Dear all, Thanks for a great thread everyone (and apologies that this comes after the thread has died down - email problems).
My own (still developing) approach to these issues is different again. I am increasingly of the view that I can’t ignore questions of race, and instead need to put them front and centre (including facing up to my own previous neglect/underestimation of them). So when I teach IR theory I now want students to know that as a modern field it started as the study of racial hierarchies and race development. I can no longer teach Kant or Hegel without also teaching their deeply racist anthropologies and geographies. When I teach Israeli-Palestinian politics, I find the part played by racist ideas in shaping the conflict historically (including racialised representations of the environment) difficult to ignore. And on environmental politics, I very much agree with Dimitris that racist ideas go well beyond Hardin. Indeed, when I look at issues of environmental security, I would say that a very large proportion of both public and policy commentary, and academic research on the subject, operates with assumptions which are in key respects racialised legacies of European colonialism. Even the most left wing (including post-colonial) authors sometimes buy into these frameworks. And given this, I see it as crucial to try to sensitive students to these issues. There’s no point blacklisting Hardin if we continue to teach authors where similar assumptions are but better hidden. As regards solutions, well that depends what problems we are looking for solutions for. Solutions to environmental problems (or bad policy thereon) are one matter. But another, all too obvious at the moment, is race conflict. And given especially that eco-fascist ideas seem to be on the rise again, with the grave possibility that they might develop further (just wait for the far right to start embracing climate change more fully, and using this as an additional rationale for nativism and white supremacism), it seems to me that educating students about this dark side of environmental politics is an important responsibility. Best wishes, and thanks all again, Jan PS: new email address - I've moved to University of Sheffield since lasting posting. Jan Selby Professor of Politics and International Relations Department of Politics and IR University of Sheffield https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/politics/people/academic-staff/jan-selby https://politicsecology.wordpress.com/ > On 1 Sep 2020, at 11:51, Jennifer Allan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello everyone, > > Thank you for the wonderful discussion and resources. I've made a slightly > different choice on this question: I chose not to directly teach the work of > a racist, who was also wrong. I agree there are insights for environmental > politics, but they are covered by prisoner's dilemmas, Ostrom's work on the > commons, and other ideas cited above. > > I do this for two reasons. First, I ask my students if they have heard the > phrase "tragedy of the commons" or the basic argument (after I outline it). > Maybe one student has. In other words, I would be introducing this phrase - > and all its baggage - into their repertoire, and perpetuating its continued > use in various circles. Second, I'm not comfortable giving a diverse student > population a reading with such problematic racist language. A lot could be > done to prep students and to debrief with them, but I've made the decision to > not put my students in that situation in the first place and risk further > marginalizing some of them from academia. > > I talk to my students that this is an idea that they may hear about. That > it's become a popular stand in for many of the complex ideas that we discuss > in class. I explain that when people use it, they strip it of its ideological > foundations / project, and forget that it's empirically wrong. I provide some > of the resources already cited above, but I do not direct them to the > original work. > > I don't claim this is the best response to this difficult issue, but it's the > one I've decided for the time being. > All the best, > Jen > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 7:35 PM 'Jonathan Rosenberg' via gep-ed > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Dimitris makes a great point. On a personal note--I am currently teaching 2 > courses: Environmental Politics and Policy, and International Development. > It is instructive to consider how differently Theodore Roosevelt figures in > the historical background for each of them. > > Best, > Jonathan > > On Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 1:29 PM Stevis,Dimitris > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Ron and all: > > A very interesting discussion that cannot be limited to Hardin’s misreading > of history- as this old poem suggests - > http://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/“stealing-common-goose”#sthash.B7yCrydB.dpbs > > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/5yz1CY5l2iAEVLvTNajF6?domain=onthecommons.org> > > > The environmental movement, in the US and other colonial countries, has a > significant share of racist, eugenisist etc founders, such as Muir, Madison > Grant, Osborn Sr (Museum of Natural History), Julian Huxley (UNESCO) and > others https://orionmagazine.org/article/conservation-and-eugenics/ > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/DjtrC9gLlT2L4k6FEykDm?domain=orionmagazine.org/> > and > https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/environmentalisms-racist-history > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/iftdC0LX1hmqNG9c2Y9Wa?domain=newyorker.com> > For a longer account see > https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/border-walls-gone-green > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/8zGTCg2QrTGOEAjT35YYk?domain=upress.umn.edu> > > It may useful for IEP to address these wider genealogy and how it has > influenced the framing and study of environmental politics, certainly for the > older amongst us. Focusing on Hardin is necessary but should not obscure this > broader and painful context within which he acquired legitimacy. This is all > the more timely as this story is used by the neoliberal right to criticize > environmentalism as a whole - > https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-darker-shade-of-green-environmentalisms-origins-in-eugenics/ > > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/t0SgCj8OxuRKonwi1--Y8?domain=capitalresearch.org/> > > Perhaps there is an ISA workshop in this. > > D > > > >> On Aug 31, 2020, at 8:58 PM, Rafael Friedmann <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> I’d like to see examples of how we’ve been able to effectively counter the >> interests of the few to continue with Business-as-usual overexploitation or >> exclusion of externalities and limited analyses of broader systemic impacts. >> This is the crux more than how much we liked or not TOC and Hardin. Give me >> solutions! Give me examples of what has worked – but on a massive >> scale—which is what is needed to actively and successfully tackle the broad >> impacts we are seeing and will otherwise experience with global climate >> change. >> >> Rafael >> From: DG Webster <mailto:[email protected]> >> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2020 10:13 AM >> To: Ronald Mitchell <mailto:[email protected]> >> Cc: GEP-Ed List <mailto:[email protected]> >> Subject: Re: [gep-ed] RE: Tragedy of the Commons >> >> Hi Ron, >> >> Thanks for raising the discussion. I was horrified when I first read the >> full version of Hardin't ToC piece, having only read excerpts in various >> courses. My last book, Beyond the Tragedy in Global Fisheries, is >> essentially a long, drawn-out refutation of the ToC as the fundamental >> problem in fisheries governance. It's probably too fisheries-centric for >> most but the core concept of power disconnects links up Ostrom, Buck, and >> other great suggestions here. In short: When the people making decisions >> about resource use (through markets, government, etc.) are able to insulate >> themselves from the costs of overexploitation, power disconnects are wide >> and environmental damage will be high. When the people making decisions >> about resource use are vulnerable to those costs, then power disconnects are >> narrow and they're likely to figure out some way to manage resources >> sustainably. This could include rules to govern the commons, but extends to >> laws, science/tech, etc. More importantly, this perspective asserts that >> social justice isn't a nice add-on to environmental protection but a >> fundamental requirement. Of course, others make similar arguments, many in >> re: pollution as Dana pointed out. Would be great to see more >> interdisciplinary work on the concept. See attached for an interdisciplinary >> paper that uses power disconnects as part of a critique of ITQs and other >> panaceas in fisheries. >> >> best, >> dgwebster >> >> On Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 12:19 PM Hang Ryeol Na <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Hello everyone, >> >> How could we teach environmental policy or politics courses without >> mentioning the notion of commons? 1. In my class, the controversial aspect >> about Dr. Hardin becomes self-evident when we discuss his own proposal to >> the tragedy of the commons, for example ‘Lifeboat ethics’ (1974), which says >> the global north, the lifeboats loaded with survivors, should cut off aid to >> the poor south if their governments refuse to control population growth. >> Students mostly agree it is in fact the global north that consumes most >> resources and places most pressure on fragile ecosystems. 2. I usually put >> equal emphasis on the avoidability of the tragedy as well as its >> inevitability. Typically we cite the concept of self-governance from Elinor >> Ostrom, as Thea suggested in her previous email, to demonstrate it is >> empirically researched. >> >> Kind regards, >> >> Hang Ryeol >> >> On Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 11:47 AM Benjamin Sovacool <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Hi Ron, all, very interesting. My colleague Tony Patt wrote the attached as >> well, on why the tragedy of the commons has conceptual problems, too. (Not >> sure I agree entirely with the essay, but I thought I’d share nonetheless): >> >> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629617301433 >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/TEulCl7MzHX0R23cVV0Rh?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> >> PDF attached for ease of reference. >> >> Benjamin >> >> From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of >> Ronald Mitchell >> Sent: 31 August 2020 15:23 >> To: GEP-Ed List <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >> Subject: [gep-ed] Tragedy of the Commons >> >> Colleagues, >> I have, like many I assume, taught the Tragedy of the Commons as part of my >> international environmental politics course for years. I find it a >> particularly useful concept as one means of making sense of what we are >> doing to the planet. I also made a simple online game illustrating it @ >> https://rmitchel.uoregon.edu/commons >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/NDDACnONBcmA971cvd-N-?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> A high school teacher in Oman registered and played it yesterday and >> brought to my attention an article in Scientific American entitled: “The >> Tragedy of the Tragedy of the Commons” with blurb: “The man who wrote one of >> environmentalism’s most-cited essays was a racist, eugenicist, nativist and >> Islamaphobe—plus his argument was wrong.” More background is at: >> https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/garrett-hardin >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/LD4lCp2XETA14nJTVcGnH?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> from the Southern Poverty Law Center. I am confident that some of you knew >> this about Hardin already and that there will be a diverse set of views on >> how this should influence the teaching of the Tragedy of the Commons >> concept, if at all. But I wanted to bring it to the attention of people who >> might not know about it. >> Best to all of you, Ron >> >> The Tragedy of "The Tragedy of the Commons" >> >> >> By Matto Mildenberger on April 23, 2019 >> >> https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/the-tragedy-of-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/ >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/dtqpCr9MJT2PQ8zFm1IdC?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> >> Fifty years ago, University of California professor Garrett Hardin penned an >> influential essay in the journal Science. Hardin saw all humans as selfish >> herders: we worry that our neighbors’ cattle will graze the best grass. So, >> we send more of our cows out to consume that grass first. We take it first, >> before someone else steals our share. This creates a vicious cycle of >> environmental degradation that Hardin described as the “tragedy of the >> commons.” >> >> It's hard to overstate Hardin’s impact on modern environmentalism. His views >> are taught across ecology, economics, political science and environmental >> studies. His essay remains an academic blockbuster, with almost 40,000 >> citations. It still gets republished in prominent environmental anthologies. >> >> But here are some inconvenient truths: Hardin was a racist, eugenicist, >> nativist and Islamophobe. He is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as >> a known white nationalist. His writings and political activism helped >> inspire the anti-immigrant hatred spilling across America today. >> >> And he promoted an idea he called “lifeboat ethics”: since global resources >> are finite, Hardin believed the rich should throw poor people overboard to >> keep their boat above water. >> >> To create a just and vibrant climate future, we need to instead cast Hardin >> and his flawed metaphor overboard. >> >> People who revisit Hardin’s original essay are in for a surprise. Its six >> pages are filled with fear-mongering. Subheadings proclaim that “freedom to >> breed is intolerable.” It opines at length about the benefits if “children >> of improvident parents starve to death.” A few paragraphs later Hardin >> writes: “If we love the truth we must openly deny the validity of the >> Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” And on and on. Hardin practically >> calls for a fascist state to snuff out unwanted gene pools. >> >> Or build a wall to keep immigrants out. Hardin was a virulent nativist whose >> ideas inspired some of today’s ugliest anti-immigrant sentiment. He believed >> that only racially homogenous societies could survive. He was also involved >> with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a hate group >> that now cheers President Trump’s racist policies. Today, American neo-Nazis >> cite Hardin’s theories to justify racial violence. >> >> These were not mere words on paper. Hardin lobbied Congress against sending >> food aid to poor nations, because he believed their populations were >> threatening Earth’s “carrying capacity.” >> >> Of course, plenty of flawed people have left behind noble ideas. That >> Hardin’s tragedy was advanced as part of a white nationalist project should >> not automatically condemn its merits. >> >> But the facts are not on Hardin’s side. For one, he got the history of the >> commons wrong. As Susan Cox pointed out, early pastures were well regulated >> by local institutions. They were not free-for-all grazing sites where people >> took and took at the expense of everyone else. >> >> Many global commons have been similarly sustained through community >> institutions. This striking finding was the life’s work of Elinor Ostrom, >> who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics (technically called the Sveriges >> Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel). Using the >> tools of science—rather than the tools of hatred—Ostrom showed the diversity >> of institutions humans have created to manage our shared environment. >> >> Of course, humans can deplete finite resources. This often happens when we >> lack appropriate institutions to manage them. But let’s not credit Hardin >> for that common insight. Hardin wasn’t making an informed scientific case. >> Instead, he was using concerns about environmental scarcity to justify >> racial discrimination. >> >> We must reject his pernicious ideas on both scientific and moral grounds. >> Environmental sustainability cannot exist without environmental justice. Are >> we really prepared to follow Hardin and say there are only so many lead >> pipes we can replace? Only so many bodies that should be protected from >> cancer-causing pollutants? Only so many children whose futures matter? >> >> This is particularly important when we deal with climate change. Despite >> what Hardin might have said, the climate crisis is not a tragedy of the >> commons. The culprit is not our individual impulses to consume fossil fuels >> to the ruin of all. And the solution is not to let small islands in >> Chesapeake Bay or whole countries in the Pacific sink into the past, without >> a seat on our planetary lifeboat. >> >> Instead, rejecting Hardin’s diagnosis requires us to name the true culprit >> for the climate crisis we now face. Thirty years ago, a different future was >> available. Gradual climate policies could have slowly steered our economy >> towards gently declining carbon pollution levels. The costs to most >> Americans would have been imperceptible. >> >> But that future was stolen from us. It was stolen by powerful, >> carbon-polluting interests who blocked policy reforms at every turn to >> preserve their short-term profits. They locked each of us into an economy >> where fossil fuel consumption continues to be a necessity, not a choice. >> >> This is what makes attacks on individual behavior so counterproductive. Yes, >> it’s great to drive an electric vehicle (if you can afford it) and purchase >> solar panels (if powerful utilities in your state haven’t conspired to make >> renewable energy more expensive). But the point is that interest groups have >> structured the choices available to us today. Individuals don’t have the >> agency to steer our economic ship from the passenger deck. >> >> As Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes reminds us, “[abolitionists] wore clothes >> made of cotton picked by slaves. But that did not make them hypocrites … it >> just meant that they were also part of the slave economy, and they knew it. >> That is why they acted to change the system, not just their clothes.” >> >> Or as Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez tweeted: “Living in the world >> as it is isn’t an argument against working towards a better future.” The >> truth is that two-thirds of all the carbon pollution ever released into the >> atmosphere can be traced to the activities of just ninety companies. >> >> These corporations’ efforts to successfully thwart climate action are the >> real tragedy. >> >> We are left with very little time. We need political leaders to pilot our >> economy through a period of rapid economic transformation, on a grand scale >> unseen since the Second World War. And to get there, we are going to have >> make sure our leaders listen to us, not—as my colleagues and I show in our >> research—fossil fuel companies. >> >> Hope requires us to start from an unconditional commitment to one another, >> as passengers aboard a common lifeboat being rattled by heavy winds. The >> climate movement needs more people on this lifeboat, not fewer. We must make >> room for every human if we are going to build the political power necessary >> to face down the looming oil tankers and coal barges that send heavy waves >> in our direction. This is a commitment at the heart of proposals like the >> Green New Deal. >> >> Fifty years on, let’s stop the mindless invocation of Hardin. Let’s stop >> saying that we are all to blame because we all overuse shared resources. >> Let’s stop championing policies that privilege environmental protection for >> some human beings at the expense of others. And let’s replace Hardin’s >> flawed metaphor with an inclusive vision for humanity—one based on >> democratic governance and cooperation in this time of darkness. >> >> Instead of writing a tragedy, we must offer hope for every single human on >> Earth. Only then will the public rise up to silence the powerful carbon >> polluters trying to steal our future. >> >> >> Ronald Mitchell, Professor >> Department of Political Science and Program in Environmental Studies >> University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1284 >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> https://rmitchel.uoregon.edu/ >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/P5a2CwrROTyJlG4sBz3P2?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> IEA Database Director: https://iea.uoregon.edu/ >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/fD59CyXJ0cLqOrQfr6pit?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "gep-ed" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/MWHPR10MB1887327F23C496C9FA34F8A8CB510%40MWHPR10MB1887.namprd10.prod.outlook.com >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/srSsCA19wUELpNPFPl_5h?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "gep-ed" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CWXP265MB02624BAAF1C74553E439FD7FB5510%40CWXP265MB0262.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/AFWBCD8Jzu3NY5WIj5t6X?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "gep-ed" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAHhppNnrXd5CjGdgmgDYEvSVG1H2JPLYbt%2BjXJoL6k-rpOttsA%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/sg7tCG8QDuAK31PTlCP9B?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>. >> >> >> -- >> D.G. Webster >> Associate Professor >> Environmental Studies Program >> Dartmouth College >> 6182 Steele Hall >> Hanover, NH 03755 >> phone: 603-646-0213 >> http://sites.dartmouth.edu/websterlab >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/SY0tCKQ50C4z72YhLJ_56?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "gep-ed" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAKPQqY7iLb6Ud79BB5r4Wv9HmFv1J1Gu7rMKbvNkCtV24wbufQ%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/bnXwCM15MUzMBqLUmh8YW?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "gep-ed" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/5f4d3a36.1c69fb81.31f3.58e4%40mx.google.com >> >> <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/aZQ8CO85Ouvz1pgFz_vF7?domain=nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com>. > > Dimitris Stevis > Professor > Department of Political Science > Colorado State University > 200 West Lake Street > Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1782 > USA > > > office: Clark B349 > phone (office): +970-491-6082 > fax: +970-491-2490 > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > http://polisci.colostate.edu/author/dimitris/ > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/9IXBCPQ5PC38zK2I3XQ19?domain=polisci.colostate.edu/> > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/73D17BF4-70FD-4C82-9082-F23D2C68E870%40colostate.edu > > <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/nMGjCZ0m3TQrK5wc7lZB0?domain=groups.google.com>. > > > -- > Jonathan Rosenberg, PhD > Professor of Political Science > Department of Social Sciences > Illinois Institute of Technology > Siegel Hall 116E > 3301 S. 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