The editorial team at Regions & Cohesion welcomes 2023 with a reflection on the challenges of regional integration at diverse scales, from international relations to very local places and in disparate political arenas. Regional organizations are generally criticized at the moment for a lack of responsiveness to citizen concerns. Our Editors’ Notes over the last two years have highlighted the need for more resilient regionalism that responds to the needs of communities. This is not to say, however, that such regionalism has not existed. Regional integration processes have addressed crises in the past at both the national and local levels.
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Enhancing challenged integration
Stability, security, and governance
Citlalli Alhelí González H., Edith Kauffer, Harlan Koff, and Carmen Maganda
Enlisted in struggle
Being Marxist in a time of protracted crisis
Ahmed Kanna
Abstract
In this article, I analyze Marxist activists’ narratives of becoming Marxist and their practices in activist spaces. Drawing on Jeffrey Juris and Alex Khansnabish's notion of “militant ethnography” and on Jodi Dean's recuperation of the political party form of organizing, I ethnographically describe activists’ motivations to become Marxist and examine two events—a pro-Bernie political meeting and an anti-Trump rally—in which activists intervened with the Marxist idea of “uniting working-class struggles” in democratic spaces. I argue that the socialist party form of organization addresses two related dilemmas that anti-capitalist activists face in the context of systemic economic and political crises in the United States: how to develop class consciousness and how to engage in the seemingly impossible, personally risky endeavor of radically challenging capitalism.
Fantasy constitutions
Forest land and forced dispossession
Anand Vaidya
Abstract
In his final speech as chair of the assembly that drafted India's Constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar described a contradiction between the formal equality that the Constitution guaranteed and the country's socioeconomic inequality. This article follows two interpretive traditions of India's Constitution: the first, developed by the Supreme Court in challenging land reform legislation, is the doctrine of “basic structure” which holds that the Constitution has an intrinsic, unamendable form. The second, in a low-caste forest rights movement in Uttar Pradesh, holds that, because of Ambedkar's role in its drafting, the true Constitution grants lower castes both socioeconomic equality and sovereignty. Each tradition, I argue, posits a fantasy constitution that resolves Ambedkar's contradiction, claiming to represent a founding constituent order to enact entirely different political visions.
Andrés González Rosales, Carlos Israel Vázquez León, and Carlos Francisco Ortiz-Paniagua
Abstract
Forest governance is a process influenced by a variety of conditions and factors. This article examines the features and conditions that promote forestry governance in Los Azufres, Mexico, subject to forest exploitation through community management units (ejidos and communities). The research question is: What are the characteristics and conditions that determine how forest governance is established and prevails? The study involved a survey and adaptation of the MICMAC structural analysis method. Therefore, 12 variables are determinants of forest governance, and three of these, participation, timber, and forest, were most prevalent. The findings serve as a reference for policies to promote forest governance.
Resumen
La gobernanza forestal es un proceso en el que influyen diversas condiciones y factores. Este artículo examina las características y condiciones que promueven la gobernanza forestal en la región Los Azufres, México, sujeta a explotación forestal a través de unidades de manejo comunitario (ejidos y comunidades). La pregunta de investigación es: ¿cuáles son las características y condiciones determinantes para que la gobernanza forestal sea establecida y prevalezca? El estudio incluyó una encuesta y adaptación del método de análisis estructural MICMAC. Identificamos 12 variables determinantes de la gobernanza forestal, y tres de ellas, participación, madera y bosque, fueron más prevalentes. Las conclusiones sirven de referencia para las políticas de promoción de la gobernanza forestal.
Résumé
La gouvernance forestière est un processus influencé par une variété de conditions et de facteurs. Cet article examine les spécificités et les conditions qui promeuvent la gouvernance forestière à Los Azufres au Mexique, objet d'une exploitation forestière à travers des unités de gestion communautaires (ejidos et communautés). La question de recherche posée est la suivante : Quelles sont les caractéristiques et conditions qui déterminent comment la gouvernance forestière est définie et prévaut ? L'étude inclut une enquête et l'adaptation de la méthode d'analyse structurelle MICMAC. Par conséquent, douze variables sont des déterminants de la gouvernance forestière et trois d'entre elles, la participation, le bois et la forêt étaient les plus répandues. Les résultats servent de référence pour les politiques de promotion de la gouvernance forestière.
In Regions and Cohesion
- Published (Print):
- 01 Mar 2023
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 52–73 (22 total)
Held in Suspense
Promise, Threat and Revocability as Modalities of Governance
Syantani Chatterjee, Luciana Chamorro, and Fernando Montero
Abstract
Promises of incorporation, threats of punishment, and fragile, revocable entitlements mark the signature of a modality of governance dedicated to the production of subjects who are neither included nor excluded from political or economic orders, but who are provisionally appended to them as though hanging by a thread. A wide array of political regimes renders these subjects simultaneously indispensable and expendable. The authors examine promise, threat and revocability as modalities of governance appearing across liberal and illiberal registers as a means to displace the costs, risks and responsibilities of political and economic projects onto the indeterminate subjects they simultaneously produce. The authors ask what subjects do as they are held in suspense, by studying the collectivities, social orders, and forms of political organisation that emerge amongst subjects as they anticipate the authorisations and the censures, the arrival and the forfeiture of governance.
In The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology
- Published (Print):
- 01 Mar 2023
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 1–16 (16 total)
Introduction: What is Fracking a Case of?
Theoretical Lessons from European Case Studies
Roberto Cantoni, Claudia Foltyn, Reiner Keller, and Matthias S. Klaes
When we started to plan this special issue, shale gas extraction and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) as a technology and its related social conflicts seemed to be—except in very few countries, such as the United States—an environmental issue in a state of “fading away,” while still being of historical interest. However, things changed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Beyond creating immense human suffering and massive destruction of Ukraine's infrastructures, the invasion has affected, and is affecting, distant countries, their peoples, and economies around the world, in various ways. One major issue at stake is the effect on energy markets and energy mixes in European countries, where strong dependencies on Russian fuels exist. Energy prices have skyrocketed, and several European governments (especially, Germany) had to reconsider their past politics of energy supply and transition. The war, so to speak, has unexpectedly opened a new window of opportunity for re-evaluating shale gas as a player in the energy transition (Teuffer 2022). This is mainly due to economic questions regarding energy prices, and political questions regarding energy autonomy and mixes.
On difference and combination
Politics and social movement organizations in a Pennsylvania rust-belt region
Sharryn Kasmir
Abstract
This article draws on fieldwork in the majority Latinx (gender-neutral Latinos/as) rust-belt city of Reading and the majority white suburbs and rural towns of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, where three social movement groups are forging a left/liberal alignment. A history of uneven economic and social development in Reading/Berks underlies current divisions that confront the social movement organizations. Scholars grapple with bringing capital's non-waged and marginalized “others” into class analysis, and they remap class stuggles to account for capital's many laborers. The article proposes to apprehend how class is formed by combining difference, in the medium of time, and through political struggle. It explores the hidden relations among diverse populations and highlights the political moments that bring those connections to the fore at a specific historical conjuncture.
The Ordering of Green Values
Ecological Justification in Public Fracking Controversies in Germany and Poland
Claudia Foltyn, Reiner Keller, and Matthias S. Klaes
Abstract
The article presents a comparative study of shale gas media debates in Germany and Poland. Drawing from the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD), it addresses discursive conflicts over the use of hydraulic fracturing and its environmental impacts in both countries. The authors relate their analysis to the theoretical debate that emerged in the 1990s in French sociology concerning the question of “green justifications” that form a specific way of how social actors intervene, dispute, and build compromises in public discussions to protect non-human entities. Referring to these discussions, this article identifies several ecological justification clusters and the associated social actors that are ‘compromised’ or enclosed in existing orders of worth.
In Nature and Culture
- Published (Print):
- 01 Mar 2023
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 88–125 (38 total)
Sergio Moldes-Anaya
Abstract
This article evaluates the perception of security threats associated with the ethnic origin of immigration in Spain, mainly based on the European Social Survey. The objective was to identify which contact- related risk factors influence the perception of security threats related to immigration. Associated with this, we distinguished the degree to which Spaniards link immigration to increased crime. Results show that contact with migrants of Muslim origin can be a determining factor in the negative perception of security.
Resumen
El presente artículo evalúa la percepción de amenaza hacia la seguridad asociada al origen étnico de la inmigración en España a partir de la Encuesta Social Europea. El objetivo fue identificar qué factores de riesgo relacionados con el contacto influyen en la percepción de las amenazas a la seguridad vinculados con la inmigración. Asociado a esto, se distinguió el grado en que los españoles relacionan la inmigración con el aumento de la delincuencia. Los resultados muestran que el contacto con inmigrantes de origen musulmán puede ser un factor determinante en la percepción negativa de la seguridad.
Résumé
Cet article évalue la perception de la menace à la sécurité associée à l'immigration en Espagne à travers l'enquête sociale européenne. Ainsi, cet article vise à déterminer quels facteurs de risque liés au contact peuvent exercer une influence dans la perception de la menace à la sécurité associée à l'immigration et à distinguer le degré de perception de cette menace. Notre objectif consiste à identifier les facteurs de risque liés au contact avec les immigrants qui déterminent dans quelle mesure les Espagnols associent l'immigration à une augmentation de la criminalité. Les résultats montrent que le contact avec des migrants d'origine musulmane peut être un facteur déterminant dans la perception négative de la sécurité.
In Regions and Cohesion
- Published (Print):
- 01 Mar 2023
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 23–51 (29 total)
A politicized ecology of resilience
Redistributive land reform and distributive justice in the COVID-19 pandemic
Jonathan DeVore
Abstract
Brazil has endured multiple political, economic, and environmental crises—and now the COVID-19 pandemic—which have drawn social inequalities into razor sharp relief. This contribution analyzes the resilience of rural families facing these crises in southern Bahia. These families have benefited from various redistributive policies over the years, including redistributive land reforms (RLRs), conditional cash transfers (CCTs), and recent emergency aid (EA) payments related to the pandemic. Each (re)distributive approach involves different notions of distributive justice informed by competing background theories of “the good,” which hold implications for concepts of resilience. Drawing on long-term research with RLR communities in Bahia, this article considers the gains achieved by different redistributive programs. Families who acquired land through RLR projects appear more resilient, especially in the face of crisis.