Explore the vast range of titles available.

This paper examines the concept of 'powerful knowledge' and provides new perspectives on an important emergent theory for education. We claim that the key to attaining powerful knowledge is 'epistemic access' to the discipline, which is access of the generative principles of knowledge creation. We draw on 15 years teaching and researching a university science programme in which undergraduate ecology students are trained as researchers during the 3 years they attend university. Hence, there is close alignment between teaching students to do research and powerful knowledge. In addition, it has been suggested that the 'power' in powerful knowledge is realised in what is done with that knowledge, that its purpose is social since it allows the holder to make a better contribution to society. We argue that in addition to such an aspirational 'outcome', it can be part of the process of education and early acquisition of powerful knowledge can influence all subsequent formal and informal learning experiences as the student progresses though university. A model for powerful knowledge is presented in which there is the possibility of powerful action after graduation, but this remains in the theoretical realm while there is very little empirical evidence supporting such a hypothesis for ecology students. Powerful action also questions the limits of responsibility for a teacher. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).

In this paper, we critically interrogate the benefits of an interdisciplinary and theoretically diverse dialogue between ‘local food’ and ‘alternative food networks’ (AFNs) and outline how this dialogue might be enriched by a closer engagement with discourses of food sovereignty and the politics of scale. In arguing for a shift towards a greater emphasis on food sovereignty, we contend that contemporary discourses of food security are inadequate for the ongoing task of ensuring a just and sustainable economy of food. Further, rather than treating the local and the global as ontologically given categories around which to contest the politics of food, it is our contention that recognising the socio-spatial aspects of the politics of scale has the potential to reinvigorate discourses of food security, food sovereignty and AFNs. Understanding scale as both fixed to a degree as well as contingent and dynamic has implications for an understanding of the role of food systems, for how the rescaled state privileges certain food systems and the possibilities for resistance through ‘jumping scale’ and food utopias. All of these aspects are significant if we are to fully comprehend and contest the challenges of envisioning and enacting real utopias of food sovereignty.

Higher education institutions are seen as pivotal for fostering national economic growth in a globalised knowledge economy. Conducting research is an important aspect of that role, and there is pressure on institutions to increase their knowledge production, as well as to offer advanced research degrees. This requires academics with doctoral level qualification who research in their field. Research productivity is important for institutions because it contributes to prestige and better rankings in league tables, which result in more or better resources. This qualitative study examines the notion of ‘turning teachers into academics’ through the experiences of lecturers in a teaching-focused institution in Malaysia seeking university status. Becoming research active requires resources and a supportive environment that were largely unavailable, and so participants experienced an unhealthy intensification of their academic work and struggled to do research or complete their PhD qualifications. The study showed that a successful transition required teachers to be genuinely motivated to do research and the institutions to provide adequate support. Under current circumstances of fierce competition between institutions and the inability to compromise teaching allocations, it is not clear how, or if, such a transition can happen without adversely affecting staff wellbeing.

This article contributes to discussions on capitalist transformation and impact on peripheral agriculture by focusing on the province of Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina. The concept of land grabbing is useful for qualitative analysis of the recent dynamics in the land market in this peripheral territory, where the concentration of land for agrarian use is historical but has accelerated in recent decades with the expansion of soybean cultivation. Tensions between capitalist and noncapitalist actors have been taking place within the current crisis of the world capitalist system and its expansion to marginal lands, often occupied by peasant producers with precarious tenure and different logics to that of market capitalism. The province’s history is characterized by processes of different temporalities and scales of limited capitalist transformation, agrarian land concentration, and exploitation of local populations. This article seeks to understand the overlaps and tensions in these processes. Este artículo contribuye a los debates sobre la transformación capitalista y el impacto en la agricultura periférica, centrándose en la provincia de Santiago del Estero (norte de Argentina). El concepto de acaparamiento de tierras para uso agropecuario es útil para un análisis cualitativo de la dinámica reciente del mercado de tierras en este territorio, aun cuando la concentración de aquellas tierras es anterior y se aceleró en las últimas décadas con el cultivo de soja. Las tensiones entre distintos actores se realizan en el contexto de la crisis del sistema capitalista mundial y su expansión en tierras ocupadas por campesinos con tenencia precaria y con lógicas económicas distintas a las del capitalismo. La historia agraria de la provincia es caracterizada por procesos de distintas temporalidades y escalas. Este artículo busca entender los solapamientos y las tensiones entre estos procesos.

Social mobilization in Latin America today is often characterized by the adoption of discourses and praxes of radical democracy by social movements. Principles of wider participation in decision making are central to the collective communal economic ventures for capitalizing on peasant production of raw materials of the Movimiento Campesino de Santiago del Estero–Vía Campesina, a peasant organization that is fighting for secure land tenure and higher standards of living in one of Argentina's least urbanized and poorest provinces. Although at present the economic impact of these activities is not particularly notable, their importance lies in their contribution to the development of economic, social, and political consciousness among the members of the organization. La movilización social en América Latina hoy en día se caracteriza frecuentemente por la adopción por parte de los movimientos sociales de los discursos y praxis asociados con la democracia radical. Principios de una mayor participación en la toma de decisiones son fundamentales para los colectivos comunales de empresas económicas para la capitalización de la producción campesina de las materias primas del Movimiento Campesino de Santiago del Estero–Via Campesina, una organización campesina que lucha por la tenencia segura de la tierra y mejores niveles de vida en una de las provincias menos urbanizadas y más pobres de la Argentina. Aunque en la actualidad el impacto económico de estas actividades no es particularmente notable, su importancia radica en su contribución al desarrollo de la conciencia económica, social y política entre los miembros de la organización.

A common perception of global resource scarcity holds that it is inevitably a catalyst for conflict among nations; yet, paradoxically, incidents of such scarcity underlie some of the most important examples of international cooperation. This volume examines the wider potential for the experience of scarcity to promote cooperation in international relations and diplomacy beyond the traditional bounds of the interests of competitive nation states. The interdisciplinary background of the book’s contributors shifts the focus of the analysis beyond narrow theoretical treatments of international relations and resource diplomacy to broader examinations of the practicalities of cooperation in the context of competition and scarcity. Combining the insights of a range of social scientists with those of experts in the natural and bio-sciences—many of whom work as ‘resource practitioners’ outside the context of universities—the book works through the tensions between ‘thinking/theory’ and ‘doing/practice’, which so often plague the process of social change. These encounters with scarcity draw attention away from the myopic focus on market forces and allocation, and encourage us to recognise more fully the social nature of the tensions and opportunities that are associated with our shared dependence on resources that are not readily accessible to all. The book brings together experts on theorising scarcity and those on the scarcity of specific resources. It begins with a theoretical reframing of both the contested concept of scarcity and the underlying dynamics of resource diplomacy. The authors then outline the current tensions around resource scarcity or degradation and examine existing progress towards cooperative international management of resources. These include food and water scarcity, mineral exploration and exploitation of the oceans. Overall, the contributors propose a more hopeful and positive engagement among the world’s nations as they pursue the economic and social benefits derived from natural resources, while maintaining the ecological processes on which they depend.

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about the relationship between what are perceived to be scarce natural resources and the tendency for access to them to lead to international conflict or cooperation. The diversity of forms and levels of engagement with resource scarcity and its implications for international relations poses particular problems when one attempts to provide a summary, but insightful, overview to those with more general interests in scarcity or politics. The scarcity of resources and the likelihood of such scarcity leading to international conflict is a common feature of public discourse and speculation. The potential for scarcity to initiate forms of international collaboration or cooperation is a much less common element of how we understand the world. In a global context framed by increasing attention to environmental issues and concerns readily appreciated international implications.

What should be very apparent at this point is that the availability-or perhaps more accurately the accessibility-of resources is a topic that attracts the attention of a wide range of professionals, scholars and activists. In the resulting discourse, global resource scarcity is often regarded as a catalyst for conflict; yet, paradoxically, such scarcity also underlies some of the most important international collaborations. While some natural resources are irrefutably essential for life and human survival, others are more important for livelihoods and economic prosperity. Some resources derive their significance and value from how difficult they are to 'capture' and control, while 'market forces' determine the worth of others. The fact that natural resources underlie existing conceptions of economic security and achievement makes the capacity to control their access and exploitation highly desirable.

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about the relationship between what are perceived to be scarce natural resources and the tendency for access to them to lead to international conflict or cooperation. The diversity of forms and levels of engagement with resource scarcity and its implications for international relations poses particular problems when one attempts to provide a summary, but insightful, overview to those with more general interests in scarcity or politics. The scarcity of resources and the likelihood of such scarcity leading to international conflict is a common feature of public discourse and speculation. The potential for scarcity to initiate forms of international collaboration or cooperation is a much less common element of how we understand the world. In a global context framed by increasing attention to environmental issues and concerns readily appreciated international implications.