Political ecology

The political ecology is a relatively young branch of the social sciences. It deals with the effects of environmental change on human communities. The focus is on the practical implementation of various insights into political action. In particular, in political science, but also within the geography and anthropology, the concept has undergone a wide reception.

Definitions

A basic definition of political ecology comes from the geographer Piers Blaikie and Harold Brookfield (1987 ): " The term ' political ecology ' combines the concerns of ecology and a broadly-defined political economy ".

After a narrow definition of environmental problems are not seen as a result of inappropriate technology, improper management or overpopulation, but have social causes. Therefore, environmental problems must always be seen in their historical, political and economic context. Central in an analysis is to uncover the interests and power relations of the actors involved and their discourses.

In contrast to biological ecology Political ecology is aligned anthropocentric and can even take on ideological traits.

Background

The result is the political ecology of the challenges that brought industrialization of the Western States. Their effects were no longer ignorable with the early 1960s and led, for example, in 1972 the founding of the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP. Transboundary air and water pollution could no longer solve the sovereign nation-state alone, but needed international efforts. At the global level is today particularly global warming, but also progressive desertification or the unbridled deforestation a major threat to human coexistence dar.

Political ecologists complained that the theories of international relations often remained blind to the specific effect of environmental changes, for example on human security. This gap should be closed by means of political ecology.

In the political ecology attempts to locate causes of effects of environmental changes in political systems, identify alternatives and both theoretically sound and practically oriented human systematics of environmental destruction to capture. It can be understood as a cross- discipline that moves at the same time in several classic areas of political science.

Criticism

Critique of political ecology comes in part from the biologists and ecologists Political itself critical nature pictures can be seen, the reasons for its positions as a result of which the political ecology. Some of them are considered to be conservative to romanticized.

The partial discrepancy existing between nature and nature conservation is neutralized.