1. Session 9: Change and globalization
October 3, 2013
Mt. Fuji, JapanNorton, W. (2005). Cultural Geography: Environments, Landscapes, Identities, and
Inequalities. Oxford University Press, Don Mills.
Readings: Chapter 3 of Norton – Global Landscape Change During
the Last 12,000 Years
1) Meet your photo elicitation groups;
1) Lecture on natural resources, change, and
globalization (videos);
2) Discussion on ecological and slavery footprints.
2. 1. Personal concepts of nature (FULL)
1. Michael K. 2. Jenna Lamb 3. Tanna
2. Inequality in the urban environment
1. Jody 2. Marc McPike 3. Chris D.
3. Sport, recreation, and sense of place (FULL)
1. Kelsey 2. Jill 3. Michelle Conan
4. Gender experience and place
1. Michelle Withoos 2. Sara Braun 3. ?
5. Student life: identity, experience, and place (FULL)
1. Rockford 2. Ashley Dietsch 3. Jalysa
6. Place as commodity
1. Zack Long 2. Thamie 3. Teigen
7. Urban life as identity and place
1. Justine Spearman 2. Alex Derlago 3. Eric Smith
3. Source: Norton 2005, pg. 148
Figure 4.12: Human-and-Nature Relationship Through Time
4. Globalization and the distribution of resources
Globalization:the act or process of globalizing : the state of
being globalized; especially : the development of an increasingly
integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free
flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor
markets(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
6. “Resources are cultural appraisals defined not only by their physical
presence but also by human awareness, technological availability,
economic feasibility, and human acceptability.” (Norton, 2005, p.
136)
1. Human awareness
Natural resources
Source: www.45nuclearplants.com
8. 2. Technological availability 3. Economic feasibility
Non-renewable energy – e.g. #1: oil/tar sands in Alberta
Source: www2.macleans.ca
9. Non-renewable energy – e.g. #1: fracking
Energy independence from the Middle-East
Source: www.futurechallenges.org
Source: www.thinkprogress.org
10. 4. Human acceptability
Generally determined through ethical reflection – values and norms
Energy
Food
Source: wwwthecanadiandaily.ca Source: www.celsias.com
11. The case of India
Population: in 2011 was 1.24 billion up from 447.8 million in 1960
(World Bank)
Rejection of Monsanto, ¼ million suicides because of GMO crops
Vandana Shiva talking about Monsanto and colonization on Strombo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3d9k23UyQQ
12. •Climate change
•Acid rain
•Ozone depletion *one example of cooperation that has been
able to reverse effects adaptation
•Species at risk / loss of genetic diversity
Forms of environmental maladaptation
Signs of human maladaptation to the environment:
13. The Montreal Protocol – an example of global cooperation
Ozone depletion observed in the 70s became a major concern in
the 80s
ODS – Ozone Depleting Substance
•CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)
•freons
•halons
Montreal Protocol
•43 nations signed in 1987 phasing out of ODSs
•entered into force in 1989 with an expected recovery by 2050
Kofi Annan (7th Secretary General of the UN): “perhaps the single
most successful international agreement to date”
15. Sustainable development
1983 – UN World Commission on the Environment and Development
‘Our Common Future’ or The Brundtland Report Sustainable
Development
“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs”
Challenge in defining ‘development’
•wellbeing?
•grown?
•is relative
17. Resilience – way of understanding human adaptation
"Resilience" as applied to ecosystems, or to integrated systems of
people and the natural environment, has three defining
characteristics:
•The amount of change the system can undergo and still
retain the same controls on function and structure
•The degree to which the system is capable of self-
organization
•The ability to build and increase the capacity for learning and
adaptation
Source: The Resilience Alliance, 2013
18. Resilience – way of understanding human adaptation
Crucial factors:
•learning to live with change and uncertainty;
•nurturing diversity for resilience;
•combining different types of knowledge for learning;
•and creating opportunity for self-organization towards
social-ecological sustainability.
19. Resilience – way of understanding human adaptation
Key term*Adaptive Capacity
Ecological systems:
•genetic diversity
•biological diversity
•heterogeneity of landscape mosaics
Social systems:
•the existence of institutions and networks to learn and store
knowledge and experience
•create flexibility in problem solving and balance power
among interest groups play an important role in adaptive
capacity (Scheffer et al. 2000, Berkes et al. 2002).
Social-ecological systems
20. Signs of human social maladaptation:
•War
•Poverty
•Slavery
•Social disparities
•etc.
25. http://myfootprint.org/ http://slaveryfootprint.org/
Ecological and slavery footprint
Assessing our impact on the world – questions for consideration:
1. What were some of the factors that impacted your ecological and
slavery footprints the most?
2. Did you find your results to be surprising in any way?
3. What are some of the assumptions that are made about the
impacts of certain items?
Source: http://myfootprint.org/
Source: http://slaveryfootprint.org/
