Abstract

The regional political ecology approach entails attention to chains of explanation both up and down scale while acknowledging both the similarities and distinctiveness between and among local level patterns and processes. In this paper, I apply the regional political ecology approach to the study of the rural-urban interface. The rural-urban interface is the site of multi-dimensional (environmental, economic, sociocultural) change as shifts in landscapes and lifestyles iteratively influence land use/management and the cultural context of places in flux. In Calaveras County, California (USA), situated in the Sierra Nevada foothills, certain features of and activities on the landscape are being mobilized by a variety of actors, in different ways, and at cross-purposes. In two cases in particular, specific resources (water) and activities (backyard agriculture) became powerful symbolic figures in increasingly heated public policy debates revolving around the use and value of various landscapes in the area. Using mixed, though mainly ethnographic, methods, I examine these instances of environmental conflict, one revolving around a sheep ranch turned golf course and another focused on the proper place of chickens, along the rural-urban interface. After analyzing the processes of change driving these contested ecologies, I describe the challenges of negotiating what is "acceptable" in the context of place-based change and differently situated actors. I conclude by offering some comments on the difficulties of managing competing expectations of use and function in rural places and arguing the significance of pursuing a particularly regional political ecology.Keywords: rural-urban interface; (regional) political ecology; land and environmental management; contested ecologies; environmental conflict.

Highlights

  • The regional political ecology approach entails attention to chains of explanation both up and down scale while acknowledging both the similarities and distinctiveness between and among local level patterns and processes

  • As evidenced by significant scholarship from geographers, sociologists, and planners, different actors can have different conceptions of the function and value of rural landscapes. These differing definitions of rurality, conceptions of rural place, and contrasting environmental imaginaries impact on land use options and decisions, leading to contested ecologies (Hiner 2016), and cases of environmental conflict due to differing political ideologies and environmental imaginaries (Nesbitt and Weiner 2001, Peet and Watts 2004)

  • In addition to using a political ecology framework, I take an actor-oriented approach, which focuses on the interests and characteristics of different types of actors and seeks to understand "...conflicts as an outcome of the interaction of different actors often pursuing quite distinctive aims and interests" while emphasizing the role of politics in political ecology (Bryant and Bailey 1997: 24)

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Summary

Considering rural places in flux

As evidenced by significant scholarship from geographers, sociologists, and planners, different actors can have different conceptions of the function and value of rural landscapes (see, for example: Cadieux and Hurley 2011, Cloke, Marsden and Mooney 2006, Gallent, Andersson and Bianconi 2006, Gosnell and Abrams 2011, Larsen and Hutton 2011, Lichter and Brown 2011, Pincetl 2006, Taylor 2011, Taylor and Hurley 2016, Travis 2007, Woods 2011) These differing definitions of rurality, conceptions of rural place, and contrasting environmental imaginaries impact on land use options and decisions, leading to contested ecologies (Hiner 2016), and cases of environmental conflict due to differing political ideologies and environmental imaginaries (Nesbitt and Weiner 2001, Peet and Watts 2004). I describe the challenges of negotiating what is "acceptable" in the context of rural place-based change and conclude by 1) offering some comments on the difficulties of managing competing expectations of use and function in rural places in flux, and 2) arguing the significance of pursuing a regional political ecology

Methodology and approach
Site and situation
Contested ecologies: vignettes of change
Action and actors across the rural-urban interface
Negotiating acceptable
Managing competing expectations of land use and function
Findings
10. On the significance of regional political ecologies
Full Text
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