Violent Environments
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Nancy Lee PelusoEditor: Michael Watts
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-08
ISBN: 0801487110
Number of pages: 453
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Book Reviews of Violent Environments
Book Review: Nice book that demonstrates why environmental conflicts can turn into violence
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book long time ago, just a few weeks after it got published. The first reason I bought it because the title was so "sexy" and more importantly it relates very much to my field of interest.
"Violent Environment" in principle rejects the neo-Malthusian way of looking at environmental conflict. Neo-Malthusian scholars such as Homer-Dixon and Kaplan argue that violence emerges due to scarcity of renewable resource such as forests, lands, water, etc. The scarcity induces marginalization and heightens competition. Explicitly Peluso and Watts, the authors of this book, argue that this way of looking at environmental problems and violent is flawed in many ways. They reject simplistic view and the automatic/linear relationship between scarcity and environemnatl conflict. They argue that there is much more than scarcity that can explain environmental conflict. For them conflict is a phenomenon that can be understood by looking at the interplay between local and extra local factors. Conflict is embedded in the historical context and wider processes that take place at higher level. Environment is an arena upon which stakeholders attach value, contest claims, struggle for legitimacy, etc. Thus, environemntal conflict cannot be reduced to scarcity alone, it must be understood within the web of social, historical and political contexts and the interrelations among them. They propose an alternative apporach, so called "Political Ecology" approach in order to comprehensively understand the complexity of issues involved in environmental violent.
The books present many cases from all over the world. There is a case on violent conflict among the Dayak and the Madureese in West Kalimantan. There is a case on conflict over diamont in Africa and a lot more. The cases enhance our understanding that conflict is not only induced by scarcity. Resource abundance and process of environmental rehabilitation can equally result in conflict.
While I enjoy the book very much, I would have loved to see another subject that seems to be overlooked. I do not see the discussion on how conflict escalates. Out of these cases, I could imagine we could draw some conclusions on the patterns of escalation. Why is it so important to know this? I think for effective conflict management we need to have a good understanding on escalation and factors that induce the escalation. If we know the patterns, we may be able to devise anticipative apporoch and proactive effective strategioes for mangaing those conflicts. Unfortunately, the book does not pay attention to this.
Otherwise, I recommend this book to those interested in the study of conflict and conflict management. Good also for students, lecturers and reserchers.
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