Category Archives: Power

Taking the Jungle Out of the Forest

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Peluso, Nancy and Peter Vandergeest. 2011. “Taking the Jungle out of the Forest: Counter-Insurgency and the Making of National Natures.” In Global Political Ecology edited by Richard Peet, Paul Robbins, and Michael Watts. New York: Routledge.  What are the interconnected … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Forests, Frontiers, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Maps, Nation/Nationalism, Political Ecology, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Science & Tech., Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on Taking the Jungle Out of the Forest

The Antinomies of ‘Community’

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Watts, Michael J. “The Sinister Political Life of Community: Economies of Violence and Governable Spaces in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.” Creed, Gerald. The Seductions of Community: Emancipations, Oppressions, Quandaries. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. Community is often … Continue reading →

Posted in Hegemony, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Michel Foucault, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | 1 Comment

Intimate Enemies in Chiapas

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Bobrow-Strain, Aaron. 2007. Intimate Enemies: Landowners, Power, and Violence in Chiapas. Durham: Duke University Press. This book has a perfect hook: What about the vilified landowners on the receiving end of the January 1, 1994, uprising by the Zapatista rebels … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antonio Gramsci, Boundaries, Frontiers, Gender, Hegemony, Henri Lefebvre, Historical-Geographies, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Marxism, Nation/Nationalism, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Moore, Donald. 1996. “Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology: Environmental Struggles in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands.” In Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements. London: Routledge. Donald Moore sets out to critique what he sees as political ecology’s emphasis on macro-structural dynamics whereby … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antonio Gramsci, Dialectics, Frontiers, Gender, Historical-Geographies, Land, Marxism, Nation/Nationalism, Place, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology

Political Ecology, II

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Watts, Michael J. 2000. “Political Ecology.” In A Companion to Economic Geography edited by Eric Sheppard and Trevor J. Barnes. Oxford: Blackwell. Michael Watts says that political ecology “seeks to understand the complex relations between nature and society through a … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Hegemony, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Scale, Spatiality, The State | Comments Off on Political Ecology, II

Political Ecology, I

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Robbins, Paul. 2004. Political Ecology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Paul Robbins’ Political Ecology offers a sweeping and surprisingly complete overview to this exciting body of work and practice. I like the way Robbins bills it as, more than a body of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Gender, Governmentality, Historical-Geographies, Land, Networks, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Science & Tech., The State, Violence | 3 Comments

The Invention of Capitalism

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Perelman, Michael. The Invention of Capitalism: Classical Political Economy and the Secret History of Primitive Accumulation. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. [Intro, Ch. 1-6] Michael Perelman shows in The Invention of Capitalism how classical political economists were practically and ideologically … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Forests, Historical Materialism, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Economy, Power, Primitive Accumulation, The State, Violence | Comments Off on The Invention of Capitalism

The New Imperialism

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Harvey, David. 2003. The New Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This is the last of David Harvey’s books that I’ll read (or re-read) for a while, and I’ve already reviewed some of his other books here, so I’ll pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in David Harvey, Dialectics, Hegemony, Historical Materialism, Historical-Geographies, Karl Marx, Marxism, Political Economy, Power, Primitive Accumulation, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on The New Imperialism

Primitive Accumulation: A Reinterpretation

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

De Angelis, Massimo. 1999. “Marx’s Theory of Primitive Accumulation: A Suggested Reinterpretation.” University of East London. Available online. De Angelis makes a distinction between those that view Marx’s “primitive accumulation” as “historical”—a one-off, big-bang of capitalism—and those that understand the … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Critique, Historical Materialism, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Economy, Power, Primitive Accumulation, Scale, Spatiality | Comments Off on Primitive Accumulation: A Reinterpretation

Frontiers: Civil Society and Nature

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Redclift, Michael. 2006. Frontiers: Histories of Civil Society and Nature. Boston: MIT Press. Through a series of brief case studies, Michael Redclift explores the meanings, practices, and imaginaries associated with frontiers, which he analyzes through the mutually interacting interfaces of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Frontiers, Henri Lefebvre, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Place, Power, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on Frontiers: Civil Society and Nature