Jack Ward Thomas and James A. Burchfield
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195309454
- eISBN:
- 9780199871261
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309454.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter discusses the development of the concept of sustainability as applied to the management of the national forests in the United States. It traces the development and application of ...
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This chapter discusses the development of the concept of sustainability as applied to the management of the national forests in the United States. It traces the development and application of sustainability policy regarding the national forests to the concept (incorporated into the Organic Act of 1897) that national forests would be established to provide a continuous supply of timber, thereby implying sustainability. The development of the National Forest Service is also described.Less
This chapter discusses the development of the concept of sustainability as applied to the management of the national forests in the United States. It traces the development and application of sustainability policy regarding the national forests to the concept (incorporated into the Organic Act of 1897) that national forests would be established to provide a continuous supply of timber, thereby implying sustainability. The development of the National Forest Service is also described.
Brian K. Obach
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029094
- eISBN:
- 9780262328302
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029094.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Organic Struggle analyzes the evolution of the sustainable agriculture movement in the United States and evaluates its achievements and shortcomings. It traces the development of organic farming from ...
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Organic Struggle analyzes the evolution of the sustainable agriculture movement in the United States and evaluates its achievements and shortcomings. It traces the development of organic farming from its roots in the 1940s through its embrace by the 1960s counterculture to its mainstream acceptance and development into a multi-billion dollar industry. The book examines ideological and strategic divisions among those within the movement who wanted to rapidly expand the organic market and who welcomed the involvement of conventional agribusiness versus those who favored a more traditional conception of organic, focusing on the small farm ideal and locally oriented markets. The movement’s changing relationship with governmental institutions fundamentally altered the trajectory of the organic sector. The creation of the government-run National Organic Program yielded dramatic growth in organic sales, but fostered debates among organic proponents regarding the environmental and health benefits and the social justice implications of the changing structure of the organic industry. This gave rise to a fracturing of the sustainable agriculture movement with some focusing on local farming systems, some seeking to develop new labels and certification schemes, and others remaining committed to improving the National Organic Program. Yet ultimately, it is the market-based reform strategy used by virtually all sustainable agriculture advocates that limits the scope of the changes the movement can achieve. Greater state-oriented political engagement is necessary to further advance this important cause.Less
Organic Struggle analyzes the evolution of the sustainable agriculture movement in the United States and evaluates its achievements and shortcomings. It traces the development of organic farming from its roots in the 1940s through its embrace by the 1960s counterculture to its mainstream acceptance and development into a multi-billion dollar industry. The book examines ideological and strategic divisions among those within the movement who wanted to rapidly expand the organic market and who welcomed the involvement of conventional agribusiness versus those who favored a more traditional conception of organic, focusing on the small farm ideal and locally oriented markets. The movement’s changing relationship with governmental institutions fundamentally altered the trajectory of the organic sector. The creation of the government-run National Organic Program yielded dramatic growth in organic sales, but fostered debates among organic proponents regarding the environmental and health benefits and the social justice implications of the changing structure of the organic industry. This gave rise to a fracturing of the sustainable agriculture movement with some focusing on local farming systems, some seeking to develop new labels and certification schemes, and others remaining committed to improving the National Organic Program. Yet ultimately, it is the market-based reform strategy used by virtually all sustainable agriculture advocates that limits the scope of the changes the movement can achieve. Greater state-oriented political engagement is necessary to further advance this important cause.
Connor J Fitzmaurice and Brian J. Gareau
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300199451
- eISBN:
- 9780300224856
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300199451.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Walking through nearly any grocery store, contemporary American consumers are bound to encounter organic food. At any of the myriad of farmers’ markets that have sprung up in cities and small ...
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Walking through nearly any grocery store, contemporary American consumers are bound to encounter organic food. At any of the myriad of farmers’ markets that have sprung up in cities and small communities across the United States, shoppers can expect to see claims about the provenance and farming practices employed to grow everything from prized heirloom tomatoes to seemingly mundane heads of garlic. But behind the scenes, critical scholarship has shown that organic farming increasingly resembles the industrial food system organic pioneers set out to challenge. Faced with the pressures of the modern agricultural economy many farmers have conventionalized, intensifying how they farm in the face of tremendous competition and cost. Beyond the organic labels, emblazoned on products at the supermarket and the glistening bushel baskets arrayed in market stalls, are farmers, many of whom are trying to do their best to achieve sustainability in today’s food system. This book offers a glimpse into this world, through an ethnography of a small New England farm and the people who work in its fields. It sheds light on how small-scale farmers navigate the difficult terrain between ideals of sustainability and the economic realities of contemporary farming. Using new theories of economic sociology, this book moves beyond the current debates about the conventionalization of organic agriculture. Instead, it takes a relational approach to organic practices—investigating the complex ways market pressures, moral and emotional attachments, privilege, and personal relationships intersect to shape the everyday experiences of agriculture for today’s organic farmers and their consumers.Less
Walking through nearly any grocery store, contemporary American consumers are bound to encounter organic food. At any of the myriad of farmers’ markets that have sprung up in cities and small communities across the United States, shoppers can expect to see claims about the provenance and farming practices employed to grow everything from prized heirloom tomatoes to seemingly mundane heads of garlic. But behind the scenes, critical scholarship has shown that organic farming increasingly resembles the industrial food system organic pioneers set out to challenge. Faced with the pressures of the modern agricultural economy many farmers have conventionalized, intensifying how they farm in the face of tremendous competition and cost. Beyond the organic labels, emblazoned on products at the supermarket and the glistening bushel baskets arrayed in market stalls, are farmers, many of whom are trying to do their best to achieve sustainability in today’s food system. This book offers a glimpse into this world, through an ethnography of a small New England farm and the people who work in its fields. It sheds light on how small-scale farmers navigate the difficult terrain between ideals of sustainability and the economic realities of contemporary farming. Using new theories of economic sociology, this book moves beyond the current debates about the conventionalization of organic agriculture. Instead, it takes a relational approach to organic practices—investigating the complex ways market pressures, moral and emotional attachments, privilege, and personal relationships intersect to shape the everyday experiences of agriculture for today’s organic farmers and their consumers.
Brian K. Obach
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029094
- eISBN:
- 9780262328302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029094.003.0003
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Despite hostility from government officials and the conventional food establishment, organic grew in popularity among consumers throughout the 1970s and 80s. During this period organic farmers in ...
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Despite hostility from government officials and the conventional food establishment, organic grew in popularity among consumers throughout the 1970s and 80s. During this period organic farmers in different regions began to form associations for mutual support and to formalize organic standards and certification procedures. Yet, the movement remained decentralized with independent associations operating in different regions. By the late 1980s three factors forced organic farming associations to increase coordination nationally and ultimately to turn to the federal government to rationalize the organic system: growth and complexity in the organic market, increasing cases of fraud, and food scares which rapidly bolstered demand for organic goods. These pressures led some organic leaders to call for a federally supervised organic certification system, a goal that was also supported by consumer groups. While some organic proponents remained sceptical of government involvement, a coalition of organic groups and their allies were able to win passage of the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990. This created the framework for the National Organic Program, which placed oversight of the organic system in the hands of the USDA.Less
Despite hostility from government officials and the conventional food establishment, organic grew in popularity among consumers throughout the 1970s and 80s. During this period organic farmers in different regions began to form associations for mutual support and to formalize organic standards and certification procedures. Yet, the movement remained decentralized with independent associations operating in different regions. By the late 1980s three factors forced organic farming associations to increase coordination nationally and ultimately to turn to the federal government to rationalize the organic system: growth and complexity in the organic market, increasing cases of fraud, and food scares which rapidly bolstered demand for organic goods. These pressures led some organic leaders to call for a federally supervised organic certification system, a goal that was also supported by consumer groups. While some organic proponents remained sceptical of government involvement, a coalition of organic groups and their allies were able to win passage of the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990. This created the framework for the National Organic Program, which placed oversight of the organic system in the hands of the USDA.
Karl Raitz and Nancy O’Malley
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813136646
- eISBN:
- 9780813141343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813136646.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
The evolution of the Maysville Road began as an organic track not constructed with tools, but formed through gradual, additive accumulation—animal trails, human footpaths, and vehicular tracks ...
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The evolution of the Maysville Road began as an organic track not constructed with tools, but formed through gradual, additive accumulation—animal trails, human footpaths, and vehicular tracks conforming to the earth's topographic surface. The organic road was upgraded by adding broken stone surfacing and improvements in transportation technology—wagons replaced by engine-powered trucks—led to demands for higher quality roads. Yet, large-scale road improvement was beyond the capabilities of individuals, neighborhoods, and county-level governments. State- or national-level governments had to provide the financial and engineering resources to assure road improvement. The first road across open, unsettled country tends to be transductive; its establishment and use directs a sequence of newer roads along the same corridor.Less
The evolution of the Maysville Road began as an organic track not constructed with tools, but formed through gradual, additive accumulation—animal trails, human footpaths, and vehicular tracks conforming to the earth's topographic surface. The organic road was upgraded by adding broken stone surfacing and improvements in transportation technology—wagons replaced by engine-powered trucks—led to demands for higher quality roads. Yet, large-scale road improvement was beyond the capabilities of individuals, neighborhoods, and county-level governments. State- or national-level governments had to provide the financial and engineering resources to assure road improvement. The first road across open, unsettled country tends to be transductive; its establishment and use directs a sequence of newer roads along the same corridor.
Michael A. Haedicke
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780804795906
- eISBN:
- 9780804798730
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804795906.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter discusses the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 and the subsequent development of the National Organic Program (NOP), which established federal rules for the ...
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This chapter discusses the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 and the subsequent development of the National Organic Program (NOP), which established federal rules for the organic trade. It argues that OFPA and the NOP sparked conflict in the organic sector by prioritizing market growth and by marginalizing transformative ideas and practices. The chapter explains how problems associated with the expanding organic trade and a disruptive food scare created the conditions for OFPA’s passage. It also examines how sector members worked at the legislative and institutional levels to bring democratic arrangements associated with the transformative logic into the regulations. These efforts resulted in a stakeholder advisory group known as the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), but they did not prevent dissident organic foods farmers and consumers from mobilizing around frames that questioned the legitimacy of the federal regulations.Less
This chapter discusses the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 and the subsequent development of the National Organic Program (NOP), which established federal rules for the organic trade. It argues that OFPA and the NOP sparked conflict in the organic sector by prioritizing market growth and by marginalizing transformative ideas and practices. The chapter explains how problems associated with the expanding organic trade and a disruptive food scare created the conditions for OFPA’s passage. It also examines how sector members worked at the legislative and institutional levels to bring democratic arrangements associated with the transformative logic into the regulations. These efforts resulted in a stakeholder advisory group known as the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), but they did not prevent dissident organic foods farmers and consumers from mobilizing around frames that questioned the legitimacy of the federal regulations.
Curt Meine and Gary P. Nabhan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226165684
- eISBN:
- 9780226165851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226165851.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
One of the earliest formal efforts of collaborative conservation—called cooperative conservation at the time—began in the 1930s in Coon Valley, Wisconsin. There, Aldo Leopold became an adviser to the ...
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One of the earliest formal efforts of collaborative conservation—called cooperative conservation at the time—began in the 1930s in Coon Valley, Wisconsin. There, Aldo Leopold became an adviser to the first watershed-scale soil conservation demonstration area designated by the U.S. Soil Erosion Service (now USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). As many as 418 private farming families worked with researchers from the University of Wisconsin, the Soil Erosion Service, and other agencies to restore soils, watercourses, forest cover, wildlife habitat and recreational values to 40,000 acres of land that had become highly degraded by poor farming practices. Local bankers helped finance new projects. The cooperative effort continues today and attracts attention from scientists and land steward advocates. The region has become a hub for sustainably produced and organic products, including the highly successful business, Organic Valley. In addition, it now supports a thriving fishery and flourishing recreational fishing economy.Less
One of the earliest formal efforts of collaborative conservation—called cooperative conservation at the time—began in the 1930s in Coon Valley, Wisconsin. There, Aldo Leopold became an adviser to the first watershed-scale soil conservation demonstration area designated by the U.S. Soil Erosion Service (now USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). As many as 418 private farming families worked with researchers from the University of Wisconsin, the Soil Erosion Service, and other agencies to restore soils, watercourses, forest cover, wildlife habitat and recreational values to 40,000 acres of land that had become highly degraded by poor farming practices. Local bankers helped finance new projects. The cooperative effort continues today and attracts attention from scientists and land steward advocates. The region has become a hub for sustainably produced and organic products, including the highly successful business, Organic Valley. In addition, it now supports a thriving fishery and flourishing recreational fishing economy.
Doloris Coulter Cogan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824830892
- eISBN:
- 9780824869212
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824830892.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This book is a carefully documented yet impassioned recollection of Guam's struggle to liberate itself from the absolutist rule of the U.S. Navy. It concentrates on five crucial years, 1945–1950, ...
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This book is a carefully documented yet impassioned recollection of Guam's struggle to liberate itself from the absolutist rule of the U.S. Navy. It concentrates on five crucial years, 1945–1950, when the author, fresh out of journalism school, joined the team of idealists at the newly formed Institute of Ethnic Affairs in Washington, D.C. Working as a writer/editor on the monthly Guam Echo under the leadership of the Institute's director, John Collier, the author witnessed and recorded the battle fought at the very top between Collier and Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal as the people of Guam petitioned the U.S. Congress for civilian government under a constitution. Taken up by newspapers throughout the country, this war of words illustrated how much freedom of the press plays in achieving and sustaining true democracy. Part of the story centers around a young Chamorro named Carlos Taitano, who returned home to Guam in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Army in the Pacific. Taitano joined his colleagues in the lower house and walked out of the Guam Congress in 1949 to protest the naval governor, who had refused their right to subpoena an American businessman suspected of illegal activity. The walkout was the catalyst that brought approval of the Organic Act of Guam, which was signed into law by President Truman in 1950. This is the first detailed look at the events surrounding Guam's elevation from military to civilian government.Less
This book is a carefully documented yet impassioned recollection of Guam's struggle to liberate itself from the absolutist rule of the U.S. Navy. It concentrates on five crucial years, 1945–1950, when the author, fresh out of journalism school, joined the team of idealists at the newly formed Institute of Ethnic Affairs in Washington, D.C. Working as a writer/editor on the monthly Guam Echo under the leadership of the Institute's director, John Collier, the author witnessed and recorded the battle fought at the very top between Collier and Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal as the people of Guam petitioned the U.S. Congress for civilian government under a constitution. Taken up by newspapers throughout the country, this war of words illustrated how much freedom of the press plays in achieving and sustaining true democracy. Part of the story centers around a young Chamorro named Carlos Taitano, who returned home to Guam in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Army in the Pacific. Taitano joined his colleagues in the lower house and walked out of the Guam Congress in 1949 to protest the naval governor, who had refused their right to subpoena an American businessman suspected of illegal activity. The walkout was the catalyst that brought approval of the Organic Act of Guam, which was signed into law by President Truman in 1950. This is the first detailed look at the events surrounding Guam's elevation from military to civilian government.
Venus Bivar
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469641188
- eISBN:
- 9781469641195
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469641188.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Environmental History
France is often held up as a bastion of gastronomic refinement and as a model of artisanal agriculture and husbandry. But French farming is not at all what it seems. Countering the standard stories ...
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France is often held up as a bastion of gastronomic refinement and as a model of artisanal agriculture and husbandry. But French farming is not at all what it seems. Countering the standard stories of gastronomy, tourism, and leisure associated with the French countryside, Venus Bivar portrays French farmers as hard-nosed businessmen preoccupied with global trade and mass production. With a focus on both the rise of big agriculture and the organic movement, Bivar examines the tumult of postwar rural France, a place fiercely engaged with crucial national and global developments. Delving into the intersecting narratives of economic modernization, the birth of organic farming, the development of a strong agricultural protest movement, and the rise of environmentalism, Bivar reveals a movement as preoccupied with maintaining the purity of the French race as of French food. What emerges is a story of how French farming conquered the world, bringing with it a set of ideas about place and purity with a darker origin story than we might have guessed.Less
France is often held up as a bastion of gastronomic refinement and as a model of artisanal agriculture and husbandry. But French farming is not at all what it seems. Countering the standard stories of gastronomy, tourism, and leisure associated with the French countryside, Venus Bivar portrays French farmers as hard-nosed businessmen preoccupied with global trade and mass production. With a focus on both the rise of big agriculture and the organic movement, Bivar examines the tumult of postwar rural France, a place fiercely engaged with crucial national and global developments. Delving into the intersecting narratives of economic modernization, the birth of organic farming, the development of a strong agricultural protest movement, and the rise of environmentalism, Bivar reveals a movement as preoccupied with maintaining the purity of the French race as of French food. What emerges is a story of how French farming conquered the world, bringing with it a set of ideas about place and purity with a darker origin story than we might have guessed.
Brian K. Obach
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029094
- eISBN:
- 9780262328302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029094.003.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The major themes addressed in the book are summarized including how political and economic conditions shaped the sustainable agriculture movement and how the movement developed organizationally. ...
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The major themes addressed in the book are summarized including how political and economic conditions shaped the sustainable agriculture movement and how the movement developed organizationally. Structural conditions during the first decades of the movement steered organic proponents towards a market-based reform strategy that relied upon private certification systems. Over time this decentralized grassroots movement developed a more formal organizational structure. This brought strategic and ideological differences to the fore, especially when organic advocates turned towards the state for support. “Spreaders” and “tillers” differed on whether it was better to rapidly expand the organic market with the support of state and corporate actors or if it was more important to safeguard strict standards even if that would limit organic growth. Organic movement strategy is examined through the lens of competing environmental sociology theories.Less
The major themes addressed in the book are summarized including how political and economic conditions shaped the sustainable agriculture movement and how the movement developed organizationally. Structural conditions during the first decades of the movement steered organic proponents towards a market-based reform strategy that relied upon private certification systems. Over time this decentralized grassroots movement developed a more formal organizational structure. This brought strategic and ideological differences to the fore, especially when organic advocates turned towards the state for support. “Spreaders” and “tillers” differed on whether it was better to rapidly expand the organic market with the support of state and corporate actors or if it was more important to safeguard strict standards even if that would limit organic growth. Organic movement strategy is examined through the lens of competing environmental sociology theories.
Graham Bullock
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036429
- eISBN:
- 9780262340984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036429.003.0002
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Chapter 2 introduces and explores questions about the content of information-based strategies with a motivating example focused on food choices. What values are embedded in programs that evaluate ...
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Chapter 2 introduces and explores questions about the content of information-based strategies with a motivating example focused on food choices. What values are embedded in programs that evaluate food products and companies, such as USDA Organic, Food Alliance, and Fair Trade? Different conceptions of value and values, are used to analyze the content of these and other similar initiatives. These concepts help reveal the many factors that determine whether different audiences will respond to environmental certifications and ratings, from the nature of the information provided to the personal preferences of individuals and their exposure to different forms of marketing and education. The chapter asserts that values are essential to understanding the perceived relevance of different forms of information content, and presents a range of data and theories about the relationships between values and different product categories, geographic scales, types of goods, and parts of the value chain. It concludes with a discussion of the most promising and problematic practices for increasing the perceived relevance and importance of the content of information-based strategies.Less
Chapter 2 introduces and explores questions about the content of information-based strategies with a motivating example focused on food choices. What values are embedded in programs that evaluate food products and companies, such as USDA Organic, Food Alliance, and Fair Trade? Different conceptions of value and values, are used to analyze the content of these and other similar initiatives. These concepts help reveal the many factors that determine whether different audiences will respond to environmental certifications and ratings, from the nature of the information provided to the personal preferences of individuals and their exposure to different forms of marketing and education. The chapter asserts that values are essential to understanding the perceived relevance of different forms of information content, and presents a range of data and theories about the relationships between values and different product categories, geographic scales, types of goods, and parts of the value chain. It concludes with a discussion of the most promising and problematic practices for increasing the perceived relevance and importance of the content of information-based strategies.
Wes Furlotte
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474435536
- eISBN:
- 9781474453899
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474435536.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Moving to Hegel’s writings on “Organics”, this chapter develops an acute sense of the paradoxical implications that follow from the fundamental exteriority and indeterminacy characteristic of ...
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Moving to Hegel’s writings on “Organics”, this chapter develops an acute sense of the paradoxical implications that follow from the fundamental exteriority and indeterminacy characteristic of Hegelian nature. Concentrating on Hegel’s writings on animal life, the chapter reveals that the organism’s self-referential structure is consistently given over to various forms of external determination that analogically reflect the externality permeating the categories of space and time. This collapse into exteriority proves dangerous to the interiority constituting organic life. By extension, such collapse is dangerous to the animal organism’s status as one of the primary upsurges of freedom within the matrices of material nature. The upshot of Hegel’s account of organic life is revealingly significant: nature’s exteriority and indeterminacy function as crucial preconditions for the emergence of freedom within nature and yet they also serve to perpetually threaten the very reality of that same freedom. This paradoxical tension constitutes a fundamental problem which the remainder of the monograph seeks to systematically explore, both in terms of Hegel’s anthropology and political philosophy.Less
Moving to Hegel’s writings on “Organics”, this chapter develops an acute sense of the paradoxical implications that follow from the fundamental exteriority and indeterminacy characteristic of Hegelian nature. Concentrating on Hegel’s writings on animal life, the chapter reveals that the organism’s self-referential structure is consistently given over to various forms of external determination that analogically reflect the externality permeating the categories of space and time. This collapse into exteriority proves dangerous to the interiority constituting organic life. By extension, such collapse is dangerous to the animal organism’s status as one of the primary upsurges of freedom within the matrices of material nature. The upshot of Hegel’s account of organic life is revealingly significant: nature’s exteriority and indeterminacy function as crucial preconditions for the emergence of freedom within nature and yet they also serve to perpetually threaten the very reality of that same freedom. This paradoxical tension constitutes a fundamental problem which the remainder of the monograph seeks to systematically explore, both in terms of Hegel’s anthropology and political philosophy.
Wes Furlotte
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474435536
- eISBN:
- 9781474453899
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474435536.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter intensifies the problem of the animal organism’s over-determination by external variables. The chapter concentrates on Hegel’s analyses of eating, sex, violence, sickness and, ...
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This chapter intensifies the problem of the animal organism’s over-determination by external variables. The chapter concentrates on Hegel’s analyses of eating, sex, violence, sickness and, ultimately, death. These phenomena exemplify how the animal organism is perpetually given over to external circumstances that threaten its self-perpetuating activity. Taken together they indicate, for Hegel, the truth of organic life: it must die. Organic life must prove a necessary yet insufficient condition for the life of conceptuality proper. In other words, the life of spirit requires embodiment and more. Conceptuality can only come into a robust self-relation in something that is, simultaneously, anticipatorily grounded in nature and yet, irreducible to those grounds. The space in which such self-mediation occurs is what Hegel refers to as the life of spirit (Geist). The self-grounding system of thought proper does not find sufficient existence in the natural world because the radical exteriority of the latter is hostile to the auto-dictates of conceptuality, its self-grounding basis. The chapter concludes with a question: what must this ‘monstrous’ conception of nature mean for human culture, specifically finite subjectivity and socio-political freedom?Less
This chapter intensifies the problem of the animal organism’s over-determination by external variables. The chapter concentrates on Hegel’s analyses of eating, sex, violence, sickness and, ultimately, death. These phenomena exemplify how the animal organism is perpetually given over to external circumstances that threaten its self-perpetuating activity. Taken together they indicate, for Hegel, the truth of organic life: it must die. Organic life must prove a necessary yet insufficient condition for the life of conceptuality proper. In other words, the life of spirit requires embodiment and more. Conceptuality can only come into a robust self-relation in something that is, simultaneously, anticipatorily grounded in nature and yet, irreducible to those grounds. The space in which such self-mediation occurs is what Hegel refers to as the life of spirit (Geist). The self-grounding system of thought proper does not find sufficient existence in the natural world because the radical exteriority of the latter is hostile to the auto-dictates of conceptuality, its self-grounding basis. The chapter concludes with a question: what must this ‘monstrous’ conception of nature mean for human culture, specifically finite subjectivity and socio-political freedom?
Sandip Tiwari
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198759874
- eISBN:
- 9780191820847
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198759874.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Condensed Matter Physics / Materials, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
Nanoscale devices are distinguishable from the larger microscale devices in their specific dependence on physical phenomena and effects that are central to their operation. The size change manifests ...
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Nanoscale devices are distinguishable from the larger microscale devices in their specific dependence on physical phenomena and effects that are central to their operation. The size change manifests itself through changes in importance of the phenomena and effects that become dominant and the changes in scale of underlying energetics and response. Examples of these include classical effects such as single electron effects, quantum effects such as the states accessible as well as their properties; ensemble effects ranging from consequences of the laws of numbers to changes in properties arising from different magnitudes of the inter-actions, and others. These interactions, with the limits placed on size, make not just electronic, but also magnetic, optical and mechanical behavior interesting, important and useful. Connecting these properties to the behavior of devices is the focus of this textbook. Description of the book series: This collection of four textbooks in the Electroscience series span the undergraduate-to-graduate education in electrosciences for engineering and science students. It culminates in a comprehensive under-standing of nanoscale devices—electronic, magnetic, mechanical and optical in the 4th volume, and builds to it through volumes devoted to underlying semiconductor and solid-state physics with an emphasis on phenomena at surfaces and interfaces, energy interaction, and fluctuations; a volume devoted to the understanding of the variety of devices through classical microelectronic approach, and an engineering-focused understanding of principles of quantum, statistical and information mechanics. The goal is provide, with rigor and comprehensiveness, an exposure to the breadth of knowledge and interconnections therein in this subject area that derives equally from sciences and engineering. By completing this through four integrated texts, it circumvents what is taught ad hoc and incompletely in a larger number of courses, or not taught at all. A four course set makes it possible for the teaching curriculum to be more comprehensive in this and related advancing areas of technology. It ends at a very modern point, where researchers in the subject area would also find the discussion and details an important reference source.Less
Nanoscale devices are distinguishable from the larger microscale devices in their specific dependence on physical phenomena and effects that are central to their operation. The size change manifests itself through changes in importance of the phenomena and effects that become dominant and the changes in scale of underlying energetics and response. Examples of these include classical effects such as single electron effects, quantum effects such as the states accessible as well as their properties; ensemble effects ranging from consequences of the laws of numbers to changes in properties arising from different magnitudes of the inter-actions, and others. These interactions, with the limits placed on size, make not just electronic, but also magnetic, optical and mechanical behavior interesting, important and useful. Connecting these properties to the behavior of devices is the focus of this textbook. Description of the book series: This collection of four textbooks in the Electroscience series span the undergraduate-to-graduate education in electrosciences for engineering and science students. It culminates in a comprehensive under-standing of nanoscale devices—electronic, magnetic, mechanical and optical in the 4th volume, and builds to it through volumes devoted to underlying semiconductor and solid-state physics with an emphasis on phenomena at surfaces and interfaces, energy interaction, and fluctuations; a volume devoted to the understanding of the variety of devices through classical microelectronic approach, and an engineering-focused understanding of principles of quantum, statistical and information mechanics. The goal is provide, with rigor and comprehensiveness, an exposure to the breadth of knowledge and interconnections therein in this subject area that derives equally from sciences and engineering. By completing this through four integrated texts, it circumvents what is taught ad hoc and incompletely in a larger number of courses, or not taught at all. A four course set makes it possible for the teaching curriculum to be more comprehensive in this and related advancing areas of technology. It ends at a very modern point, where researchers in the subject area would also find the discussion and details an important reference source.
Peter M. Groffman and Moshe Shachak
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195139853
- eISBN:
- 9780197561720
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195139853.003.0012
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Environmental Geography
The number of species living in the soil may well represent the largest reservoir of biodiversity on earth (Giller 1996, Wardle and Giller 1996, Service ...
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The number of species living in the soil may well represent the largest reservoir of biodiversity on earth (Giller 1996, Wardle and Giller 1996, Service 1997). Five thousand microbial species have been described and identified (Amann and Kuhl 1998), but the actual number of species may be greater than 1 million (American Society for Microbiology 1994), larger even than the number of insect species (Service 1997). Over the last 10 to 15 years, interest in soil biodiversity has soared, driven by advances in molecular techniques that allow for identification and analysis of soil microbes, many of which are difficult to extract and culture (Kennedy and Gewin 1997). However, the factors that control soil microbial biodiversity and the links between soil biodiversity and ecosystem function are still unclear (Beare et al. 1995, Schimel 1995, Freckman et al. 1997, Brussard et al. 1997, Wall and Moore 1999). Soil may represent an excellent venue for exploring links between biodiversity and ecosystem function. The vast numbers of species in soil and methodological problems have long necessitated a functional approach in soil studies. As a result, soil functions important to organic matter degradation, nutrient cycling, water quality, and air chemistry are well studied (Groffman and Bohlen 1999). As our knowledge of soil biodiversity increases, this information may provide a strong basis for evaluating links between biodiversity and these functions. Evaluating functional diversity of soil communities requires considering how microbes interact with plants and soil fauna to produce patterns of ecosystem processes (Wall and Moore 1999). These interactions vary within and between ecosystems (i.e., across landscapes). Throughout this book, we suggest that the science of biodiversity must consider links to ecosystem processes and interactions with landscape diversity (Shachak et al. this volume). The need for these links is particularly clear when considering soil biodiversity. There have been relatively few studies of microbial processes in desert soils, and very little analysis of desert soil biodiversity (Parker et al. 1984, Schlesinger et al. 1987, Peterjohn 1991, Fließbach et al. 1994, Zaady et al. 1996a,b, Steinberger et al. 1999).
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The number of species living in the soil may well represent the largest reservoir of biodiversity on earth (Giller 1996, Wardle and Giller 1996, Service 1997). Five thousand microbial species have been described and identified (Amann and Kuhl 1998), but the actual number of species may be greater than 1 million (American Society for Microbiology 1994), larger even than the number of insect species (Service 1997). Over the last 10 to 15 years, interest in soil biodiversity has soared, driven by advances in molecular techniques that allow for identification and analysis of soil microbes, many of which are difficult to extract and culture (Kennedy and Gewin 1997). However, the factors that control soil microbial biodiversity and the links between soil biodiversity and ecosystem function are still unclear (Beare et al. 1995, Schimel 1995, Freckman et al. 1997, Brussard et al. 1997, Wall and Moore 1999). Soil may represent an excellent venue for exploring links between biodiversity and ecosystem function. The vast numbers of species in soil and methodological problems have long necessitated a functional approach in soil studies. As a result, soil functions important to organic matter degradation, nutrient cycling, water quality, and air chemistry are well studied (Groffman and Bohlen 1999). As our knowledge of soil biodiversity increases, this information may provide a strong basis for evaluating links between biodiversity and these functions. Evaluating functional diversity of soil communities requires considering how microbes interact with plants and soil fauna to produce patterns of ecosystem processes (Wall and Moore 1999). These interactions vary within and between ecosystems (i.e., across landscapes). Throughout this book, we suggest that the science of biodiversity must consider links to ecosystem processes and interactions with landscape diversity (Shachak et al. this volume). The need for these links is particularly clear when considering soil biodiversity. There have been relatively few studies of microbial processes in desert soils, and very little analysis of desert soil biodiversity (Parker et al. 1984, Schlesinger et al. 1987, Peterjohn 1991, Fließbach et al. 1994, Zaady et al. 1996a,b, Steinberger et al. 1999).
Robert Waide and Peter M. Groffman
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195139853
- eISBN:
- 9780197561720
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195139853.003.0019
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Environmental Geography
The discipline of ecology can be subdivided into several subdisciplines, including community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology. While all the ...
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The discipline of ecology can be subdivided into several subdisciplines, including community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology. While all the subdisciplines are important to the study of biodiversity, there is great variation in the extent to which their contributions have been analyzed. For example, the role of community ecology in biodiversity studies is well established. In community ecology, the entities of study are species that differ in their properties and generate a web of interactions that, in turn, organize the species into a community. Similar to community ecology, the contribution of landscape ecology to biodiversity is apparent. The entities of study, definable “patches,” are tangible. They differ in their properties and generate a web of interactions that organize the patches into a landscape mosaic. In contrast to community and landscape ecology, the role of ecosystem ecology in biodiversity is less apparent. In ecosystem ecology, it often is not clear what the entities are, and how they are organized. To the extent that ecosystem ecology focuses on energy flow and nutrient cycling, we can define fundamental entities as compartments and vectors in models that depict the flows of water, energy, and nutrients through communities. If we apply diversity criteria to these entities, we can use the term ecosystem diversity to refer to the number of compartments and vectors, the differences among them in type and size, and their organization in promoting energy flow or nutrient cycling. To our knowledge, ecosystem scientists have not yet developed criteria for ecosystem diversity similar to those used for species and landscape diversity. There has been some use of the term “ecosystem diversity” to refer to a diversity of ecosystems, implying a variety of habitats, landscapes, or biomes. As discussed above, we suggest that to define the role of ecosystem ecology in biodiversity studies, the approach should be to study the relationships among species, landscape, and ecosystem diversities (chapters 1 and 13). However, since the concept of ecosystem diversity awaits further development, we adopt a different approach for understanding the role of ecosystem science in biodiversity studies. In this chapter, we examine relationships among ecosystem processes, species diversity, and landscape diversity.
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The discipline of ecology can be subdivided into several subdisciplines, including community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology. While all the subdisciplines are important to the study of biodiversity, there is great variation in the extent to which their contributions have been analyzed. For example, the role of community ecology in biodiversity studies is well established. In community ecology, the entities of study are species that differ in their properties and generate a web of interactions that, in turn, organize the species into a community. Similar to community ecology, the contribution of landscape ecology to biodiversity is apparent. The entities of study, definable “patches,” are tangible. They differ in their properties and generate a web of interactions that organize the patches into a landscape mosaic. In contrast to community and landscape ecology, the role of ecosystem ecology in biodiversity is less apparent. In ecosystem ecology, it often is not clear what the entities are, and how they are organized. To the extent that ecosystem ecology focuses on energy flow and nutrient cycling, we can define fundamental entities as compartments and vectors in models that depict the flows of water, energy, and nutrients through communities. If we apply diversity criteria to these entities, we can use the term ecosystem diversity to refer to the number of compartments and vectors, the differences among them in type and size, and their organization in promoting energy flow or nutrient cycling. To our knowledge, ecosystem scientists have not yet developed criteria for ecosystem diversity similar to those used for species and landscape diversity. There has been some use of the term “ecosystem diversity” to refer to a diversity of ecosystems, implying a variety of habitats, landscapes, or biomes. As discussed above, we suggest that to define the role of ecosystem ecology in biodiversity studies, the approach should be to study the relationships among species, landscape, and ecosystem diversities (chapters 1 and 13). However, since the concept of ecosystem diversity awaits further development, we adopt a different approach for understanding the role of ecosystem science in biodiversity studies. In this chapter, we examine relationships among ecosystem processes, species diversity, and landscape diversity.
Yuk L. Yung and William B. DeMore
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195105018
- eISBN:
- 9780197560990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195105018.003.0009
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Atmospheric Sciences
The presence of an atmosphere on a small planetary body the size of the Moon is surprising. Loss of material by escape would have depleted the atmosphere over the age ...
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The presence of an atmosphere on a small planetary body the size of the Moon is surprising. Loss of material by escape would have depleted the atmosphere over the age of the solar system. Since these objects are not large enough to possess, or to sustain for long, a molten core, continued outgassing from the interior is not expected. However, it is now known that four small bodies in the outer solar system possess substantial atmospheres: lo, Titan, Triton, and Pluto. These atmospheres range from the very tenuous on lo (of the order of a nanobar) to the very massive on Titan (of the order of a bar). The atmospheric pressures on Triton and Pluto are of the order of 10 μbar. Perhaps the most interesting questions about these atmospheres concern their unusual origin and their chemical evolution. lo is the innermost of the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter, the other three being Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. All the Galilean moons are comparable in size, but there is no appreciable atmosphere on the other moons. The first indications that lo possesses an atmosphere came in 1974 with the discovery of sodium atoms surrounding the satellite and the detection of a well-developed ionosphere from the Pioneer 10 radio occultation experiment. The Voyager encounter in 1979 established the existence of active volcanoes as well as SOa gas. These are the only extraterrestrial active volcanoes discovered to date, and they owe their existence to a curious tidal heating mechanism associated with the 2:1 resonance between the orbits of lo and Europa.
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The presence of an atmosphere on a small planetary body the size of the Moon is surprising. Loss of material by escape would have depleted the atmosphere over the age of the solar system. Since these objects are not large enough to possess, or to sustain for long, a molten core, continued outgassing from the interior is not expected. However, it is now known that four small bodies in the outer solar system possess substantial atmospheres: lo, Titan, Triton, and Pluto. These atmospheres range from the very tenuous on lo (of the order of a nanobar) to the very massive on Titan (of the order of a bar). The atmospheric pressures on Triton and Pluto are of the order of 10 μbar. Perhaps the most interesting questions about these atmospheres concern their unusual origin and their chemical evolution. lo is the innermost of the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter, the other three being Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. All the Galilean moons are comparable in size, but there is no appreciable atmosphere on the other moons. The first indications that lo possesses an atmosphere came in 1974 with the discovery of sodium atoms surrounding the satellite and the detection of a well-developed ionosphere from the Pioneer 10 radio occultation experiment. The Voyager encounter in 1979 established the existence of active volcanoes as well as SOa gas. These are the only extraterrestrial active volcanoes discovered to date, and they owe their existence to a curious tidal heating mechanism associated with the 2:1 resonance between the orbits of lo and Europa.
Alex Tissandier
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474417747
- eISBN:
- 9781474449748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474417747.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter turns to one of Deleuze’s last major works, The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. It argues for Leibniz’s central role in the text, and explains the book’s complicated interplay between ...
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This chapter turns to one of Deleuze’s last major works, The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. It argues for Leibniz’s central role in the text, and explains the book’s complicated interplay between Leibniz’s philosophy and mathematics, and Baroque art and architecture. It rediscovers all the major elements of the Leibnizian structure outlined in the previous chapter, and finds them united by the new concept of the “infinite fold”. It then looks in detail at the opening chapter of The Fold, where Deleuze uses Wölfflin’s theory of Baroque architecture and Leibniz’s theory of preformism and biological evolution to introduce the parallelism between the repeated folds of inorganic matter and the interior, enveloping folds of organisms. The interiority of the latter eventually forces us to posit monads, or souls, which exist elsewhere and serve as the principle of their unity.Less
This chapter turns to one of Deleuze’s last major works, The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. It argues for Leibniz’s central role in the text, and explains the book’s complicated interplay between Leibniz’s philosophy and mathematics, and Baroque art and architecture. It rediscovers all the major elements of the Leibnizian structure outlined in the previous chapter, and finds them united by the new concept of the “infinite fold”. It then looks in detail at the opening chapter of The Fold, where Deleuze uses Wölfflin’s theory of Baroque architecture and Leibniz’s theory of preformism and biological evolution to introduce the parallelism between the repeated folds of inorganic matter and the interior, enveloping folds of organisms. The interiority of the latter eventually forces us to posit monads, or souls, which exist elsewhere and serve as the principle of their unity.
Carmen Amado Mendes
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888139002
- eISBN:
- 9789888180127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139002.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
From Portugal's settlement in Macau in the sixteenth century to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, Sino-Portuguese relations evolved through ...
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From Portugal's settlement in Macau in the sixteenth century to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, Sino-Portuguese relations evolved through different stages. The fragility of the Portuguese presence in Macau fluctuated with China's levels of political stability and power, within the notion of historical shared sovereignty. In the context of the mid-1970s withdrawal from empire, Lisbon has arguably offered to return Macau to China, but Beijing declined those offers. The new Portuguese regime signed a secret agreement with China, promising to hand Macau over when the time was ripe. The trauma experienced from the decolonisation process in Africa resulted in demands from the Portuguese public to ensure a more dignified withdrawal from Macau.Less
From Portugal's settlement in Macau in the sixteenth century to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, Sino-Portuguese relations evolved through different stages. The fragility of the Portuguese presence in Macau fluctuated with China's levels of political stability and power, within the notion of historical shared sovereignty. In the context of the mid-1970s withdrawal from empire, Lisbon has arguably offered to return Macau to China, but Beijing declined those offers. The new Portuguese regime signed a secret agreement with China, promising to hand Macau over when the time was ripe. The trauma experienced from the decolonisation process in Africa resulted in demands from the Portuguese public to ensure a more dignified withdrawal from Macau.
Ramprasad Sengupta
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198081654
- eISBN:
- 9780199082407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198081654.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The chapter introduces some of the basic concepts of ecology to characterize the biosphere of the earth, its ecosystems and their components of biotic and abiotic environment. It describes the ...
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The chapter introduces some of the basic concepts of ecology to characterize the biosphere of the earth, its ecosystems and their components of biotic and abiotic environment. It describes the organic and inorganic substances and climate conditions as constituents of the ecosystems which determine their structure and function and the conditions of supply of various natural resources and eco-services to the human economy. The chapter also explains the solar energy flow and the hydrological and bio-geochemical cycles to further elaborate the functions of eco-services of regeneration of resources and absorption of wastes for the economy. It characterizes the energetics of the ecosystems and its modification due to human intervention, pointing to the need for a holistic view of energy analysis taking account of its flows and uses in both the ecological and the economic processes for our better understanding of the physical conditions of sustainable development.Less
The chapter introduces some of the basic concepts of ecology to characterize the biosphere of the earth, its ecosystems and their components of biotic and abiotic environment. It describes the organic and inorganic substances and climate conditions as constituents of the ecosystems which determine their structure and function and the conditions of supply of various natural resources and eco-services to the human economy. The chapter also explains the solar energy flow and the hydrological and bio-geochemical cycles to further elaborate the functions of eco-services of regeneration of resources and absorption of wastes for the economy. It characterizes the energetics of the ecosystems and its modification due to human intervention, pointing to the need for a holistic view of energy analysis taking account of its flows and uses in both the ecological and the economic processes for our better understanding of the physical conditions of sustainable development.
