DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin
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Book review: Handbuch Diskurs und Raum. Theorien und Methoden für die Humangeographie sowie die sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Raumforschung.: Glasze, Georg, Annika Mattissek (Hrsg.). Bielefeld 2021
No full textThe challenge of upgrading white shrimp production in central Vietnam and the potential of farming cooperatives
Full text linkAquaculture in Vietnam expanded significantly over the past two decades and contributed to poverty alleviation among smallholders. Upstream value chains of shrimp farming in Vietnam are characterized by a high degree of informality, a high number of intermediate layers in trade and power asymmetries between farmers, suppliers and buyers. Input supply such as feed and fingerlings for shrimps account for 60% to 80% of overall cost in white shrimp production. Reducing the cost of input supply would therefore significantly improve income and welfare of farmers. Hence, this study focuses on the characteristics of business relationships between farmers and input suppliers and explores the possibilities of farmers to improve their bargaining position. In particular, the potential of horizontal coordination in the form of cooperatives is evaluated. Characteristics of business relationships and possibilities to (individually and collectively) improve their bargaining positions of farmers are evaluated within the conceptual frame of global value chains and upgrading. The paper argues that despite previous unsuccessful attempts to establish cooperatives, horizontal coordination is an important measure in order to counter high dependencies from supply agents. However, in order to be successful, attempts to coordinate need a clear value proposition for farmers, engagement and communication among farmers and government support in funding the necessary infrastructure.
 
Discursive representations of cities in northeast Germany
Full text linkDiscursive representations are some of the most important ascriptions for cities and regions in the neo-liberal competition for inhabitants, tourists and companies. This holds especially true for shrinking regions since they feel the pressure of interregional and international rivalry particularly strongly. These representations are formed through language and actions. By analyzing three German cities – Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald – this paper explores the role of print media in the production of discursive representations in an urban context. Through the methodologic approach of a lexicometric discourse analysis nearly 2000 articles spanning the years 2009 to 2018 were taken from the Süddeutsche Tageszeitung (SZ) and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), two of Germany’s biggest and most read national daily newspapers, and were analyzed. While the media coverage of Rostock and Greifswald seem to attest a strong and dynamic position that seems to neglect the stigmata attached to shrinking cities and regions, Stralsund seems to play a minor role and might really be caught up in a shrinking discourse
The expansion of supermarkets and the establishment of delivery systems and intermediaries for fresh fruit and vegetables in the Global South – the case of Kenya and Tanzania
Full text linkIn the last three decades, supermarket chains from the countries of the Global North expanded in the Global South. The regions of interest were, in particular, those countries in which new market potentials resulted from economic development. There is also the trend that domestic supermarket chains are developing in the countries of the Global South. A number of studies in the Global South analyzes the impact on agricultural producers by incorporating them into delivery systems to supermarkets. However, little evidence exists yet on how the delivery systems are organized by intermediaries between agricultural producers and the supermarket chains in the Global South. Especially for fresh produce (vegetables, fruit) special challenges occur., e.g. concerning infrastructures This article will examine the relationship between the spatial and temporal expansion of supermarket chains and the establishment of delivery systems/intermediaries using the example of fresh produce in the countries of Kenya and Tanzania
Book review: Wladimir Köppen – Scholar for Life; Wladimir Köppen – ein Gelehrtenleben für die Meteorologie: Else Wegener-Köppen, Jörn Thiede (Eds.). Stuttgart 2018
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Places of well-being in a French region. Lyon residents and their preferences
Full text linkThis paper seeks to reveal the key territorial components of people’s well-being. To this end, a method that makes it possible to (1) identify the components that potentially constitute well-being within a given territory and (2) determine, on the basis of individuals’ reported preferences, those areas that are most or least likely to meet these individuals’ needs has been developed and used. It reveals that natural amenities, access to health services, and safety are the most important factors for Lyon residents’ well-being. Taking as our starting point the preferred territorial components of Lyon residents, we identify the areas where their well-being would be greatest
Relational governance of territorial resources in post-colonial Africa – A new analytic framework
Full text linkCurrent political sociology scholarship suggests that limited state autonomy from societal organisations undermines state enforcement capacity throughout the national territory, and therefore does superficial separation of the state from civil society (or formal from informal institutions) in the conceptualisation of what effective state system ought to be. These conceptions contradict realities in post-colonial Africa where societal organisations have evolved to bear ‘state-like’ qualities in resource governance, especially in remote locations where the state has no promising alternative to accommodating inputs from revered institutions or charismatic actors to complement its functions. Colonial experiences in Africa have produced institutional pluralism and a consequential split loyalty to the state in the post-independence era. Apparently, limited state autonomy sometimes refract or obstruct state visions; the resultant co-governance regime does not imply ‘wishy-washy’ state leadership. This is because state formation processes have produced an intermeshed governance of people, places, and resources through a complicated interplay between entities which have become indistinct in terms of functions, and hence cannot be simplistically categorised as either formal or informal, state or non-state. In this sense, the activity of regulating affairs in the post-colonial regime is characterised by relational governance – a form of governance sutured via reciprocal relation(s) between multiple actors across differentspatial scales and milieus. Drawing on an empirical study of biofuel projects in Ghana, we believe a relational governance approach provides an analytic framework to challenge this orthodoxy in governance studies and refresh discussions on the nature of state-society relations required for effective governance of territorial resources in postcolonial regimes characterised by institutional pluralism
Narratives and practices of environmental justice
Full text linkThis editorial provides an overview of the roots of environmental justice movement and scholarship. It identifies emerging frontiers of environmental justice research and introduces the contributions of this special issue. Finally, we call for further research on the role of the state in environmental justice struggles and for more participatory methodologies in environmental justice research
Military forces and COVID-19 as smokescreens for Amazon destruction and violation of indigenous rights
Full text linkThe President of Brazil has adopted an anti-environmental stance since taking office in January 2019, weakening the rights of indigenous peoples and environmental legislation and militarizing the environmental and indigenous agencies. The president’s stance on the COVID-19 pandemic gives priority to economic development rather than to saving lives. The administration’s environment minister even suggested taking advantage of the media’s attention being focussed on the pandemic as an ‘opportunity’ to weaken environmental legislation. Here we argue that both the pandemic and the militarization of Brazil’s environmental protection have served as smokescreens to weaken environmental protections, and have also put Brazil’s indigenous peoples at risk and violated their rights