Tropical Forests, International Jungle The Underside of Global Ecopolitics

by Smouts, Marie-Claude

• ISBN13: 9781403962034
• ISBN10: 1403962030
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-30
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book explores the complexities of what are tropical forests, what role they play not only in environmentalism but in trade, health care, and almost every facet of natural and social life for those living there and beyond. Although for most in the developed world tropical forests have gained a status of part of our world heritage, these forests are not really part of the global commons or a global public good. Developing nations maintain control over the forests within their borders and often use the forests as they see fit. The international system for mediating the issue is a fractured group of non-governmental organizations and transnational networks, often with competing views of how to manage tropical forests. Despite this seemingly grim picture, Marie-Claude Smouts is optimistic. A changing world view toward forest depletion is influencing countries both north and south. Although forests will be used commercially, it is a dynamic process that should maintain them far into the future.

Author Biography

Marie-Claude Smouts is Research Director at the CNRS/CERI and Professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The political construction of an ecological concept	p. 3
The ecological functions of an endangered heritage	p. 6
The stakes of multifunctionality	p. 13
Sustainable development and political rhetoric	p. 17
Tropical forests and global politics	p. 22
The Construction of a Global Issue	p. 26
Versions of deforestation	p. 28
The TFAP: a techno-bureaucratic production	p. 30
Versions of survival: from Chico Mendes to indigenous peoples	p. 35
The global register: the greenhouse effect and biodiversity	p. 43
The forest as World Heritage	p. 45
Of game and trees	p. 48
A Good in Search of a Definition	p. 55
Uncertain knowledge	p. 56
Controversial definitions	p. 56
Competing programs	p. 60
Forest vigilantes	p. 65
Competing epistemic communities	p. 67
Forestry: a profession in suspension	p. 73
The discreet charm of economics	p. 77
The counteroffensive of the social sciences	p. 81
Deforestation: An Endless Debate	p. 84
Seeking the guilty party	p. 87
The poor versus the forest?	p. 87
The agricultural paradigm	p. 94
Intertwined responsibilities	p. 97
The example of the Amazon	p. 97
Industry and large construction projects	p. 101
Forest fires with a message	p. 103
The Timber Trade: Guilty Party and Scapegoat	p. 105
A complex system of interactions	p. 106
A commodity rationale	p. 107
A changing geography	p. 108
The appeal of paper	p. 117
A changing political economy	p. 120
Asian competition	p. 121
Microeconomic networks and illegal dealings	p. 125
Ecopolitics Inch by Inch	p. 129
The emergence of a normative discourse	p. 132
The forest convention: a premature ambition	p. 136
ITTO, FAO, and the World Bank: a continuing education	p. 140
Salvation through the Market?	p. 158
The merchandising of functions	p. 158
The price of sinks	p. 166
Conserving the Tropical Forest	p. 172
The social costs of conservation	p. 173
Protect what and how?	p. 174
Conserve for whom?	p. 177
What funding for the global common good?	p. 181
Sustainable forest management: a conflictual notion	p. 184
An elastic content	p. 185
To each his own truth	p. 188
The French gamble	p. 191
Ecocertification and labeling schemes	p. 195
The round dance of criteria and indicators	p. 195
The rise in power of the Forest Stewardship Council	p. 197
The battle of certificates	p. 205
Beneath the conflicts, ethics?	p. 208
Conclusion	p. 211
Notes	p. 222
Briefing on ITTO'S Project Work	p. 248
List of abbreviations	p. 250
List of Maps	p. 253
Name Index	p. 255
Subject Index	p. 260
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.