The social ecology of border landscapes

Border Region

Global, Balkans, Korea, Mexico, United States, Cyprus, Germany, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Australia, Amazon, Mediterranean

Language(s)

Anglais

Type

Note on a scientific book publication

Main Category

Other

Regional Development – Sustainability

Governance – Power – Cooperation

Introduction

The aim of this book is to show how social and ecological structures can soften borders and barriers and create resilient spaces and communities.

Summary

The aim of the book is to show what means exist to soften borders and avoid the discrimination and marginalisation that separation can generate. To extend the debate, the book draws on the theoretical framework of social ecology. Social ecology is concerned with the complex relations between nature and society and seeks to provide perspectives by showing how environmental issues are dependent on the social context.

Content

The book is divided into four parts each with a different spatial and conceptual approach: the frames, bridges, corridors and portals. In each part, it is shown how borders, tangible or intangible, are not only the result of politics and power, but that they also represent human and non-human interactions.

Part I is devoted to a theoretical presentation of the framework of border environments.

Part II examines contemporary territorial limits (from geographical borders to social boundaries) and presents a number of projects with sociological-ecological practices involving resilience, restoration and reclamation, which build bridges between territories.

Part III examines projects in the interstitial space between borders. It explores the biodiversity of no man's lands and social exchanges in this type of territory such a refugee camps.

Part IV describes militancy and reterritorialisation processes in decolonisation processes.

The tables of contents is as follows:

Introduction social ecologies and borderlands

Part I. Frames: mapping social ecologies in border territories

Chapter one on the agency of borderlands, Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly
Chapter two social ecology and transboundary conservation: (re)connecting nature and people in borderlands, Kevan Zunckel
Chapter three social ecologies and structural violence: boundary-making as nature-making in a gated globe, Hilary Cunningham and Stephen Bede Scharper

Part II. Bridges : resilience, restoration and reclamation

Chapter four borders as zones of experiential learning: the case of the balkans peace park project, Todd Walters and Saleem H. Ali
Chapter five social ecologies in borderlands: crane habitat restoration and sustainable agriculture project in the democratic people’s republic of korea, Hall Healy, George Archibald and Arthur H. Westing
Chapter six socio-ecological transformations in riparian zones: the production of spaces of exclusion and the uneven development of resilience in the sonoran borderlands, Lily A. House-Peters
Chapter seven from no-man’s land to every-man’s land: socio-ecological approaches to reclaiming shared spaces in border landscapes, with examples from germany and Cyprus, Anna Grichting

Part III. Corridors:: catalysts and collaboration in confined spaces

Chapter eight ensuring hope in militarized landscapes: the case of Lebanon, Rabih Shibli
Chapter nine domesticating and enlarging one’s territory: day-to-day politics in a confined space—the shu’fat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, Sylvaine Bulle
Chapter ten urban alternatives and collaborative economics in belfast’s contested space, Brendan Murtagh

Part IV. Portals:: dialogue, exception and reterritorialization

Chapter eleven australia day: a social ecology dialogue across aboriginal and white cultures, Carol Birrell and Stuart B. Hill
Chapter twelve re-legislating the soil: enclosures and exception at the amazon frontiers, Paulo Tavares
Chapter thirteen mediterranean edges: reterritorializing natural and social ecologies, Verena Andermatt Conley

Conclusion making sense of social ecology, borders and the environment, Michele Zebich-Knos

Conclusions

Borders are also lines that separate people, places, things and even minds. It is at this intersection that hybrid cultures can develop. Through the case studies it contains, the book shows that the inhabitants of these political border regions are looking for a balance and a sense of community.

Finally the last chapter draws two major conclusions:

to produce relevant policies and manage borders, integrating local needs and behaviours is essential
border environments should be considered as being part of a large global community and not as isolated ecosystems.

Key Messages

The notion of the border is very diverse and must be addressed using several different approaches. The book uses the social ecology of landscapes approach. The main idea in the book is that the creation of natural spaces in conflict-affected border territories is a way of soothing tensions. Through these case studies, it attempts to demonstrate the importance of local context and the population to surpass these limits.

Lead

Anna Grichting, Assistant Professor, Qatar University

Michele Zebich-Knos, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs, Kennesaw State University/University System of Georgia (Atlanta, USA)

Author of the entry

Perrine

Dethier

Contributions

Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly

Kevan Zunckel

Hilary Cunningham

Stephen Bede Scharper

Todd Walters

Saleem H. Ali

Hall Healy

George Archibald