Anthropogenic Rivers
Anthropogenic Rivers

Author: Jerome Whitington

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1501730924

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In the 2000s, Laos was treated as a model country for the efficacy of privatized, "sustainable" hydropower projects as viable options for World Bank-led development. By viewing hydropower as a process that creates ecologically uncertain environments, Jerome Whitington reveals how new forms of managerial care have emerged in the context of a privatized dam project successfully targeted by transnational activists. Based on ethnographic work inside the hydropower company, as well as with Laotians affected by the dam, he investigates how managers, technicians and consultants grapple with unfamiliar environmental obligations through new infrastructural configurations, locally-inscribed ethical practices, and forms of flexible experimentation informed by American management theory. Far from the authoritative expertise that characterized classical modernist hydropower, sustainable development in Laos has been characterized by a shift from the risk politics of the 1990s to an ontological politics in which the institutional conditions of infrastructure investment are pervasively undermined by sophisticated ‘hactivism.’ Whitington demonstrates how late industrial environments are infused with uncertainty inherent in the anthropogenic ecologies themselves. Whereas ‘anthropogenic’ usually describes human-induced environmental change, it can also show how new capacities for being human are generated when people live in ecologies shot through with uncertainty. Implementing what Foucault called a "historical ontology of ourselves," Anthropogenic Rivers formulates a new materialist critique of the dirty ecologies of late industrialism by pinpointing the opportunistic, ambitious and speculative ontology of capitalist natures.

Rivers for Life
Rivers for Life

Author: Sandra Postel

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2012-06-22

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1597267805

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The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some "minimum" flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river. In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year. In Rivers for Life, leading water experts Sandra Postel and Brian Richter explain why restoring and preserving more natural river flows are key to sustaining freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems, and describe innovative policies, scientific approaches, and management reforms for achieving those goals. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter: explain the value of healthy rivers to human and ecosystem health; describe the ecological processes that support river ecosystems and how they have been disrupted by dams, diversions, and other alterations; consider the scientific basis for determining how much water a river needs; examine new management paradigms focused on restoring flow patterns and sustaining ecological health; assess the policy options available for managing rivers and other freshwater systems; explore building blocks for better river governance. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter offer case studies of river management from the United States (the San Pedro, Green, and Missouri), Australia (the Brisbane), and South Africa (the Sabie), along with numerous examples of new and innovative policy approaches that are being implemented in those and other countries. Rivers for Life presents a global perspective on the challenges of managing water for people and nature, with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the relevant science, policy, and management issues. It presents exciting and inspirational information for anyone concerned with water policy, planning and management, river conservation, freshwater biodiversity, or related topics.

The I...
The I...

Author: Paul Rosher

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2015-05-07

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1504941322

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The i... are a deeply ancient alien race that have drifted through a galaxy of stars for aeons. A phenomenally advanced culture which scientifically collect samples from every intelligent species which they discover, for closer study. On planet Earth, in late 1970`s Northern England is Arthur MacNeil. Unemployed, homeless and alcoholic, he unwillingly becomes one such sample. The story follows his life leading to his abduction and the strange construct in which he is consequently placed. Like any zoo, where a conscious effort is put into simulating the original environment of the captured specimen, Arthur finds himself in an dark and threatening world, where all periods of time and its associated peoples are represented. It is this disturbing copy of his familiar Tyneside, into which he is thrust without aid, instruction or a guide book. In this sinister town Arthur endures and survives, makes a friend and gradually acquires some local knowledge. Eventually he makes an inventive discovery enabling him to break through into another section of this enormous zoo, which is a cleaner and healthier place, but not without dangers of its own. As he explores this alternative Northumberland, Arthur seeks an understanding for his predicament.

River of Love in an Age of Pollution
River of Love in an Age of Pollution

Author: David Haberman

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-09-01

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 052093962X

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Celebrated as an aquatic form of divinity for thousands of years, the Yamuna is one of India’s most sacred rivers. A prominent feature of north Indian culture, the Yamuna is conceptualized as a goddess flowing with liquid love—yet today it is severely polluted, the victim of fast-paced industrial development. This fascinating and beautifully written book investigates the stories, theology, and religious practices connected with this river goddess collected from texts written over several millennia, as well as from talks with pilgrims, priests, and worshippers who frequent the pilgrimage sites and temples located on her banks. David L. Haberman offers a detailed analysis of the environmental condition of the river and examines how religious practices are affected by its current pollution. He introduces Indian river environmentalism, a form of activism that is different in many ways from its western counterpart. River of Love in an Age of Pollution concludes with a consideration of the broader implications of the Yamuna’s plight and its effect on worldwide efforts to preserve our environment.

Echoes from the Poisoned Well
Echoes from the Poisoned Well

Author: Sylvia Hood Washington

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9780739114322

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This book is an historical examination of environmental justice struggles across the globe from the perspective of environmentally marginalized communities. It is unique in environmental justice histography because it recounts these struggles by integrating the actual voices and memories of communities who grappled with environmental inequalities.

Rivers: A Very Short Introduction
Rivers: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Nick Middleton

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-04-26

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0199588678

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Rivers have played an extraordinarily important role in creating the world in which we live. They create landscapes and provide water to people, plants and animals, nourishing both town and country. The flow of rivers has enthused poets and painters, explorers and pilgrims. Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster; a river may be a barrier or a highway, it can bear trade and sediment, culture and conflict. A river may inspire or it may terrify. This Very Short Introduction is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. Nick Middleton covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography to mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Worshipped and revered, respected and feared, rivers reflect both the natural and social history of our planet. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Rouge River Valley
The Rouge River Valley

Author: James E. Garratt

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2000-04-15

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1770704337

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The Rouge River Valley, eleven thousand acres of urban wilderness, is a unique, yet very fragile and transient natural phenomenon existing within the confines of a major North American city, Toronto. Fed by the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Rouge river system has, over generations of time, cut its identity into the land, shaping the habitat for a multitude of lifeforms, many of which are now either threatened or gone. Author James E. Garratt, a seasoned environmentalist, shares two decades of personal observation and ecological study to reveal the richness and flow of seasonal changes in this exceptional urban park. This "portrait" of a year in the Rouge Valley explores not only the diversity of life in its natural habitat but also the impact of urban sprawl and the inevitable conflict with development. Is it possible to be a true naturalist "grounded" in a modern city? The words of Ian McHarg, an urban planner, hold true: "We need nature as much in the city as in the country."