New blog post on the great new ‘undisciplined environments’ platform -check it out:
In the face of the sixth extinction, rising wildlife crime and biodiversity under dire threat around the globe, environmental conservation finds itself in desperate times. A new approach is needed, one that takes seriously our economic system’s structural pressures, violent socio-ecological realities, escalating extinctions and increasingly authoritarian politics. Convivial conservation is such an approach.
These days it is difficult to keep track of all the devastating conservation news appearing. While some profess ‘conservation optimism’, most of the scientific news about species, ecosystems and the climate is far from positive. The Living Planet Report 2018 states that 60% of all wild animals have disappeared since 1970. Other recent studies, including the major IPBES report launched in June 2019, show that extinction rates are accelerating and that global biodiversity thresholds may soon surpass ‘planetary boundaries’ beyond which even more dramatic decline is inevitable.
All of this is happening in a broader context wherein alt-right and authoritarian politicians like Bolsonaro in Brazil, Trump in the US, Johnson in the UK, Putin in Russia, Erdoğan in Turkey and many others promote an explicitly elitist, anti-environmentalist and divisive politics that could make things much worse for decades to come.
Continue to read here: http://undisciplinedenvironments.org/index.php/2019/10/01/the-case-for-convivial-conservation/
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Call for Papers for fully funded work/writeshop – May 2020 in the Abbazia di San Giusto, Italy
on
Crisis Conservation: Saving Nature in Times of Extinction, Exception and Enmity
Organized by: Prof. Bram Büscher (Wageningen University, the Netherlands).
Date: 10-16 May 2020
Place: Abbazia di San Giusto, Italy (an old abbey two hours from Rome, which now functions as an eco-friendly organic farm and a venue for a variety of gatherings). For more information, see http://abbaziadisangiusto.com/.
The topic:
Conservation and crisis are no strangers. Conservation science has long been seen as a ‘crisis discipline’ while conservationists often have to respond to or work in crisis situations. And while conservation has booked successes, the sense of crisis has not gone away. To the contrary, it has rapidly increased, especially over the last years. Three elements seem particularly pertinent. First, a cascading extinction crisis. Many scientists now believe we have entered the sixth extinction event in the history of the planet, the first one that is human-induced. Second, we are seeing an increasing number of high-pressure situations around the world where urgent action is required to safeguard important species or ecosystems from destruction. These disparate crises seem to be the outcome of a recent surge in large-scale resource extraction and wildlife crime. They have in turn elicited new types of conservation responses, leading to myriad ‘spaces of exception’ where violence, illegality and uncertainty drastically change environmental governance. Third, all this is taking place in a global political climate that increasingly revolves around deep-seated forms of antagonism. An increasing number of authoritarian leaders openly flirt with fascism, dismiss democratic institutions and base their politics on distinctions between friends and enemies.[1] This politics of enmity does not make it easier to focus our attention on conservation crises deemed so urgent that they threaten humanity’s very survival.
As part of this work/writeshop, we are interested to investigate and theorize crisis conservation in times of extinction, exception and enmity. We are interested in papers that make empirical and/or theoretical connections between all or some of these elements and seek to understand the changes they lead to and their (potential) impacts on people and nature. The workshop will be used to discuss advanced drafts of papers in order to produce a coherent special issue for a top political ecology, human geography or related journal.
The idea: through this CfP, I would like to invite scholars working on crisis conservation and interested in the links between extinction, exception and enmity to submit an abstract for a dedicated work/writeshop in May 2020 in the Abbazia di San Giusto in Italy. The idea is to come together with a small group of scholars (max. 10-12) to present and discuss draft papers on this topic and have them ready for submission to a journal by the end of the week or very soon thereafter. The workshop will be held in a beautiful agriturismo (Abbazia di San Giusto), with plenty of time and space for hikes, discussions, good dinners and creative leisure time.
If you feel that your research fits this description, or that you can quite easily extend your current research to fit the topic, do consider submitting an abstract. From the abstracts, we will choose 4-6 participants to join 6 others already involved in the crisis conservation project (see www.crisisconservation.org) for this exciting workshop. If your abstract is selected, your participation will be fully funded. Scholars from the global south are especially encouraged to submit abstracts.
Deadline for abstracts: We request paper abstracts by 4 March 2019. Please send a 250 word abstract, with title, contact information, and three keywords as an attachment to bram.buscher@wur.nl. If approved, full papers are due 1 March 2020.
More information: if you want more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch: bram.buscher@wur.nl.
For more content info, see also the following papers, which can be downloaded from www.brambuscher.com/publications:
- Büscher, Bram and Robert Fletcher (2018). Under Pressure: conceptualising Political ecologies of “Green Wars”. Conservation and Society 16, 2: 105-113.
- Büscher, Bram (2018). From Biopower to Ontopower? Violent Responses to Wildlife Crime and the New Geographies of Conservation. Conservation and Society 16, 2: 157-169.
- Büscher, Bram and Maano Ramutsindela (2016). Green Violence: Rhino Poaching and the War to Save Southern Africa’s Peace Parks. African Affairs 115, 458: 1-22.
- Duffy, R., F. St John, B. Büscher and D. Brockington (2015). The Militarization of Anti-Poaching: Undermining Long Term Goals. Environmental Conservation 42, 4: 345-348.
[1] See https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-07-27-from-the-politics-of-enmity-to-the-politics-of-respect/, accessed 11 November 2018.
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We have another exciting Tenure Track vacancy for a (senior) Assistant Professor in Agrarian Sociology and Rural Development at our Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) group at Wageningen University (next to yet another similar position at our sister group, the Rural Sociology group (RSO)!).
The SDC vacancy: https://www.wur.nl/en/Jobs/Vacancies/Show/Assistant-Professor-of-Agrarian-Sociology-and-Rural-Development-Tenure-Track-.htm
The RSO vacancy: https://www.wur.nl/en/Jobs/Vacancies/Show/Assistant-Professor-in-Agrarian-Sociology-chair-group-RSO-Tenure-Track-.htm
Assistant Professor of Agrarian Sociology and Rural Development (Tenure Track)
We are looking for
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC) at Wageningen University seeks a candidate for an assistant professor position (0.8 – 1.0 FTE, Tenure Track position) in agrarian sociology, with links to rural development studies and political ecology. Candidates with a background in relevant social sciences (e.g. anthropology, geography, sociology, political science) will be considered, especially candidates with expertise in the broad areas of rural (smallholder) dynamics and agrarian change, social and environmental justice and livelihoods, land and water politics, and gender. Experience with interdisciplinary research, methodology and critical (development) theory will be an advantage. Your responsibilities include teaching courses at undergraduate and graduate levels (BSc, MSc and PhD) for development studies and other students, student supervision, developing and performing original research within our domain and publishing the results, participating in management or service activities, and generating external financial support for an innovative research agenda.
Approximately 40-45% of your time will be spent on research, 40- 45% on education and 10-20% on management and service activities. Candidates from and/or with research experience in the global south are particularly encouraged to apply.
We ask
As assistant professor in agrarian sociology and rural development you have:
- a (recent or nearly completed) PhD in anthropology, sociology, geography, politics or a related field;
- proven ability to publish in high-quality academic journals and with top academic publishers;
- ability to work in interdisciplinary and international research teams;
- excellent communication and writing skills;
- ample research experience in different geographical settings (especially in the global south);
- affinity with ethnographic and other qualitative research methods;
- very good didactic qualities and enthusiasm for teaching and working with students from various disciplines and backgrounds;
- ability to develop high-quality research proposals and to be(come) competitive in terms of acquiring external funding for research;
- fluency in English and willingness to learn Dutch.
We offer
We offer talented scholars a challenging career trajectory called Tenure Track. You will be given the opportunity to build up your own research line. From the position of Assistant Professor you can grow into the position of a Professor holding a Personal Chair in twelve years. Training and coaching are provided and interdisciplinary (international) cooperation is stimulated.
The Tenure Track starts with a temporary contract for 0.8 to 1.0 fte, with the possibility of extension, and should lead to a permanent employment contract. The gross salary for an Assistant Professor ranges from € 3.545 to € 4.852 per month based on full time employment and depending on qualifications and experience. In addition we offer an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end- of-year bonus (8.3%), the ABP Pension scheme and training and career development. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may also qualify for a temporary special tax relief, in which 30% of their salary is exempt from tax.
For more information about Tenure Track within Wageningen UR look at http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Jobs/Your-development-in-focus/Tenure-Track.htm
More information
Contact info
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from the chair of the Sociology of Development and Change Group: Prof Dr Bram Büscher (bram.buscher@wur.nl or +31 317 48 2015 or 2075)
Information about Wageningen University, the Sociology of Development and Change Group, the sub-department SADE and CSPS can be obtained through one of the following links.
- Wageningen University
- Sociology of Development and Change Group
- Sociology of Development and Change Facebook page
- Sub-department Space, Place and Society
- Centre for Space, Place and Society (CSPS)
Application
To apply, please upload the following via our online application button on the Wageningen UR vacancies webpage (http://www.wur.nl/en/Jobs/Vacancies.htm)before 14 November 2018:
- Letter of motivation
- A current Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications
- Names and contact details of two referees
- One selected publication
- A teaching dossier or statement of teaching interests and experience (including teaching outlines and evaluations if available)
You will receive an automatic e-mail confirmation within 24 hours. Please note that only applications sent through the online application button can be taken into consideration.
Job interviews will be held on 20 or 21 November 2018. A second interview including a (public) lecture will be held on 18, 19 or 20 December 2018. Candidates invited for a second interview will also be asked to submit a written statement on their research vision of the advertised position and its relation to the research domain of the Sociology of Development and Change Group and of the Centre for Space, Place & Society (1000 words max).
We are
Wageningen University and Research Centre
Delivering a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That’s our focus – each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society – such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don’t do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on ‘the quality of life’, turning ideas into reality, on a global scale. Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC)
SDC focuses on the structures and practices of development and change with a particular scientific interest in inequality, marginalization and political agency. The group’s vision is to be a world-leading, politically engaged and interdisciplinary research and educational centre in development studies, political ecology, anthropology of law and crisis and disaster studies. Our mission is to gain and communicate a deeper understanding of inequality and marginalisation generated by global and local structures of power and political-economy and so contribute to social and environmental justice. At the same time, we study how actors generate forms of agency and practices that enable them to deal with these dynamics and create new opportunities. Together with the Rural Sociology, Cultural Geography, Health and Society and the Sociology of Consumers and Household groups, the SDC group is a member of the WUR Centre for Space, Place and Society (see https://centreforspaceplacesociety.wordpress.com/).
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See https://convivialconservation.com/2018/08/21/vacancy-for-five-postdocs-and-1-phd-position-on-convivial-conservation/ for the full text and links – here below the vacancy at Wageningen University in the Netherlands:
We are looking for
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC) at Wageningen University seeks a candidate for a postdoc position on the recently awarded project ‘Towards Convivial Conservation: Governing Human-Wildlife Interactions in the Anthropocene’ (CON-VIVA, 2018-2021). Candidates with a background in relevant social sciences (anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, etc.) will be considered, especially candidates with expertise in the broad areas of environment and development, political ecology, natural resources management and conservation. Your responsibilities include:
- performing research on the (challenges to the) prospects and possibilities of convivial conservation (internationally by studying global conservation events and actors and comparatively across the four cases within the project)
- assisting in the coordination and management of the CON-VIVA project
- occasional teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels
- participating in management activities. For more information on the CON-VIVA project, see: www.convivialconservation.com
We ask
We ask
As postdoc on the CON-VIVA project you have:
- A PhD in anthropology, sociology, geography, political science or a related field;
- Proven ability to publish in high-quality academic journals and with top academic publishers;
- Ability to work in interdisciplinary and international research teams;
- Excellent communication and writing skills as well as project coordination and management skills;
- Good didactic qualities and enthusiasm for teaching and working with students;
- Familiarity with one of the case-study contexts is an advantage.
We offer
We offer
You will be given the opportunity to develop your own research line. We offer a fulltime (38 hours) temporary contract for 1 year, with the possibility of an extension for the duration of the project upon positive performance. Salary depends on training and work experience and based on a fulltime employment, ranges from 2.640 EUR gross per month up to 4.166 EUR gross per month (scale 10) according to the Collective Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten). In addition, we offer a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-the-year bonus of 8.3% of your annual salary and a good pension of the ABP Pension Fund.
Coming from abroad: Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and thus Wageningen has a large international community and a lot to offer international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, the so-called 30% regulation.
To apply
To apply for this position, please submit an application letter to secretariaat.sade@wur.nl, indicating your suitability for the position and some first ideas about the direction you would want to take in the postdoc position, and how this would contribute to the goals and themes of the CON-VIVA project. Besides the letter, please include your Curriculum Vitae and one writing sample (a published paper or a chapter of your dissertation).
More information
Contact info
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from: Prof. dr. Bram Büscher (bram.buscher@wur.nl or +31 317 48 2015 or 2075)
Deadline for application: 17 September 2018, 17:00 CET. Please note that interviews will be held during the first week of October 2018.
We are
Wageningen University and Research
Delivering a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That’s our focus – each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society – such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don’t do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on ‘the quality of life’, turning ideas into reality, on a global scale. Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC)
SDC focuses on the structures and practices of development and change with a particular scientific interest in inequality, marginalization and political agency. The group’s vision is to be a world-leading, politically engaged and interdisciplinary research and educational centre in development studies, political ecology, anthropology of law and crisis and disaster studies. Our mission is to gain and communicate a deeper understanding of inequality and marginalisation generated by global and local structures of power and political-economy and so contribute to social and environmental justice. At the same time we study how actors generate forms of agency and practices that enable them to deal with these dynamics and create new opportunities.
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Dan Brockington and I are organising a special feature in the Journal of Peasant Studies on bridging critical agrarian studies and political ecology:
Bridging Critical Agrarian Studies and Political Ecology: A call for papers for Journal of Peasant Studies
Critical agrarian studies and political ecology are both known for their in-depth analyses of rural and more-than-rural transformation processes. Both look at diverse aspects of environmental change, livelihood change and capital accumulation and both study how people deal with, influence and relate to these changes. But they have done so with different emphases, looking at similar phenomena through different lenses. Critical agrarian studies has focused more on class dynamics and its impacts on rural peasantries and the rural poor. Political ecology traditions has entailed less attention to class, and more to local environmental knowledge, representations of environmental change, conservation politics and the like.
Clearly the two fields (could) overlap a good deal, but their epistemic communities, debates and questions are still too distinct. They tend to publish in different journals, only occasionally go to the same conferences or sessions and rarely come together in research projects. At the same time, they take theoretical inspiration from some of the same thinkers and share a professed deep interest in the material environments that make distinctive social dynamics possible. Despite these common interests they have so been more frequently characterised by their differences than their common work.
Such divisions are unsatisfying in and of themselves. They become particularly unfortunate in eras of rising green grabs, which bring conservation studies (a traditional political ecology domain) more firmly into the class dynamics of the rural poor (and the domain of agrarian studies); ever more complicated value chains and production networks, and the proliferation of representations that these entail on the internet and social media which again means that discourse and image analysis (associated with political ecology) becomes embroiled in rural production systems and rural capitalism (associated with agrarian studies).
We seek to transcend these academic divides with contributions that draw on both traditions. We invite papers that take on this challenge, that will be submitted as a special section to the Journal of Peasant Studies. The purpose of this collection is to illustrate what becomes possible by bridging these divides. Between 3 and 5 papers will be submitted for review. We will look for a geographical diversity of interests, for papers which are able to set research agendas. This means that we are less interested in case-studies per se. Rather we want arguments which synthesise across a variety of cases, or which use empirical material to illustrate larger arguments.
Authors interested in contributing should submit titles and 300-400 word abstracts by Monday July 10th 2018 jointly to Dan Brockington and Bram Büscher (emails below). Selected contributions will be required by Feb 28th 2019 and will be peer-reviewed.
d.brockington AT sheffield.ac.uk; bram.buscher AT wur.nl.
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CON-VIVA: Towards Convivial Conservation: Governing Human-Wildlife Interactions in the Anthropocene
CON-VIVA is grounded in the premise that conservation is critical to transformations to sustainability but that its practices need to change radically. Conservation can be effective in protecting biodiversity in places, but in toto has failed to halt global biodiversity loss. Continued habitat fragmentation and reduced funding during times of austerity compound this problem. Many conservationists now acknowledge this, leading to vigorous ‘Anthropocene’ discussions on how to reconfigure human-wildlife relations, protected areas and the role of economic development in conservation. CON-VIVA’s key objective is to conceptually refine and empirically test the prospects for one proposal emerging from these debates: convivial conservation. This new model responds to the T2S themes by moving beyond protected areas and faith in markets to build landscape, governance and funding pathways that integrate conservation and poverty reduction, while enhancing prosperity. CON-VIVA investigates the prospects for convivial conservation by comparing cutting-edge conservation cases that address human-wildlife conflict involving apex predators in Finland, USA and DAC-countries Brazil and Tanzania. Our hypothesis is that if ‘living with’ apex predators can be effectively combined with new forms of economic development, a transition to convivial conservation can be boosted significantly. By organising the project around integrated academic-practitioner networks on local and global levels, we will better understand the conditions for this transition, while conceptualising and popularising a new model for conservation. This allows CON-VIVA to contribute to SDG15 and to inspire and enhance broader transformations to sustainability.
Research team
Prof. B. Büscher and Dr. Robert Fletcher, Wageningen University
Prof. D. Brockington, University of Sheffield
Prof. A. Nygren, University of Helsinki
Dr. K. Ferraz, University of São Paolo
Dr. P. Alagona, University of California, Santa Barbara
MSc. M. Bukhi, University of Dodoma
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Vandaag (18 April 2018) ben ik geinterviewd door Roelof Hemmen voor zijn programma ‘Hemmen’ op BNR nieuwsradio. Zie hier de link:
https://www.bnr.nl/player/audio/10080722/10342889 – het interview begint bij 19:11.
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We are looking for
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC) at Wageningen University seeks a candidate for a (sandwich*) Postdoc in Political Ecology, as part of the Netherlands Research Foundation (NWO) funded VIDI project entitled Crisis Conservation: Saving Nature in Times and Spaces of Exception, led by Prof. Bram Büscher. Candidates with a background in relevant social sciences (anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, etc.) will be considered, especially candidates who have recently completed a PhD in the broad areas of environment and development, political ecology and conservation with a focus on crisis, conflict and/or violence. Your main responsibility will be to develop and carry out your own research project within the broad remit of the Crisis Conservation project, to publish articles based on your previous work and to contribute to the project in a broad sense (develop the website, co-organising activities, presenting at conferences, supporting the PhDs in the project, and so forth). Besides these core activities, you are expected to do some teaching and supervision of Msc theses (especially in development theory and political ecology).
We ask
As a Sandwich Postdoc in political ecology you have:
- a PhD in anthropology, sociology, geography, or a related field;
- proven or demonstrable ability to publish in high-quality academic journals and with top academic publishers;
- ability to work in interdisciplinary and international research teams;
- excellent communication and writing skills;
- good didactic qualities and enthusiasm for teaching and working with students;
- a willingness to contribute to the intellectual life of the SDC chair group and the Wageningen Centre for Space, Place and Society;
- a willingness to do (ethnographic) fieldwork
We offer
We offer a temporary sandwich postdoc contract for 40 hours per week and a monthly allowance of 2100,- EUR. You will be given the opportunity to develop your own research line. The postdoc includes additional funds for research, conferences, etc.
To apply
To apply for this position, please submit an application letter to secretariaat.sade AT wur.nl, indicating your suitability for the position and some first ideas about the direction you would want to take in the sandwich postdoc position, and how this would contribute to the goals and themes of the project (for more information on the project, see: https://crisisconservation.org/). Besides the letter, please include your Curriculum Vitae and one writing sample (a published paper or a chapter of your dissertation).
Contact info
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from Prof. dr. Bram Büscher (bram.buscher AT wur.nl or +31 317 48 2015 or 2075)
Deadline for application: 25 April 2018. Please note that (Skype) Interviews will be held on 7 or 8 May 2018.
Preferred starting date: 1 June or as soon as possible thereafter. The VIDI project (and therefore also this sandwich postdoc position) will end November 2020.
*This is an international (sandwich) postdoc position, which means that Dutch candidates unfortunately cannot be considered.
Wageningen University and Research
Delivering a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That’s our focus – each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society – such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don’t do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on ‘the quality of life’, turning ideas into reality, on a global scale. Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.
The Sociology of Development and Change Group (SDC)
SDC focuses on the structures and practices of development and change with a particular scientific interest in inequality, marginalization and political agency. The group’s vision is to be a world-leading, politically engaged and interdisciplinary research and educational centre in development studies, political ecology, anthropology of law and crisis and disaster studies. Our mission is to gain and communicate a deeper understanding of inequality and marginalization generated by global and local structures of power and political-economy and so contribute to social and environmental justice. At the same time we study how actors generate forms of agency and practices that enable them to deal with these dynamics and create new opportunities. The SDC group is part of the Wageningen University Centre for Space, Place and Society (CSPS), which aims to advance critical-constructive scholarship within the social sciences and with a particular focus on issues of socio-spatial and environmental justice. See: https://centreforspaceplacesociety.com/.
…………………..
For further information about working at Wageningen UR, take a look at http://www.jobsat.wur.nl.
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