Deep environmental policy
Introduction
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with conflicts and environmental changes. Unlike apolitical ecological studies, political ecology politicizes environmental problems and phenomena.
This academic discipline offers wide-ranging studies that integrate ecological social sciences with political economy,[1] on topics such as degradation and marginalization, environmental conflicts, conservation and control, and environmental identities and social movements.[2].
In the Spanish-speaking field, multiple approaches expanded the perspective of political ecology. For example, Marone and Bunge (1998) have proposed a solid epistemological basis for ecological analysis through a rigorous scientific explanation,[3] while Aguiar and Batista (1998) propose an educational approach that considers the environment as a social and political construction.[4] In addition, Tobón (2006) understand the importance of integrating competency-based training in critical environmental education.[5].
These contributions make it possible to enrich and diversify political ecology with conceptual tools applicable to education, environmental planning and territorial management in contexts of inequality.
Origins
The term "political ecology" was first coined by Frank Thone in an article published in 1935.[6] It has been used widely since then in the context of human geography and human ecology, but without a systematic definition. Anthropologist Eric R. Wolf gave it a second life in 1972 in an article titled "Property and Political Ecology", in which he analyzed how local rules of property and inheritance "mediate between the pressures emanating from society at large and the demands of the local ecosystem", but did not develop the concept further. Others attribute the origins of the term to other early works by Eric R. Wolf, Michael J. Watts, Susanna Hecht, and other authors in the 1970s and 1980s.
This academic field originated through the development of developmental geography and cultural ecology,[8] particularly the work of Piers Blaikie") on the sociopolitical origins of soil erosion.[9] Historically, political ecology has focused on phenomena and the developing world; since its inception, "research has primarily sought to understand the political dynamics surrounding material and discursive struggles over the environment in the third world."[10].