Piers Blaikie

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Piers Macleod Blaikie (born January 29, 1942 ) is a British geographer . With his work on the beneficiaries of soil erosion in Nepal , he laid the foundation stone for the development of political ecology in 1985 .

Life

Piers Blaikie retired in 2002 after 30 years of active research on political, environmental and development issues. Most recently he was a professor at the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia .

After studying geography from 1964 (Bachelor and Master) at the University of Cambridge , Blaikie received his doctorate there in 1971. In 1990 he finally became a professor and taught a. a. in Trondheim, Los Angeles, Berkeley Hawaii a. a. He was accepted into the Royal Norwegian Scientific Society in 1999 and received an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2009 .

Political ecology

In 1985 Blaikie published the book Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries in a small edition . He argues that the problem of soil erosion in developing countries (now known as the Global South ) should not only be viewed in terms of mismanagement, overpopulation or environmental conditions. Political economy effects played the more important role much more often. Based on an investigation of rural agriculture in Nepal, he shows that the problematic environmental conditions are based on the power structures and that an improvement will only happen if it does not seriously endanger the profit interests of the ruling class. Blaikie wrote: "A principal conclusion of this book is that soil erosion in lesser developed countries will not be substantially reduced unless it seriously threatens the accumulation possibilities of the dominant classes" (page 147).

Blaikie focused on the structures of power, economy and dominance structures in the investigation of the destruction of nature and the environment in the countries of the Global South and thus laid the foundation for a politically critical consideration of environmental and natural issues. The approach of conventional (human) geography, which is more influenced by cultural and ethnological theories, when considering the "human-environment" or "human-nature" relationship was brought into contact with geopolitical real-world problems .

Blaikie continued to do research in political agricultural economics, policy analysis and topics such as AIDS / HIV in Africa. His regional focus is on India, Nepal and southern Africa.

Publications

Piers Blaikie is co-author of 17 books and monographs and has written various book chapters and specialist articles on political ecology and environmental policy. His most important publications include:

  • (2007) Forests, People and Power: the Political Ecology of Reform in South Asia. Eds. Springate-Baginski and Blaikie. Earthscan, London and Sterling, VA.
  • (2003) At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters. Ben Wisner, Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon and Ian Davis. London, Routledge.
  • (1987) Land Degradation and Society. Piers Blaikie and Harold Brookfield . Methuen.
  • (1985) Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries.  Longman Development Series, No. 1, Longman, London, 188 pp. Reprinted in Pearson Education, 2000.

literature

  • Raymond Bryant, Michael K. Goodman: A pioneering reputation: Assessing Piers Blaikie's contributions to political ecology . In: Geoforum . tape 39 , no. 2 , 2008, p. 708-715 , doi : 10.1016 / j.geoforum.2007.01.012 .
  • Joshua Muldavin: The time and place for political ecology: An introduction to the articles honoring the life-work of Piers Blaikie . In: Geoforum . tape 39 , no. 2 , 2008, p. 687-697 , doi : 10.1016 / j.geoforum.2007.07.003 .
  • Jonathan Rigg: Piers Blaikie . In: David Simon (Ed.): Fifty Key Thinkers on Development . Routledge, New York et al. a. 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-33789-2 , pp. 35-39 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Group V Geografi, økonomi, sosialantropologi, Sosial- og helsevitenskap. Royal Norwegian Scientific Society, accessed January 10, 2018 (Norwegian).
  2. ↑ Årbok 2016. Royal Norwegian Scientific Society, accessed January 10, 2018 (Norwegian).
  3. ↑ Æresdoktor. NTNU, accessed January 10, 2018 (Norwegian).
  4. ^ Piers Blaikie. (1985) The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries . Longman.
  5. ↑ David Simon (ed) (2006) Fifty Key Thinkers in Development, Routledge
personal data
SURNAME Blaikie, piers
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blaikie, Piers Macleod (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British geographer
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1942