debitage: part of the core tool and scraper tradition

debitage

3.3.06

Who Is Talking About Postmodernism?

Joe Carter has a post up arguing that there aren't very many real postmodernists around. I think he's basically right that our impressions of the prevalence of postmodernism are highly inflated. He then goes on to consider why we have this inflated impression. Carter's view is that it's the appeal of the term "postmodern," which causes many people who are really "modernists turned up to 11" to call themselves postmodernists.

But I think a more important reason is inflation by postmodernism's enemies. While "postmodernism" may have cutting-edge cachet in some circles, the term is quite negatively loaded for the public as a whole. Thus it's useful for proponents of more traditional strains of modernism to be able to stick the "postmodern" label on their opponents. Outside of a few academic articles*, the only place I hear the term these days is from conservative pundits decrying the moral decline of society.

*And even here, you rarely hear anyone define their own approach as "postmodern" (or "modern"). Both terms are too broad to be useful in describing one's own views. On the other hand, the terms are frequently used to facilitate straw-manning one's opponents.

Stentor Danielson, 09:00, ,

1.3.06

Nature And Humans Can Coexist

This isn't particularly surprising to me, but unfortunately there are too many people in the environmental movement who would be surprised:

Indigenous Lands Help Protect Amazon Forests, Study Finds

Reserve areas established for Indian peoples in Brazil (map) are as effective as uninhabited nature parks in preventing burning and clear-cutting, the study finds.

... The scientists used satellite data taken from 1997 to 2000 to compare rates of fire and deforestation inside and outside the boundaries of different reserve types. Only protected areas larger than 25,000 acres (10,100 hectares) were included in the analysis.

... "Many indigenous groups are very well organized, and they are also willing to use force to defend their lands," said Daniel Nepstad of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, who led the study.

Stentor Danielson, 17:36, ,

26.2.06

Arabs vs. Parks

Via Capitalism Bad, Tree Pretty, I came across an interesting example of the all too common use of environmental policy to create or perpetuate social injustice. One common form is disposessing people of their land by creating conservation areas where human settlement is off-limits. Political ecologists have written extensively about this phenomenon in the third world (especially Africa), but CBTP found an example of environmental law being used against Arabs in Jerusalem:

One method of preventing further construction by Arabs in the east of the city has been to declare many open areas to be "green zones" protected from building. Bollens says about 40% of East Jerusalem is designated as a green zone, but that this is really a mechanism for land transfer. "The government calls it a green zone to stop Palestinians building homes there, and then when the government wants to develop an area [as Jewish] it lifts that green zoning miraculously and it becomes a development place."

Jerusalem's mayor, Uri Lupolianski - who chaired the city's planning and zoning committee in the 1990s - declined to be interviewed in person on these issues, but responded to written questions. "We have to keep a reasonable balance between residential areas and open green zones. We've designated green zones in all parts of Jerusalem, not just the eastern one," he wrote. "We're keeping the green zones in the entire city free from construction, and we plan to keep it this way. We believe that the development of parks and green zones in eastern Jerusalem will improve the quality of life of the people living there."

What makes this situation tricky is that Lupolianski has a point. Cities do need zoning laws that preserve green space. Because that green space is a public good, it will be under-provided if private development is allowed free rein in dense urban areas. So planning is necessary to overcome the collective action problems.

What is not necessary, however, is for that planning to be done by a centralized bureaucracy -- particularly when there is a group of people (in this case, the Arabs) who hold a disproportionately small share of the power. Even taking him at his word that there was no malicious intent, the paternalism in Lupolianski's perspective is clear, and is the root of the problem. Decisions about green space (and other city planning questions) need to be made with the broad, genuine, and effective participation of the affected people. The Arabs of East Jerusalem are the one who will have to live with the effects of zoning policy in the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, so it is the Arabs of East Jerusalem who should be making the decisions (with the facilitation of the municipal planners) about how to balance the values of green space and new housing.

Stentor Danielson, 16:34, ,