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tor a. benjaminsen
hanne svarstad

Political
Ecology
a critical
engagement with global
environmental issues
Political Ecology
Tor A. Benjaminsen • Hanne Svarstad

Political Ecology
A Critical Engagement with Global Environmental Issues
Tor A. Benjaminsen Hanne Svarstad
Department of International Environment Development Studies, IST – LUI
and Development Studies Faculty of Education and International
Faculty of Landscape and Society Studies, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan
Norwegian University of Life Sciences University
Ås, Norway Oslo, Norway

ISBN 978-3-030-56035-5    ISBN 978-3-030-56036-2 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56036-2

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

cover image © Eline Benjaminsen

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 V

Endorsement

‘The book describes our common present with unsentimental urgency. ­Benjaminsen
and Svarstad demonstrate the complexity of human engagement with the scarce
resources of our planet, and the analytical pathways offered by political ecology.
The book’s many vivid examples underscore how power is always part of the equa-
tion: people + their environment.’

Christian Lund
Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
 VII

In loving memory of Anna Benjaminsen, 1936–2020

Preface and Acknowledgements

This book provides an introduction to political ecology, which is an interdisciplin-

ary field of critical studies of environmental issues. We present many case studies
and examples from local sites in both the Global South and Global North, linking
local environmental processes to the national and global levels. We believe that the
book can be used to introduce students to political ecology at both the under-
graduate and postgraduate levels, but we also think it may be of interest to a gen-
eral readership engaged in environmental issues.
Political ecology has grown as an academic field during the last few decades,
attracting in particular many young scholars and students from social, human and
natural sciences. This is a critical approach examining power in environmental gov-
ernance, and especially related to injustice and environmental decline. Being criti-
cal also means studying knowledge production and the exercise of power within
science itself and its links to policy-making. Our intention is to equip students with
tools to question what is often taken for granted in environmental policy formula-
tions and in environmental science.
The book presents a number of such examples of examining what tends to be
taken for granted. It is based on a textbook in political ecology first published in
Norwegian by Universitetsforlaget (Scandinavian University Press) in 2010 and in
a revised version in 2017. This English edition is not merely a translation. It is an
extensively revised version compared to the last Norwegian edition. All chapters
have been reworked, some more than others. While 7 Chaps. 2 and 10 are com-
pletely new, 7 Chaps. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 have been updated and rewritten with new
cases.
Political ecology has become a broad field including several directions, and we
do not pretend to cover all of the current trends. Theoretically, we first of all draw
on discourse theory, Marxist political economy, various other social science theo-
ries and insights from natural science. Most of the examples and case studies are
taken from our own empirical research, mostly in Africa and Norway.
We are grateful to the following colleagues who commented on single chapters
or the whole manuscript in Norwegian: Jørund Aasetre, Hans Petter Andersen,
Mikael Bergius, Axel Borchgrevink, Halvard Buhaug, Karoline Daugstad, Nils
Petter Gleditsch, Ingrid Guldvik, Eirik Jansen, Andrei Marin, Kristen Nordhaug,
Knut Nustad, Mariel Aguilar Støen, Nicholas Tyler and Andreas Ytterstad.
Research is a collective effort, especially in an interdisciplinary field such as
political ecology, in terms of both building on the previous work of colleagues and
carrying out the research together. Most of the examples, case studies and concep-
tual ideas in this book have been studied or developed in collaboration with col-
leagues who we have enjoyed working with. We therefore acknowledge with
appreciation the contributions by Jens Aune, Boubacar Ba, Mikael Bergius, Ian
Bryceson, Connor Cavanagh, Inger Marie Gaup Eira, Pierre Hiernaux, Kathrine
Johnsen, Thembela Kepe, Faustin Maganga, Mikkel Nils Sara, Sayuni Mariki,
 IX
Preface and Acknowledgements

Ragnhild Overå, Jon Pedersen, Nitin Rai, Rick Rohde, Espen Sjaastad, Silje
­Skuland, David Tumusiime, Mats Widgren and Poul Wisborg.
In addition, we are grateful to other colleagues who have commented on various
draft papers that have been integrated in this book in different ways and who in
meetings and discussions helped us formulate some of the ideas we present here. In
particular, we would like to thank Dan Brockington, Jill T. Buseth, Frances Cleaver,
Denis Gautier, Jens Friis Lund, Synne Movik, Christine Noe, Paul Robbins, Jesse
Ribot and Teklehaymanot Weldemichel.
We are indebted to Per Robstad at Universitetsforlaget who was instrumental in
facilitating the Norwegian editions. Rachael Ballard and Joanna O’Neill at Pal-
grave Macmillan have been helpful throughout the process from the first lunch
meeting to discuss ideas to patiently guide us through the final details of the manu-
script format.
We also thank our daughter Eline Benjaminsen, who is a photographer. She
critically engaged with our use of photos and had clear ideas about what to use and
not to use. She also took the photo on the cover, which is a product of photogram-
metry from her project ‘Footprints in the Valley’. In addition, she helped us keep
track of all the references.
Over the years, we have also enjoyed and benefitted from numerous discussions
and exchanges of ideas with students at our universities—the Norwegian Univer-
sity of Life Sciences and Oslo Metropolitan University. Teaching engaged students
was one of the main inspirations for writing this textbook.
We are grateful to all the scholars who contribute to the growing field of politi-
cal ecology, and we hope that this book will inspire new readers and contributors.
We all find much inspirational energy within the international political ecology
network POLLEN (7 https://politicalecologynetwork.­org/welcome/). This is a
network not only with many impressive academics, but also with great collegiality,
a friendly but also critical (!) atmosphere, and with shared commitments to solidar-
ity, social justice and environmental sustainability.
Last but not least, we are thankful to all the farmers and pastoralists, and other
experts on livelihoods and environmental change in various rural settings that we
have learned from over many years. Without their knowledge and insights, we
would not have been able to write this book.
We both are responsible for the book at large and all chapters. Parts of the book
build on research we have conducted together, but much of it is based on research
each of us has conducted separately. Hanne has written most of 7 Chap. 1, while
Tor has written most of 7 Chaps. 2 and 4. 7 Chaps. 3, 5 and 6 are mainly written
by Hanne, while 7 Chaps. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are mainly written by Tor.

Tor A. Benjaminsen
Oslo, Norway

Hanne Svarstad
Oslo, Norway
August 2020
 XI

Contents

1 Political Ecology on Pandora............................................................................................... 1

1.1 
First Synthesis: Social and Natural Sciences............................................................................. 6
1.2 Second Synthesis: Three Aspects of Environmental Governance..................................... 8
1.3 Third Synthesis: Normative and Empirical Analyses............................................................. 10
1.4 Fourth Synthesis: Agency and Structure................................................................................... 11
1.5 Fifth Synthesis: Realism and Social Constructivism.............................................................. 13
1.6 Sixth Synthesis: Different Types of Power................................................................................. 15
1.7 Seventh Synthesis: Linkages between Different Geographical Levels........................... 19
1.8 Eighth Synthesis: Temporal Connections.................................................................................. 20
1.9 Ninth Synthesis: Linking Different Types of Knowledge and Scientific Methods....... 21
1.10 Tenth Synthesis: Critical and Constructive Contributions................................................... 21
1.11 Delimitations of this Book.............................................................................................................. 24
1.12 The Other Chapters in this Book.................................................................................................. 25
References........................................................................................................................................... 27

2 Theoretical Influences and Recent Directions......................................................... 29

2.1 Marxist Political Economy.............................................................................................................. 30
2.2 Human Ecology and Cultural Ecology........................................................................................ 35
2.3 Poststructuralism.............................................................................................................................. 40
2.4 Peasant Studies.................................................................................................................................. 45
2.5 The Interface Between Political Ecology and Environmental Justice.............................. 47
2.6 Écologie Politique, Ecología Política and Degrowth.............................................................. 50
References........................................................................................................................................... 52

3  iscourses and Narratives on Environment and

D
Development: The Example of Bioprospecting...................................................... 59
3.1 
The Political Economy of Bioprospecting................................................................................. 62
3.2 The Bioprospecting Win-Win Discourse.................................................................................... 66
3.3 The Biopiracy Discourse.................................................................................................................. 67
3.4 Win-Win Narratives on Bioprospecting..................................................................................... 71
3.5 Biopiracy Narratives......................................................................................................................... 71
3.6 Back to Hollywood............................................................................................................................ 73
3.7 Tracking American Gene Hunters in Tanzania......................................................................... 74
3.8 From Hollywood to the Norwegian Mountains...................................................................... 78
3.9 Four Types of Discourses on Environment and Development........................................... 80
References........................................................................................................................................... 85
XII Contents

4 Conservation Discourses Versus Practices................................................................. 89

4.1  iscourses and Practices................................................................................................................ 92
D
4.2 Fortress Conservation as Discourse and Practice................................................................... 93
4.3 The Win-Win Discourse on Protected Areas............................................................................. 94
4.4 Challenges to the Win-Win Discourse........................................................................................ 96
References........................................................................................................................................... 107

5 Gender and Power: Feminist Political Ecologies.................................................... 111

5.1 
Expectations of Gender Equality in Local Conservation Politics in Norway................. 112
5.2 A Study in Senegal............................................................................................................................ 115
5.3 A Study in India and Nepal............................................................................................................. 116
5.4 From Ecofeminism to Feminist Political Ecologies................................................................. 117
5.5 Does it Matter That Decisions on the Environment Are Dominated by Men?.............. 119
5.6 Another Day at Work........................................................................................................................ 123
References........................................................................................................................................... 125

6  limate Mitigation Choices: Reducing Deforestation in the Global South

C
Versus Reducing Fossil Fuel Production at Home................................................. 127
6.1 The Climate Crisis.............................................................................................................................. 130
6.2 Choices of Emission Cuts and Climate Justice in Time and Space.................................... 130
6.3 Norway’s Climate Change Mitigation Through Forest Conservation
in Tropical Countries......................................................................................................................... 133
6.4 The Case of a REDD Project in Tanzania..................................................................................... 135
6.5 How Can a Success Narrative About a Failed Project Succeed?........................................ 140
6.6 The Win-Win Discourse on REDD: From Hegemony to Challenges.................................. 144
6.7 Three Types of Carbon Trade......................................................................................................... 144
6.8 Discourses on Carbon Trade.......................................................................................................... 148
6.9 Overarching Discourses on Climate Mitigation...................................................................... 148
6.10 The Case of an Oil-Fed Climate Change Discourse................................................................ 149
6.11 Political Ecology from Hatchet to Seed Through Climate Justice..................................... 151
References........................................................................................................................................... 153

7 Pastoralists and the State...................................................................................................... 155

7.1 Debates About Overgrazing.......................................................................................................... 158
7.2 Debates About Economic Irrationality Among Pastoralists............................................... 174
References........................................................................................................................................... 179
 XIII
 Contents

8 Climate Change, Scarcity and Conflicts in the Sahel........................................... 183

8.1 
Critical Assessment of the Environmental Security School................................................ 186
8.2 Pastoralism, Marginalization and Conflicts in Mali................................................................ 191
References........................................................................................................................................... 202

9 Population Growth, Markets and Sustainable Land-Use in Africa............. 207

9.1 
Population Growth and Agricultural Development in Africa............................................. 208
References........................................................................................................................................... 228

10 Stocktake and Ways Forward.............................................................................................. 231

10.1 The Approach in This Book.................................................................................................................. 232
10.2 Where Do We Go from Here?.............................................................................................................. 234
References........................................................................................................................................... 236

Supplementary Information
 Index...................................................................................................................................................... 241
List of Photos

Photo 1.1 Are the scientists in the Avatar movie political ecologists?
(© 20TH CENTURY FOX)������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7
Photo 2.1 Cracked clay is an image often used to depict desertification. This is
usually soil which cracks after having been flooded. Areas with clay are
usually found in the lower parts of landscapes and tend to be flooded in
the rainy season before they dry up in the dry season. When searching
photo data bases for ‘desertification’, various similar photos of cracked
clay are offered. Especially around the annual World Day to Combat
Desertification (17th June), such images accompany articles on
desertification published on websites and in printed media
on a global scale. (Source: Getty Images/Athul Krishnan)������������������������������� 43
Photo 3.1 In the film Medicine Man, the relationship between the bioprospector
Dr. Campbell and local people is presented as harmonious as well as
problematic. (Credit: CINERGI/COLUMBIA/TRI-STAR//O’NEILL,
TERRY/Album) ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 62
Photo 4.1 AWF billboard in northern Tanzania. (Photo: Tor A. Benjaminsen)������������� 95
Photo 4.2 The annual flowering in Namaqualand. While tourists come to see
these displays of flowers in spring (August-September), many
ecologists and conservationists see them as signs of ‘disturbance’ or
‘degradation’. (Photo: Poul Wisborg) ������������������������������������������������������������� 99
Photo 4.3 Who should be made live and let die? (Photo: Tor A. Benjaminsen) ����������� 106
Photo 5.1 The National Park plan in the 1990s and 2000s consisted of
processes to extend the total area of protected areas in Norway,
including the extension of Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park.
This photo is taken at the opening ceremony of the park.
From the left: Mayor Erland Løkken, King Harald, and Minister of the
Environment Børge Brende. (Photo: Hanne Svarstad)��������������������������������� 114
Photo 6.1 After meeting with Greta Thunberg in 2019, Leonardo DiCaprio
posted this picture of the two on Instagram noting that he hoped
‘that Greta’s message is a wake-­up call to world leaders everywhere
that the time for inaction is over.’ (Source: Instagram)��������������������������������� 129
Photo 6.2 September 2008: Brazilian and Norwegian leaders meet to sign
an agreement for protection of tropical rainforest as part of the
Norwegian REDD programme NICFI. From the left: The Brazilian
Minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, Norwegian Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian Minister for Environment and
Development Erik Solheim. (Photo: NICFI)����������������������������������������������� 134
Photo 6.3 Restricting local forest use had negative consequences for women
who used to collect dry firewood for cooking.
(Photo: Hanne Svarstad)������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 137
Photo 7.1 Fence-line contrast. (Photo: Anke Hoffmann)��������������������������������������������� 162
 XV
List of Photos

Photo 7.2 Aerial photograph taken in 1960 of the border between Leliefontein
communal area and a private farm in Namaqualand. Livestock
densities were about the same on the two properties. (Source:
Department of Land Affairs)����������������������������������������������������������������������� 163
Photo 7.3 Aerial photograph taken in 1997 of the same area as in.
. Photo 7.2. One sees a clear fence-line contrast between the two
properties. Vegetation has increased on the private farm due to
subsidies from the government to reduce livestock numbers to
produce better quality meat for the market. (Source: Department
of Land Affairs)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 163
Photo 8.1 Tuareg pastoralists in northern Mali have rebelled against the
state at several occasions. (Photo: Carsten Sørensen)����������������������������������� 193
Photo 9.1 Improved floodgates on the Niger river in northern Mali funded
by the Norwegian Church Aid. (Photo: Norwegian Church Aid)��������������� 213
Photo 9.2 Monoculture of pine in a Green Resources plantation.
(Photo: Tor A. Benjaminsen)������������������������������������������������������������������������ 225
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 The three aspects of environmental governance (use, conservation,

distribution) are produced through agency (acts by actors). Social
structures limit and facilitate these actions. Normative analyses can be
undertaken by defining specific goals (such as sustainable environmental
governance) and by empirically examining the extent to which they are
fulfilled in specific cases. (Source: Created by the authors) ����������������������������� 9
Fig. 2.1 The main elements in a chain of explanations. (Source: Created
by the authors and inspired by Blaikie and Brookfield (1987)) ��������������������� 37
Fig. 2.2 A web of relations to explain elephant killings in a case in Tanzania.
(Source: Adapted from Mariki et al. 2015)����������������������������������������������������� 38
Fig. 3.1 At several international conferences about bioprospecting,
the Coalition Against Biopiracy has arranged ceremonies where
‘winners’ are announced of Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy.
This poster is from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cacun, Mexico, in 2016, and it indicates
that the winners cannot necessarily expect honour (SynBioWatch 2016) ����� 68
Fig. 4.1 Namaqua National Park. (Source: Created by the authors)��������������������������� 99
Fig. 4.2 Map of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve.
(Source: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & the Environment
(ATREE), Bangalore)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 103
Fig. 6.1 Annual total CO2 emissions by world region, 1751–2018.
(Source: Our World in Data/Carbon Dioxide Information
Analysis Center (CDIAC); Global Carbon Project (GCP)).
7 OurWorldInData.­org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions������������� 131
Fig. 6.2 Map of the area of the REDD project in Kondoa, Tanzania.
(Source: Created by the authors)������������������������������������������������������������������� 136
Fig. 7.1 Jovsset Ánte Sara’s sister, Máret Ánne Sara, is an artist.
This is how she depicts destocking forced upon Sámi reindeer
herders by Norwegian authorities. The process, which curiously is
framed as part of a policy of ‘self-determination’, also creates
competition among herders. (Source: Máret Ánne Sara)����������������������������� 156
Fig. 7.2 Summer and winter pastures in Finnmark, Northern Norway.
(Source: Benjaminsen et al. 2015)����������������������������������������������������������������� 167
Fig. 7.3 Overgrazing on the winter pastures in Finnmark according to
the Auditor General. The map is based on time series from
Johansen and Karlsen (2005). Red = overgrazed, orange =
moderately grazed; white = intact. (Source: Riksrevisjonen 2012)��������������� 172
Fig. 7.4 Reindeer numbers in Western Finnmark, 1980–2017.
(Source: Marin et al. 2020) ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 173
Fig. 7.5 Pastoral productivity in the Sámi reindeer herding areas
Røros and West Finnmark measured per animal (bars) and
per km2 (graph). (Source: Norwegian Agriculture Agency
and Johnsen and Benjaminsen (2017)) ��������������������������������������������������������� 177
 XVII
List of Figures

Fig. 8.1 Rainfall in Dakar, 1895–2015. Annual rainfall and five-year average.
(Source: Descroix et al. 2015) ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 189
Fig. 8.2 Mali. (Source: Benjaminsen et al. 2012)������������������������������������������������������� 192
Fig. 8.3 The Seeno plains in Mali where recent conflicts between
Dogon and Fulani have taken place. (Source: Edited image
from Google Earth)��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 197
Fig. 9.1 Map of the cotton zone in southern Mali showing the different
zones of cotton production intensity and the 19 villages from
where soil samples were taken. From Zone E, where there is the
most intensive cultivation, to Zone A there is a gradient of decreasing
intensity. (Source: Created by the authors)��������������������������������������������������� 214
Fig. 9.2 Maize and cotton production in Mali in metric tons 1961–2010.
(Source: Laris and Foltz (2014) and FAO)��������������������������������������������������� 215
Fig. 9.3 Cotton yields (lint) in Mali. (Source: Benjaminsen et al. (2010)
and FAO)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 217
Fig. 9.4 Extension of cultivated area (ha). Main crops. Koutiala district,
1980–97. (Source: Benjaminsen (2001) and CMDT) ����������������������������������� 218
Fig. 9.5 Maize and cotton yields in Mali, 1961–2010. (Source: Laris et al.
(2015) and FAO) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 218
Fig. 9.6 Map of land use changes in Baramba village. The lower map
shows the situation in 1952 and the upper map shows land use at the
beginning of the 1990s. (Source: Created by the authors) ��������������������������� 220
List of Tables

Table 3.1 Four discourse types on topics of environment and development����������������� 81

Table 7.1 Small Stock Units (SSU) in Leliefontein communal area by year.
Note the reduction in SSU due to multi-year droughts between
1903–1907 and 1998–2000. One SSU equals a sheep or a goat ������������������� 164
Table 7.2 Small stock units in Concordia and rainfall (mm per year)
in Springbok, 1909, 1938, 1971–1988, 2002–2003 ��������������������������������������� 165
Table 7.3 Livestock productivity in different regions and systems
under comparable ­climatic conditions ��������������������������������������������������������� 175
 1 1

Political Ecology
on Pandora
Contents

1.1  irst Synthesis: Social

F
and Natural Sciences – 6

1.2 Second Synthesis: Three

Aspects of Environmental
Governance – 8

1.3  hird Synthesis: Normative

T
and Empirical Analyses – 10

1.4  ourth Synthesis: Agency

F
and Structure – 11

1.5 Fifth Synthesis:

Realism and Social
Constructivism – 13

1.6  ixth Synthesis: Different Types

S
of Power – 15

1.7  eventh Synthesis: Linkages

S
between Different Geographical
Levels – 19

1.8 Eighth Synthesis: Temporal

Connections – 20

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to

Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
T. A. Benjaminsen, H. Svarstad, Political Ecology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56036-2_1
1.9  inth Synthesis: Linking
N
Different Types of Knowledge
and Scientific Methods – 21

1.10  enth Synthesis: Critical

T
and Constructive
Contributions – 21

1.11 Delimitations of this

Book – 24

1.12  he Other Chapters in this

T
Book – 25

References – 27
Political Ecology on Pandora
3 1
Trailer
The Canadian filmmaker James Cameron released his first Avatar movie in 2009.
It takes place on the moon Pandora, far away from the solar system of the Earth,
and 150 years into the future. A mining company from Earth has established a base
from which it extracts a mineral called unobtanium. The mineral is transported to
Earth and used in energy production. It is indeed a profitable operation. At
Pandora, there are Na’vi, a human-like people. The Na’vi society has features
resembling many indigenous peoples today. They live in a close relationship with
their planet’s wild, beautiful and bountiful nature. The richest deposit of unobta-
nium lies beneath the home site of one of the Na’vi clans. Either through the use
of negotiation or force, the mining company therefore intends to remove the clan
and destroy the land upon which the Na’vi depend. The company has hired a small
group of scientists to carry out a participatory observation of the Na’vi in order to
find out what to do with them. This intention is hidden for the Na’vi. At the same
time, the company employs a large military force led by a colonel who is eager to
‘solve the problem’ by using force. The film begins when the marine veteran, Jake
Sully, arrives on Pandora to join the research group.
In the beginning, Jake is not at all accepted by the Na’vi, but his relationship
with them improves. The film has a romantic element when Jake falls in love with
the Na’vi princess Neytiri. When the colonel starts his armed attack on the Na’vi,
it is Jake who heads up the resistance. This seems to be an easy battle for the
Colonel, with his well-­trained troops and high-tech military equipment against the
Na’vi, who appear to be a weak and ‘primitive’ people with bows and arrows. But
David was able to outwit Goliath, and in movies everything is possible. In Avatar,
Cameron has drawn his inspiration from film genres such as science fiction and war
films. The parallels to western films are also obvious, as this film reminds us of the
fights between cowboys and American Indians.
You may now start to wonder: Why do we begin this book with a science fiction
movie from outer space? Some may even argue that this is total nonsense, and there
is no connection whatsoever between political ecology and the film Avatar. Truly,
political ecology is a field of study and a research approach aimed at nonfiction
studies of human life in their environments on the real planet Earth. And as we
know today, there is no Planet B.
Nevertheless, we use the fiction movie about the struggle at Pandora as a ‘case’ to
introduce what we argue to constitute key building blocks of political ecology. Despite
being fiction, Avatar embraces a theme that political ecology often highlights. It is
about conflicts where local and sometimes indigenous communities are approached by
external actors who try to appropriate their land and natural resources.
Survival International (SI) is an organization for indigenous peoples. In a press
release when the first Avatar movie was launched, SI stated that ‘Avatar is real’.
SI’s director, Stephen Corry, said: ‘Like the Na’vi of “Avatar”, the world’s last-
remaining tribal peoples – from the Amazon to Siberia – are also at risk of extinc-
tion, as their lands are appropriated by powerful forces for profit-making reasons
such as colonization, logging and mining.’ (Survival International 2010).
A man of the Penan people in Sarawak, Malaysia, made the following comment
to SI: ‘The Na’vi people in “Avatar” cry because their forest is destroyed. It’s the
 4 Chapter 1 · Political Ecology on Pandora

same with the Penan. Logging companies are chopping down our big trees and pol-
1 luting our r­ ivers, and the animals we hunt are dying’ (Survival International 2010).
The San people, or Bushmen as they call themselves in Botswana, are a hunter-­
gatherer people who live in the dry areas of southern Africa. Jumanda Gakelebone,
is a spokesperson for the organization First People of the Kalahari. He said: ‘We
the Bushmen are the first inhabitants in southern Africa. We are being denied
rights to our land and appeal to the world to help us. “Avatar” makes me happy as
it shows the world about what it is to be a Bushman, and what our land is to us.
Land and Bushmen are the same.’ (Survival International 2010).
Mikkel Berg-Nordlie is a researcher and a Norwegian Sámi who works on ques-
tions about indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. He emphasizes that Pandora
and Norwegian Sápmi are two completely different places. Yet, he believes that the
Sámi people can recognize themselves in the Na’vi: ‘We have also experienced dis-
crimination and forced intervention in our areas that have been to our disadvantage’.
The release of the first Avatar movie sparked off extensive web debates among
academics. Some critiques pointed out that the hero of the film is white. Blogger
Annalee Newitz (2009) argued that Avatar belongs to a category of films based on
‘white guilt fantasy’:

»» It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against
people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's
a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive,
white) outside.

Moreover, the depiction of the Na’vi has been criticized for being based on a ste-
reotype that white people in the West have of indigenous peoples. Van der Horst
(2010) argues that the Na’vi constitute a reversed mirror image of Americans: ‘The
more rational, technological, calculative and materialist the Americans/Westerners
are, the more irrational, spontaneous, mystical and backward the Na’vi are.’
This discussion also relates to recent debates about ‘decolonization’ in general
and of decolonization of environmental conservation in particular (Adams and
Mulligan 2003; Martin et al. 2016), which is about whose worldviews, values, and
knowledge are taken into account in academic, artistic and journalistic presentations
as well as in practical politics related to environmental conservation. Or put differ-
ently, the discussion about decolonization is for instance about on whose terms sto-
ries are told. In the case of Avatar, this is a contested question.

What Political Ecologists Study

Scholars in the field of political ecology often start out their studies at the local level.
Early in the history of political ecology, the focus was mainly on people and
environments in rural areas of the Global South. In the last decade or two, however,
political ecology has also moved North, as well as included the study of urban issues.
In this book, we emphasise the importance of political ecology case studies that are
conducted in the Global North and South and reveal ways that spaces in different
parts of the world are interconnected and influenced by powerful actors of both the
North and the South.
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 COMMON TOMATA SAUCE.

Tomatas are so juicy when ripe that they require little or no liquid
to reduce them to a proper consistence for sauce; and they vary so
exceedingly in size and quality that it is difficult to give precise
directions for the exact quantity which in their unripe state is needed
for them. Take off the stalks, halve the tomatas, and gently squeeze
out the seeds and watery pulp; then stew them softly with a few
spoonsful of gravy or of strong broth until they are quite melted.
Press the whole through a hair-sieve, and heat it afresh with a little
additional gravy should it be too thick, and some cayenne, and salt.
Serve it very hot.
Fine ripe tomatas, 6 or 8; gravy or strong broth, 4 tablespoonsful:
1/2 to 3/4 hour, or longer if needed. Salt and cayenne sufficient to
season the sauce, and two or three spoonsful more of gravy if
required.
Obs.—For a large tureen of this sauce, increase the proportions;
and should it be at first too liquid, reduce it by quick boiling. When
neither gravy nor broth is at hand, the tomatas may be stewed
perfectly tender, but very gently, in a couple of ounces of butter, with
some cayenne and salt only, or with the addition of a very little finely
minced onion; then rubbed through a sieve, and heated, and served
without any addition, or with only that of a teaspoonful of chili
vinegar; or, when the colour is not a principal consideration, with a
few spoonsful of rich cream, smoothly mixed with a little flour to
prevent its curdling. The sauce must be stirred without ceasing
should the last be added, and boiled for four or five minutes.
 A FINER TOMATA SAUCE.

Stew very gently a dozen fine red tomatas, prepared as for the
preceding receipt, with two or three sliced eschalots, four or five
chilies or a capsicum or two (or in lieu of either, with a quarter of a
teaspoonful of cayenne pepper), a few small dice of lean ham, and
half a cupful of rich gravy. Stir these often, and when the tomatas are
reduced quite to a smooth pulp, rub them through a sieve; put them
into a clean saucepan, with a few spoonsful more of rich gravy, or
Espagnole, add salt if needed, boil the sauce stirring it well for ten
minutes, and serve it very hot. When the gravy is exceedingly good
and highly flavoured, the ham may be omitted: a dozen small
mushrooms nicely cleaned may also be sliced and stewed with the
tomatas, instead of the eschalots, when their flavour is preferred, or
they may be added with them. The exact proportion of liquid used is
immaterial, for should the sauce be too thin it may be reduced by
rapid boiling, and diluted with more gravy if too thick.
 BOILED APPLE SAUCE.

Apples of a fine cooking sort require but a very small portion of

liquid to boil down well and smoothly for sauce, if placed over a
gentle fire in a close-shutting saucepan, and simmered as softly as
possible until they are well broken; and their flavour is injured by the
common mode of adding so much to them, that the greater part must
be drained off again before they are sent to table. Pare the fruit
quickly, quarter it, and be careful entirely to remove the cores; put
one tablespoonful of water into a saucepan before the apples are
thrown in, and proceed, as we have directed, to simmer them until
they are nearly ready to serve: finish the sauce by the receipt which
follows.
Apples, 1/2 lb.; water, 1 tablespoonful; stewed very softly: 30 to 60
minutes.
Obs.—These proportions are sufficient only for a small tureen of
the sauce, and should be doubled for a large one.
For this, and all other preparations, apples will be whiter if just
dipped into fresh water the instant before they are put into the
stewpan. They should be quickly lifted from it, and will stew down
easily to sauce with only the moisture which hangs about them. They
should be watched and often gently stirred, that they may be equally
done.
 BAKED APPLE SAUCE.

(Good.)
Put a tablespoonful of water into a quart basin, and fill it with good
boiling apples, pared, quartered, and carefully cored: put a plate
over, and set them into a moderate oven for about an hour, or until
they are reduced quite to a pulp; beat them smooth with a clean
wooden spoon, adding to them a little sugar and a morsel of fresh
butter, when these are liked, though they will scarcely be required.
The sauce made thus is far superior to that which is boiled. When
no other oven is at hand, a Dutch or an American one would
probably answer for it; but we cannot assert this on our own
experience.
Good boiling apples, 1 quart: baked 1 hour (more or less
according to the quality of the fruit, and temperature of the oven);
sugar, 1 oz.; butter, 1/2 oz.
 BROWN APPLE SAUCE.

Stew gently down to a thick and perfectly smooth marmalade, a

pound of pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured boiling apples, in
about the third of a pint of rich brown gravy: season the sauce rather
highly with black pepper or cayenne, and serve it very hot. Curry
sauce will make an excellent substitute for the gravy when a very
piquant accompaniment is wanted for pork or other rich meat.
Apples pared and cored, 1 lb.; good brown gravy, third of pint 3/4
to 1-1/4 hour. Pepper or cayenne as needed.
 WHITE ONION SAUCE.

Strip the skin from some large white onions, and after having
taken off the tops and roots cut them in two, throw them into cold
water as they are done, cover them plentifully with more water, and
boil them very tender; lift them out, drain, and then press the water
thoroughly from them; chop them small, rub them through a sieve or
strainer, put them into a little rich melted butter mixed with a spoonful
or two of cream or milk, and a seasoning of salt, give the sauce a
boil, and serve it very hot. Portugal onions are superior to any
others, both for this and for most other purposes of cookery.
For the finest kind of onion sauce, see Soubise, page 126, which
follows.
 BROWN ONION SAUCE.

Cut off both ends of the onions, and slice them into a saucepan in
which two ounces of butter have been dissolved; keep them stewing
gently over a clear fire until they are lightly coloured; then pour to
them half a pint of brown gravy, and when they have boiled until they
are perfectly tender, work the sauce altogether through a strainer,
season it with a little cayenne, and serve it very hot.
 ANOTHER BROWN ONION SAUCE.

Mince the onions, stew them in butter until they are well coloured,
stir in a dessertspoonful of flour, shake the stewpan over the fire for
three or four minutes, pour in only as much broth or gravy as will
leave the sauce tolerably thick, season, and serve it.
 SOUBISE.

(English Receipt.)

Skin, slice, and mince quickly two pounds’ weight of the white part
only of some fine mild onions, and stew them in from two to three
ounces of good butter over a very gentle fire until they are reduced
to a pulp, then pour to them three-quarters of a pint of rich veal
gravy; add a seasoning of salt and cayenne, if needed; skim off the
fat entirely, press the sauce through a sieve, heat it in a clean
stewpan, mix it with a quarter of a pint of rich boiling cream, and
serve it directly.
Onions, 2 lbs.; butter, 2 to 3 oz.: 30 minutes to 1 hour. Veal gravy,
3/4 pint; salt, cayenne: 5 minutes. Cream, 1/4 pint.
 SOUBISE.

(French Receipt.)

Peel some fine white onions, and trim away all tough and
discoloured parts; mince them small, and throw them into plenty of
boiling water; when they have boiled quickly for five minutes drain
them well in a sieve, then stew them very softly indeed in an ounce
or two of fresh butter until they are dry and perfectly tender; stir to
them as much béchamel as will bring them to the consistence of very
thick pea-soup, pass the whole through a strainer, pressing the onion
strongly that none may remain behind, and heat the sauce afresh,
without allowing it to boil. A small half-teaspoonful of pounded sugar
is sometimes added to this soubise.
White part of onions, 2 lbs.: blanched 5 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.: 30
to 50 minutes. Béchamel, 3/4 to 1 pint, or more.
Obs.—These sauces are served more frequently with lamb or
mutton cutlets than with any other dishes; but they would probably
find many approvers if sent to table with roast mutton, or boiled veal.
Half the quantity given above will be sufficient for a moderate-sized
dish.
 MILD RAGOUT OF GARLIC, OR, L’AIL À LA BORDELAISE.

Divide some fine cloves of garlic, strip off the skin, and when all
are ready throw them into plenty of boiling water slightly salted; in
five minutes drain this from them, and pour in as much more, which
should also be quite boiling; continue to change it every five or six
minutes until the garlic is quite tender: throw in a moderate
proportion of salt the last time to give it the proper flavour. Drain it
thoroughly, and serve it in the dish with roast mutton, or put it into
good brown gravy or white sauce for table. By changing very
frequently the water in which it is boiled, the root will be deprived of
its naturally pungent flavour and smell, and rendered extremely mild:
when it is not wished to be quite so much so, change the water every
ten minutes only.
Garlic, 1 pint: 15 to 25 minutes, or more. Water to be changed
every 5 or 6 minutes; or every 10 minutes when not wished so very
mild. Gravy or sauce, 1 pint.
 MILD ESCHALOT SAUCE.

Prepare and boil from half to a whole pint of eschalots by the

preceding receipt; unless very large, they will be tender in about
fifteen minutes, sometimes in less, in which case the water must be
poured from them shortly after it has been changed for the second
time. When grown in a suitable soil, and cultivated with care, the
eschalots are sometimes treble the size that they are under other
circumstances; and this difference must be allowed for in boiling
them. Drain them well, and mix them with white sauce or gravy, or
with good melted butter, and serve them very hot.
 A FINE SAUCE, OR PURÉE OF VEGETABLE MARROW.

Pare one or two half-grown marrows and cut out all the seeds;
take a pound of the vegetable, and slice it, with one ounce of mild
onion, into a pint of strong veal broth or of pale gravy; stew them
very softly for nearly or quite an hour; add salt and cayenne, or white
pepper, when they are nearly done; press the whole through a fine
and delicately clean hair-sieve; heat it afresh, and stir to it when it
boils about the third of a pint of rich cream. Serve it with boiled
chickens, stewed or boiled veal, lamb cutlets, or any other delicate
meat. When to be served as a purée, an additional half-pound of the
vegetable must be used; and it should be dished with small fried
sippets round it. For a maigre dish, stew the marrow and onion quite
tender in butter, and dilute them with half boiling water and half
cream.
Vegetable marrow, 1 lb.; mild onion, 1 oz.; strong broth or pale
gravy, 1 pint: nearly or quite 1 hour. Pepper or cayenne, and salt as
needed; good cream, from 1/4 to 3/4 of pint. For purée, 1/2 lb. more
of marrow.
 EXCELLENT TURNIP, OR ARTICHOKE SAUCE FOR BOILED
MEAT.

Pare, slice, and boil quite tender, some finely-grained mild turnips,
press the water from them thoroughly, and pass them through a
sieve. Dissolve a slice of butter in a clean saucepan, and stir to it a
large teaspoonful of flour, or mix them smoothly together before they
are put in, and shake the saucepan round until they boil: pour to
them very gradually nearly a pint of thin cream (or of good milk
mixed with a portion of cream), add the turnips with a half-
teaspoonful or more of salt, and when the whole is well mixed and
very hot, pour it over boiled mutton, veal, lamb, or poultry. There
should be sufficient of the sauce to cover the meat entirely;[58] and
when properly made it improves greatly the appearance of a joint. A
little cayenne tied in a muslin may be boiled in the milk before it is
mixed with the turnips. Jerusalem artichokes make a more delicate
sauce of this kind even than turnips; the weight of both vegetables
must be taken after they are pared.
58. The objection to masking a joint with this or any other sauce is, that it
speedily becomes cold when spread over its surface: a portion of it at least
should be served very hot in a tureen.

Pared turnips or artichokes, 1 lb.; fresh butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1

large teaspoonful (twice as much if all milk be used); salt, 1/2
teaspoonful or more; cream, or cream and milk mixed, from 3/4 to 1
pint.
 OLIVE SAUCE.

Remove the stones from some fine French or Italian olives by

paring the fruit close to them, round and round in the form of a
corkscrew: they will then resume their original shape when done.
Weigh six ounces thus prepared, throw them into boiling water, let
them blanch for five minutes; then drain, and throw them into cold
water, and leave them in it from half an hour to an hour,
proportioning the time to their saltness; drain them well, and stew
them gently from fifteen to twenty-five minutes in a pint of very rich
brown gravy or Espagnole (see Chapter IV.); add the juice of half a
lemon, and serve the sauce very hot. Half this quantity will be
sufficient for a small party.
Olives, stoned, 6 oz.; rich gravy, 1 pint: 15 to 25 minutes. Juice,
1/2 lemon.
Obs.—In France this sauce is served very commonly with ducks,
and sometimes with beef-steaks, and with stewed fowl.
 CELERY SAUCE.

Slice the white part of from three to five heads of young tender
celery; peel it if not very young, and boil it in salt and water for twenty
minutes. If for white sauce put the celery, after it has been well
drained, into half a pint of veal broth or gravy, and let it stew until it is
quite soft; then add an ounce and a half of butter, mixed with a
dessertspoonful of flour, and a quarter of a pint of thick cream or the
yolks of three eggs. The French, after boiling the celery, which they
cut very small, for about twenty minutes, drain and chop it; then put it
with a slice of butter into a stewpan, and season it with pepper, salt,
and nutmeg; they keep these stirred over the fire for two or three
minutes, and then dredge in a dessertspoonful of flour: when this
has lost its raw taste, they pour in a sufficient quantity of white gravy
to moisten the celery, and to allow for twenty minutes’ longer boiling.
A very good common celery sauce is made by simply stewing the
celery cut into inch-lengths in butter, until it begins to be tender; and
then adding a spoonful of flour, which must be allowed to brown a
little, and half a pint of good broth or beef gravy, with a seasoning of
pepper or cayenne.
Celery, 3 to 5 heads: 20 minutes. Veal broth, or gravy, 1/2 pint; 20
to 40 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1 dessertspoonful; cream, 1/4
pint, or three yolks of eggs.
 WHITE CHESTNUT SAUCE.

Strip the outer rind from six ounces of sound sweet chestnuts,
then throw them into boiling water, and let them simmer for two or
three minutes, when the second skin will easily peel off. Add to them
three quarters of a pint of good cold veal gravy, and a few strips of
lemon rind, and let them stew gently for an hour and a quarter. Press
them, with the gravy, through a hair-sieve reversed and placed over
a deep dish or pan, as they are much more easily rubbed through
thus than in the usual way: a wooden spoon should be used in
preference to any other for the process. Add a little cayenne and
mace, some salt if needed, and about six tablespoonsful of rich
cream. Keep the sauce stirred until it boils, and serve it immediately.
Chestnuts without their rinds, 6 oz.; veal gravy, 1 pint; rind of 1/2
lemon: 1-1/4 hour. Salt; spice; cream, 6 tablespoonsful.
Obs.—This sauce may be served with turkey, with fowls, or with
stewed veal cutlets.
 BROWN CHESTNUT SAUCE.

Substitute rich brown gravy for the veal stock, omit the lemon-rind
and cream, heighten the seasonings, and mix the chestnuts with a
few spoonsful of Espagnole or highly flavoured gravy, after they have
been passed through the sieve.
 PARSLEY-GREEN, FOR COLOURING SAUCES.

Gather a quantity of young parsley, strip it from the stalks, wash it

very clean, shake it as dry as possible in a cloth, pound it in a mortar,
press all the juice closely from it through a hair-sieve reversed, and
put it into a clean jar; set it into a pan of boiling water, and in about
three minutes, if gently simmered, the juice will be poached
sufficiently; lay it then upon a clean sieve to drain, and it will be
ready for use.
Spinach-green, for which particular directions will be found at the
commencement of Chapter XXIV., is prepared in the same manner.
The juice of various herbs pounded together may be pressed from
them through a sieve and added to cold sauces.
 TO CRISP PARSLEY.

Wash some branches of young parsley well, drain them from the
water, and swing them in a clean cloth until they are quite dry; place
them on a sheet of writing paper in a Dutch oven, before a brisk fire,
and keep them frequently turned until they are quite crisp. They will
become so in from six to eight minutes.