drawing an impact on the actors and the ecological conditions (Robbins 2011). Alongside, the importance of noticing the density of political ecology and how its actors that live in such areas of ecological distress face hardship through social and political changes (Bennett 2009). But how these noticeable dense changes are monitored over time can play a drastic role on the accuracy and movement of progress. Monitoring movements of global collective action are difficult, especially when all variables are not always accounted or controlled. Developing a framework that can allow for the measurement and processes of environmental change can allow for detection of progress. The best potential of framework development and progress is seen when there is a scope of activities that are defined as ecologically beneficial, there is research implemented at broad-scales, and the public or policymakers are informed of the development to better promote change (Parr et. 2003).
Works Cited:
Bebbington, Anthony J., and Simon PJ Batterbury. 2001. “Transnational Livelihoods and Landscapes: Political Ecologies of Globalization.” Ecumene 8 (4): 369–380.
Bennett, Jane. 2009. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Duke University Press.
Blaikie, Piers. “Changing Environments or Changing Views? A Political Ecology for Developing Countries.” Geography 80, no. 3 (1995): 203-14.
Chazournes, Laurence Boisson de, and Daniel Bodansky. 2006. “Does One Need to Be an International Lawyer to Be an International Environmental Lawyer?” In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law), 100:303–307. JSTOR.
Deth, Jan W. van. 2016. “What Is Political Participation?,” November. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.68.
Olson, Mancur. 2009. “The Logic of Collective Action.” Harvard University Press.
Parr, T.W., A.R.J. Sier, R.W. Battarbee, A. Mackay, and J. Burgess. 2003. “Detecting Environmental Change: Science and Society—perspectives on Long-Term Research and Monitoring in the 21st Century.” Science of The Total Environment 310 (1–3):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(03)00257-2.
Robbins, Paul. 2011. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
West, William. 2005. “Administrative Rulemaking: An Old and Emerging Literature.” Public Administration Review 65 (6): 655–668.
Questions
- Descriptive: What are the environmental agencies in the United States? How do they communicate with each other to target goals? What drives individuals to participate in politics? In what way does modern societal changes take into account ecological issues?
- Explanatory: How is the policy-making process conducive to and inhibit implementation of ecological and conservation policy? How do existing and changing congressional district lines (boundaries) affect environmental policy making and implementation?
- Evaluative: How are environmental government agencies put to a disadvantage in 2016 due to a shift in political agenda? How is ecological and law progress monitored overtime and measured?
- Instrumental: Regarding the above, what can be done to increase the importance and transparency of these agencies? How do we develop legal reasoning with the balance of utilitarian and biocentrism perspectives? What actions should be taken to increase the amount of legislation for environmental protection? How can companies and agencies transition their institutional structures to reflect environmental leverage and justice?
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- HIST 239 (Constructing the American Landscape, 4 credits). Constructing the American Landscape discusses how differing forces have shaped the built environment in the U.S. The works covered in this class will allow me to understand political changes over time, drawing a connection to my area of interest in environmental change.