UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies (E-Journal - York University)
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Get PDFThe representation of nature in text and image presents specific problems. Central to this challenge is the distance between the thing one verbally or visually articulates and the thing itself. [...
Techno-nature on Graham Island, Haida Gwaii
No full textI came to these islands at the edge of the world looking for nature, pure and pristine. Before me a century of settlers had come, bringing with them first plows (which they left and abandoned), then cars (which they left and abandoned). (Some of those cars still drive, but when word gets around that a police cruiser is visiting from the mainland, the more beat-up jalopies, unlicensed & uninsured, hide out until the roads are safe for them again.) I came armed with notebook, to do research. Instead I sunk into the moss, the dense, misty wetness of the earth. Like these cars, excess and refuse of industrial civilization, driven as far as they could go, then left stranded, refugees, on these islands, to be reclaimed by nature
Castle Pass, 8000 ft
Get PDFMid-afternoon of the last daywaiting for the first stir of the helicopter[...
Science and the Tatshenshini Controversy
No full textOne of the more celebrated conservation success stories in recent Canadian tory was the protection of the British Columbian portion of the Tatshenshini watershed. Plans to mine a copper deposit at Windy Craggy Mountain, near one of the river's tributaries, were brought to an abrupt halt after the provincial government decided to set the area aside as a Class A Provincial Park in June, 1993. The decision was the result of intensive lobbying efforts on the part of groups and individuals who feared the impacts of mining on wildlife and on a place unmarred by roads, dams and industrial development.
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The Non-Science Science of Complexity Theory: Towards a New Scientific Construction of Nature
No full textIn pre-Enlightenment, nature people were seen as being the determined creation of a divine God. The Aristotelian-Christian world view believed that the world was hierarchically ordered wherein everything had a rightful place and purpose in a divinely created and ordered universe. The Enlightenment challenged this view asserting that the world existed as part of a system that obeyed "natural laws." What was fundamental to the scientific view of the Enlightenment was the strong link it made between reason (represented by humanity) and nature (everything outside of the socio-cultural realm). The Enlightenment concept of nature stressed that the universe was a mechanical system comprised of matter that was in constant motion, which followed the physical laws of nature. [...
Caveat Manipulator: (Re)forming Geographic Information Systems
No full textGeographic Information Systems (GIS) have, within the last few years, engaged the interests of academics and professionals in the many fields- cartography, geography, computer remote sensing, and among others-at whose intersection GIS emerges. An acknowledged limited survey of the writings and issues indicates that much of the material concentrates on methods, technologies, and applications. The dominant tone of the research and work is positivistic and rareified, as if GIS existed outside of any social situation. Writers enthusiastically concern themselves with data models, (hard/soft)ware issues, and quantifiable results and measures.
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