Dear GEP Colleagues, Thank you for such an insightful thread -- I couldn't agree more with the suggestion from Dimitris that there is definitely an ISA Workshop and potentially a writing project that would be extremely valuable in the classroom.
There is a common that between two recent comments that I would like to build on: 1) DG Webster's insightful comments on the contingency of the tragedy of commons related to the nature of power distribution, and 2) Jen's fantastic solution to the racist legacies of Hardin's life and work. I think both these comments show us a way out of what I see as the confounding of analytical and empirical arguments related to the tragedy of commons. Let me explain. At the core of it, tragedy is a behavioral argument. As many have pointed out, the pasture was used as a metaphor, not as an empirical example (though it may have been inspired by misinformed writings on the historical British commons). Ostrom took on the core behavioral argument and exposed the contingency/incompleteness of the arguments that informed Hardin's arguments (and still do for much of the work in game theory and rational-choice theory in mainstream Economics and Public Choice literature). That's why I believe that Jen's solution to the problem is brilliant, because if one talks about Ostrom's work in its totality, the analytical core of Hardin's argument is fully covered. We don't miss anything at all by not discussing Hardin's writings, with the advantage that one doen't have to make students read such an obviously racist piece. And, by the way, correct me if I am wrong, no matter how hard one tries, some students will invariably use the written word to reinforce their pre-existing biases (and label the professor as a liberal brain-washer in the process). That's why I am going to adopt Jen's solution in future classes. A second point on the analytical-empirical confounding. From this vantage point, bringing in the question of historical commons (which is discussed in Susan Buck's essay) or the question of scale that is often brought up in different contexts, is a bit of a distraction from the core analytical point of the behavioral roots of the tragedy. In that context, I think DG Webster's comments (and the attached article) presents an analytically oriented way of engaging the scale question within the same framework (without making it overly empirical). When it comes to the interests of the powerful, tragedies of the commons have been avoided in many cases (it's a different matter that they have been resolved in ways that continue to provide the powerful actors a distinct advantage in the post-solution world. Hope that makes sense. I would argue that these two types of confusions and the related misunderstanding of the tragedy argument partly explain the continued use of the tragedy metaphor and associated frameworks by some on the left (as Jan mentioned). Plus, there is also a deep love for technocratic solutions (as in technocratic socialism). Lastly, coincidentally, I have been working on two different dimensions of the same debate about the racist legacies of American environmentalism -- will separately share a piece that I wrote for the Conversation on the same topic (though it doesn't refer to Hardin per se). Best, Prakash On Wednesday, September 2, 2020 at 7:28:15 PM UTC-4 j.e.selby wrote: > 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]> 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]> >> 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]> >>> 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 >>> *Sent: *Monday, August 31, 2020 10:13 AM >>> *To: *Ronald Mitchell >>> *Cc: *GEP-Ed List >>> *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 >>> >>> >>> -- 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/28abb6cd-08df-4ff8-8294-9416941bafdan%40googlegroups.com.
