Newsletter April 1999
NOTE REGARDING ISA CONVENTION 2000: If you wish to assemble an ESS-sponsored panel and are seeking papers, you can post a “WANTED” message to the ESS section. Please send your panel proposal to Section Chair Dimitris Stevis at Dimitris@lamar.colostate.eduand Ronnie Lipschutz at rlipsch@cats.ucsc.edu. All final and complete proposals should be submitted directly to the Program Chair, Frank Harvey, Dept. of Political Science, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H6 Canada by June 15, 1999. A submission form can be found in the ISA Newsletter or at: csf.colorado.edu/isa/la/index.html.
ESS ANNUAL MEETING Environmental Studies Business Meeting Minutes , ISA 1999 – Washington, DC, Omni-Shoreham Hotel, February 19, 1999
1. Call to order – Beth DeSombre moved and Ronnie Lipschutz seconded adoption of the agenda
2. Geoff Dabelko appointed ad hoc meeting secretary
3. Section Chair Philippe Le Prestre introduced the ESS officers
4. Announcements by Philippe LePrestre:
a. Acknowledged Michael Maniates and his Teaching Global Environmental Politics webpage/listserv; Ron Mitchell, ESS webmaster; Ronnie Lipschutz, ESS newsletter; Beth DeSombre for running the Young Scholars paper award committee.
b. Facts about the ISA 1999 convention: 1800 people; 429 panels (largest number ever); 120 papers rejected; ESS sponsored 21 panels or 5% of the total, a declining proportion because of overall increases; ESS has typically sponsored between 20 and 24 panels; Possible explanation for declining percentage is that the section is a victim of its own success in greening other sections
c. Finances for the section: Balance from 1998 – $1,604.16; Income from dues – $1,330; Expenses down as have gone to electronic form of the newsletter; Balance or endowment for the section – $2,100; No incentive to build endowment as ISA takes all the interest; ESS leadership did help to prevent ISA attempt to charge each section member $1; ESS has 286 members; ESS has not awarded travel award in the last year due to uncertainty about available funds; 1999 reception co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Project – cost to ESS approximately $500
d. ISA information: Headquarters will remain in Arizona until 2005 after search for alternative site did not produce another desired alternative; ISA governing body created two new committees: Committee on the Future of ISA and a Young Scholars Committee; ISA has increased the amount of money available for workshops from $18,000-$28,000. Last year only four proposals totaling less than $18,000 were submitted. Grants are typically $5,000 but on occasion $7,000; ISA travel grants were increased from $40,000 to $50,000; ISA created a Susan Strange award
e. The Sprout Award Committee–Gary Bryner, Ken Conca, Jennifer Clapp, Kate O’Neill, and Stacy VanDeveer–announced at the 1999 ISA meeting that Justice, Society and Nature: An Exploration of Political Ecology, by Nicholas Low and Brendan Gleeson, published by Routledge Press, as the 1998 Sprout award winner. The citation read at the EES meeting was as follows:
Justice, Society and Nature is an excellent synthesis of theoretical perspectives on global environmental policy and pulls together very effectively a diverse set of important ideas. It also serves as a very thoughtful contribution to the theory of environmental justice and to ensuring that it plays a major role in our thinking about international environmental issues. The chapters all contribute to an integrated argument that centers on the global environment from beginning to end, and explores many issues that have been given relatively little attention in global environmental policies, particularly environmental justice. It is a model of a book for several reasons: it contributes to theory building, it is interdisciplinary, it is analytically rigorous, it provides numerous examples of comparative empirical research, and it is interesting, engaging, and provocative.
Honorable mentions:
Edith Brown Weiss and Harold Jacobson, Engaging countries: strengthening compliance with international environmental accords Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1998
Karen Litfin (ed.), The Greening of Sovereignty in World Politics, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1998.
(See below for a list of books nominated for the 1999 Sprout Award.)
f. Beth DeSombre of the Executive Committee reported on the Young Scholar paper winner from last year’s ISA convention. The award given for the best paper presented at the 1998 ISA convention in a panel sponsored by the section was given to Colin Kahl for his paper entitled “Population Growth, Environmental Degradation, and State-Sponsored Violence: The Case of Kenya, 1991-1993.” In reaching its decision, the Committee stressed the following aspects of this paper :
This paper is innovative, well argued and organized, fluently written, and thorough. It presents a good discussion and critique of theories relating environmental problems to internal conflict, showing an excellent grasp of the literature. The case study is well-constructed and the hypotheses are quite persuasive. The argument that environmental degradation can provide the opportunity for groups to advance political goals is an understudied phenomenon that this paper does well to address. As such, it makes a contribution to the literature on environmental change and conflict.
Beth was asked how many papers were nominated. Four high quality papers that are to be “close to publication” quality were nominated and all paper writers were given written comments from the Executive Committee members who judged the competition.
5. Elections: Presentation of slate by Nominating committee member Miranda Schreurs
Chair: Dimitris Stevis
Executive Committee: Paul Harris, Peter Dauvergne, Miranada Schreurs and Chris Lenhardt. The first three listed were elected for the three available slots.
Nomination Committee: Beth DeSombre, Detlef Sprintz, Ian Rowlands, and Jennifer Clapp. Four elected for four slots
Sprout Committee: Philippe Le Prestre and Laura Strohm for the two available positions
Ronnie Lipschutz asked how the chair of the nominations committee is selected. Miranda and Philippe responded that s/he is chosen by the committee. Detlef Sprintz proposed two year overlapping terms to give more continuity and advance the election process. This motion was passed and the four serving nominations committee members were given responsibility among themselves to decide which two would serve one year and which two would serve two year terms to start the program.
After debate about whether nominations for chair should come from the floor or whether the executive committee should produce a name for chair over the next month, Barbara Jancar-Webster nominated Dimitris Stevis from the floor and it was given the required five seconds. Valerie Assevero spoke in support of the nomination, describing Dimitris as experienced within the section and as chair of another section. Shin-wha Lee asked Ronnie Lipschutz if he would like to be nominated but Ronnie deferred to Dimitris as an excellent nomination. Stevis was elected hearing no objections.
6. New Business led by Philippe Le Prestre:
a. Philippe discussed ideas for changing the term conditions of the chair. Currently the chair serves for two year terms, renewable once. The chair is responsible for the program which takes most of the year and leaves little time for considering the future of the section. The Executive Committee proposed a constitutional change that would create a vice chair for program for a two year term that would automatically segue into a two year term as chair. The proposal, if passed, was proposed to take effect in 2001 with the election of a vice chair.
Some responses from the floor suggested that a four year commitment was too long and might discourage good people from taking the job. Ronnie Lipschutz suggested an electronic paper and topic proposal process, allowing members to match their interests with panel topics. Ken Conca asked Philippe to describe the process of setting of the program.
Philippe said the chair receives all the papers from ISA and then can reject papers for quality reasons or because he/she thinks too much has been done on a given topic. Panel proposals are easiest and almost without exception accepted. The chair also refers papers to other sections. He/she constructs 20-25 panels for the section.
After debate from the floor, those in attendance asked that the Executive Committee reconsider this proposal and bring back an alternative next year.
b. ISA 2000 will be in Los Angeles, CA (March 14-18). Frank Harvey from Dalhousie University is ISA program chair.
c. Ronnie Lipschutz indicated that a few members still received the newsletter in hard copy form and that he would prefer electronic if those people have email addresses. He also said a number of messages bounce back in error. He also indicated his willingness to include short book reviews in the newsletter.
d. Ken Conca received rousing support for his motion to thank Philippe Le Prestre for his four years of service as chair of the section. Philippe thanked those presented for the lively and engaged participation of the section during his tenure.
The meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM.
BOOKS NOMINATED FOR THE 1999 SPROUT AWARD:
Browder, John D., and Brian J. Godfrey. Rainforest Cities: Urbanization, Development, and the Globalization of the Brazilian Amazon. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Cebon, Peter, et al., eds. Views from the Alps: Regional Perspectives on Climate Change. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998.
Chertow, Marian R. and Daniel C. Esty, eds. Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Doyle, Timothy and Doug McEachern. Environment and Politics. London: Routledge, 1998.
Faber, The Struggle for Ecological Democracy. New York: Guilford Press, 1998.
Gleick, Peter H. The World’s Water 1998-1999: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington DC: Island Press, 1998.
Hammond, Allen. Which World? Scenarios for the 21st Century. Washington DC: Island Press, 1998.
Heaney, Lawrence R., and Jr. Regaldo, Jacinto C. Vanishing Treasures of the Philippine Rain Forest. Chicago: The Field Museum, 1998.
Hunter, J. Robert. Simple Things Won’t Save the Earth. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Joyner, Christopher C. Governing the Frozen Commons: The Antarctic Regime and Environmental Protection. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.
Keil, Roger, et al., eds. Political Ecology: Global and Local. London: Routledge, 1998.
Kibel, Paul Stanton. The Earth on Trial: Environmental Law on the International Stage. London: Routledge, 1998.
Litfin, Karen T., ed. The Greening of Sovereignty in World Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.
Low, Nicholas, and Brendan Gleeson. Justice, Society and Nature: An Exploration of Political Ecology. London: Routledge, 1998.
O’Connor, James. Natural Causes. New York: Guilford Press, 1998.
Soroos, Marvin S. The Endangered Atmosphere: Preserving a Global Commons. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.
Tolba, Mustafa K., and Iwona Rummel-Buska. Global Environmental Diplomacy: Negotiating Environmental Agreements for the World, 1973-1992. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.
Victor, David G., Kal Raustiala, and Eugene B. Skolnikoff, eds. The Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Commitments: Theory and Practice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.
Violich, Francis. The Bridge to Dalmatia: A Search for the Meaning of Place. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Weiss, Edith Brown, and Harold K. Jacobson, eds. Engaging Countries: Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998.
Young, Oran R. Creating Regimes: Arctic Accords and International Governance. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
“Climate Change – Business Opportunities: Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism and International Emissions Trading” at the University of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland. The seminar is supported inter alia by Union Bank of Switzerland UBS and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD, March 22-23, 1999. Details at: http://www.iwoe.unisg.ch/kyoto.htm
1999 SPRING SYMPOSIUM: Biodiversity and Climate Change: Conservation in the Face of Uncertainty, Friday, April 30 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m, Saturday, May 1 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Kaufmann Theater, American Museum of Natural History, New York City hosted by the Museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation. Scientists, natural resource managers, conservation biologists, and policymakers will explore the consequences of global warming on the planet’s biodiversity and address conservation planning in an age of uncertain climatic trends. In a series of panel discussions and lectures, experts will address how climate change might transform the biosphere by looking at its impact on a variety of ecosystems and species. Call 212-769-5200 for more information and to RSVP no later than April 15, or e-mail Lori Rapaport, email: rapaport@amnh.org; website: research.amnh.org/biodiversity/
SUMMER SCHOOL ON CONSUMPTION, EVERYDAY LIFE & SUSTAINABILITY
The European Science Foundation is funding a summer school on Consumption, Everyday Life and Sustainability, as part of its TERM programme (Tackling Environmental Resource Management) to be held at Lancaster University, in England, from 21st – 26th August 1999. Twenty places are available for PhD students, policy makers and other young researchers from any European country interested and able to contribute to the summer school, which is organised around five themes:
1. The Dynamics of Consumption
2. Cross Cultural Meanings and Practices
3. The Manufacturing of Demand
4. Consumption, Sustainability and the Ordering of Everyday Life
5. Systems of Provision and the Privatisation or (Re)collectivisation of consumption
If you are interested in participating, please send a one page CV and outline of your current research interests, together with a one page outline of what you hope to gain from taking part in the summer school to: Lesley Waite, Centre for Science Studies, University of Lancaster, Bowland Tower South, Lancaster LA1 4YT (e-mail: L.Waite@lancaster.ac.uk) before 15th April 1999. Further details of the summer school and of previous ESF funded workshops and exchanges on Consumption, Everyday Life and Sustainability can be found on the web at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/scistud/esf/title.htm
WORLD CONGRESS ON MANAGING & MEASURING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Kananaskis Village, August 17-22, 2000. The World Congress on Managing and Measuring Sustainable Development will take place at the Kananaskis Village, a centre for conferences and for outdoor recreational activities in the Canadian Rockies, 116 KMs West of Calgary. The site is situated North of the Sheep River Wildlife Sanctuary, South of the Bow Valley Wildland Park, the Bow Flats Natural Area and the Yamnuska Natural Area, East of the towns of Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise, and West of the Elbow Sheep Wildland Park.
Paper submissions will be assessed and selected by the SWSD’s GCAC. Please use the Paper Submission Cover Sheet and include a one-page topic summary for assessment. Read the criteria for submission. The deadline for submission of individual abstracts and papers, presentations, panel discussions and workshop proposals, facilitated groups, and of photographic, poster and dramatic display dealing with pertinent themes, is March 24, 2000. However, in order to be included in the preliminary program newsletters, you are required to submit your abstract or proposal by the end of summer 1999. More information as to SWSD, GCAC, Registration Procedures and Policies, Paper Submission Criteria, Program Scheduling, Special Arrangements, Proceedings, the Estimate of Cost, transportation to the site and information about the facility and recreational activities at the site, can now be obtained from gdufour@globalcommunitywebnet.com
ON-LINE SUMMER SCHOOL: Sustaining Human Existence in Changing Conditions and Human Conceptual and Mental Development, Beyond Religion, Philosophy and Science, May – August 1999. The Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development (IHCMD) is holding an Online Summer School (May to August 1999) on Sustaining Human Existence in Changing Conditions and Human Conceptual and Mental Development. The focus of the Program are the conditions of human existence and persisting and growing human, social and environmental problems we face individually, as societies and as a species globally at the end of the 20th century. The objectives include understanding their nature, the historical and contemporary causes, how to address them and how to sustain human existence in changing conditions. Subscription to the Program will be limited. For more information or to register for the Online Summer School, please contact: Dr. Axel Dorscht, Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development, 9 Second Avenue, Suite 2, Ottawa, ON K1S 2H2 Canada (e-mail: ab097@ncf; Website: www.ncf.ca/~ab097/ihcmd.htm)
FULL VIEW PRESS is accepting book length manuscripts on environmental issues. Completed Dissertations, Edited Collections, Post-doctoral Work and Essay Writing will be considered. FULL VIEW PRESS brings scholarly work to publication. Please send for Information and specific Writer’s Guidelines before submitting a manuscript. FULL VIEW PRESS, P.O. Box 2166, Doylestown, PA 18901; e-mail: info@fvpress
E-MERGE: A STUDENT JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS–Call for Papers. In January 2000, students of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) are launching an interdisciplinary on-line journal entitled, e-merge: a student journal of international affairs For the first issue, e-merge seeks to identify important
international themes in the new millennium. All interested M.A. and Ph.D. candidates are invited to submit articles related to an emerging issue in international affairs. Through such submissions, e-merge hopes to highlight the important issues facing policy makers today and tomorrow. For more information about e-merge and its submission requirements, see www.carleton.ca/e-merge or email emerge@carleton.ca
IAI SUMMER INSTITUTE: Interdisciplinary Science in the Americas
“Interactions between Seasonal to Inter-annual Climate Variability and Human Systems,” Miami, Florida, USA, July 11-30, 1999. To promote effective communication and collaboration between early-career natural and social scientists from the Americas, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM-RSMAS) have joined efforts to implement a Summer Institute on Interdisciplinary Global Change Science in the Americas. The
IAI/UM Summer Institute is a 3-year venture with support from the United States’ National Science Foundation. Each year, the Summer Institute will be organized around a regionally important global change issue with societal relevance. The Institute’s theme will be approached from a multi-disciplinary perspective, including both the natural and social dimensions. The chosen theme will serve as the central focus for various Institute’s activities (lectures, research mini-projects). General background on the Institute’s design and a detailed list of Institute objectives can be found at www.rsmas.miami.edu/IAIUM/inst_backgr.html.
Applications for this year’s Institute must be mailed by March 31, 1999.
WEB SITES OF INTEREST
The Foreign Policy In Focus site, with a number of recent pieces on US Foreign Policy and Environmental issues
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/
The Global Environmental Assessment (GEA) website, with a number of new working papers placed on-line over the last few months.
http://environment.harvard.edu/HERO/wrapper/pageid=gea/geahome.html
RECENT ARTICLES AT RFF’S WEATHERVANE
Monday, February 15, 1999
CLIMATE TALK: WHAT’S IN, WHAT’S OUT: RFF’s Marina Cazorla defines and explains the sometimes-subtle distinctions between flexibility mechanisms vs. Kyoto mechanisms; Annex I vs. Annex B countries; Joint Implementation vs. Activities Implemented Jointly; and convergence vs. graduation. For the complete essay:
http://www.weathervane.rff.org/features/feature059.html
AT BUENOS AIRES AND BEYOND: RFF’s J.W. Anderson, Richard Morgenstern, and Michael Toman pinpoint where the latest round of international negotiations leaves us in the world’s politically-tinged efforts to cope with climate change. In their essay, they review the status of some of the main issues discussed at the Fourth Conference of Parties, held in Buenos Aires, and that remain part of the ongoing international dialogue on climate policy. They also discuss other issues that have received less public attention but are likely to loom at least as large in determining the ultimate fate of the process of The Kyoto Protocol: http://www.weathervane.rff.org/features/feature061.html
A PROPOSAL FOR CREDIBLE EARLY ACTION IN U.S. CLIMATE POLICY: For the U.S. to effectively and cost-efficiently implement climate change actions consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Resources for the Future’s Raymond Kopp, Richard
Morgenstern, William Pizer, and Michael Toman propose establishing a mandatory, modest, and broad domestic tradable permit program for reducing carbon dioxide emissions starting in the year 2002.A key feature of their proposal is that all emissions permits would be auctioned and the associated revenue would be returned to U.S. households. See: www.weathervane.rff.org/features/feature060.html
“(Self-)Enforcement of Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism Contracts,” Josef Janssen, Institute for Economy and the Environment at the University of Sankt Gallen, available at:
http://www.feem.it/web/activ/_activ.html
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
EU POST-DOCS in NYC: Two EU Post-Doctoral Fellowships for Academic Year 1999-2000 (one tenable at New York University and one at Columbia University). The newly established European Union Center of New York (comprised of New York University, Columbia University, the City University of New York and the New School University), one of 10 new EU Studies Centers in the U.S. funded by the European Commission, seeks applicants from the United States for its post-doctoral program who wish to engage in research and scholarship and teaching one introductory course on the European Union during the 1999-2000 academic year at either Columbia University or New York University. Applications are invited from candidates in any of the social sciences whose interests are linked directly to the study of the EU. Applicants must be American citizens. The Fellowships carry a stipend of $30,000. Applications should include a current C.V., a cover letter which includes details of background, research interests, institutional preference and two letters of recommendation to be sent to:
Post-Doctoral Fellowship Search, Professor Martin Schain, Chair, Center for European Studies, The Vernon Center for International Affairs, 58 West 10 Street, New York, NY 10011. E-mail: ggr1@columbia.edu. Please submit all application materials by Thursday, April 15, 1999 in order to be considered.
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, University of Durham, UK. A scholar of international standing is sought for a Chair in our 5* Department of Geography from 1 September 1999 or a date to be arranged. The successful candidate will have research interests in one or more of the following areas: cultural geography and landscape; nature in social theory; cultural/ political ecology; environmental policy; or another theme of human/ environment relations. He/she will offer academic leadership to the Cultural and Social Geography Research Group in the Department of Geography, have a record of attracting external research funding, and be able to contribute to teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as attract and supervise PhD students. For informal discussion of the post, please contact Professor Ian Shennan (tel: 0191 374 2484 or e-mail: ian.shennan@durham.ac.uk). Further details and an application form for the above post may be obtained from the Director of Personnel, University of Durham, Old Shire Hall, Durham DH1 3HP (tel: 0191 374 7258, fax: 0191 374 7253 or e-mail: Acad.Recruit@durham.ac.uk). Closing date: 26 March 1999. Please quote the reference number C055
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT JOBS on the SD Gateway in:
English http://sdgateway.net/noframe/viewjobs.asp?daterange=14
Français http://sdgateway.net/noframe/fr_viewjobs.asp?daterange=14
Español http://sdgateway.net/noframe/sp_viewjobs.asp?daterange=14
The SD Job Bank is a free trilingual (English, French, Spanish) resource for employers and job-seekers in sustainable development. Over 50 positions are currently listed. Search for jobs by keyword, location or type of work. The SD Job Bank is one of the features on the SD Gateway
Regional Environmental Advisor for South America, La Paz, Bolivia
The United States Agency for International Development seeks a Regional Environmental Advisor for South America. The Advisor will provide specialized policy and technical advice in environmental impact assessment and mitigation, strategic planning, program development, and monitoring to USAID Missions in Bolivia, five other South American bilateral Missions (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru), USAID/Washington, and, as appropriate, national governments, other USG agencies, and regional and international organizations. Fifty percent of the Advisors time will be spent supporting USAID programs in the region and fifty percent supporting the Environment Team of USAID/Bolivia.
REQUIRES: Relevant advanced academic degree (MA/MS/Ph.D.) or equivalent experience; practical experience working in developing countries on environmental assessments; fluent English and Spanish. Applicants must be US citizens and should provide a completed USG Standard Form 171 or OF-612. Closing date: April 7, 1999. Salary: $63-82K. For further information please see USAID’s website:
 http://www.info.usaid.gov/ftp_data/pub/OP/PSC/51199006 or contact Gonzalo Zambrana, via e-mail at: gzambrana@usaid.gov, via fax 591-2-785689 or telephone at 591-2-786445.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST
DOWNSTREAM AND UPSTREAM ECOLOGISTS: The People, Organizations, and Ideas Behind the Movement, Jean Mercier (Praeger, 1999). Mercier looks at the environmental movement from an in-depth international perspective and seeks to analyze the spectrum of positions taken. He shows how the movement is an enduring one, and he demonstrates how it is intimately related to the development of media and to fundamental social and institutional trends of our time. See: www.pol.ulaval.ca/mercier/index.html
George Ledec, Senior Ecologist, Latin America and Caribbean Region
The World Bank, Room I-6217, Washington, DC 20433, U.S.A.
Phone (202) 473-9267; Fax (202) 676-9373
