GEOG20003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Terra Nullius, Civil Society, Land Law
16 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
LECTURE 1A: INTRO TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
ACTORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
All have:
• Different values + positions
• Different interests
• Assumptions + popular opinion
Exert influence over a range of different scales
• Local
• Regional
• Sub-national
• Global
LECTURE 1B: KNOWING NATURE
• Castree’s ideas of nature: non-human, intrinsic (inherent, biological) + superordinate (governing forces, elemental)
• Human-made v ‘natural’ – artificial if made by humans
• As biological organisms, humans are inherently part of nature
o Yet we transform the world immensely + see ourselves as separate from nature
• Struggle between resource exploitation v environmental protection
Social Construction of Nature
Very act of making sense of nature brings it into existence – a human conceptualisation to allow understanding
• By identifying + cataloguing it, we are constructing the concept of nature
• If we cannot determine if humans are part of nature, then we cannot define nature
• Interpretations change over time: nature previously seen with terror + something to rule over, now seen with wonder
Nature
• No fixed meaning – causes environmental conflict (e.g science v culture – use of nature)
• Contested term
• Must critically analyse how nature is constructed
LECTURE 2A: AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL
HISTORY
Physical Factors
• 250ma – Pangea
• 45ma – continental movement, Aus splits from Antarctica
• Extremely isolated continent (positives: endemic species, diverse + unique
• Low geologic + tectonic activity (poor soil + flat landscape, drought, floor +
fire)
• Low + variable rainfall
5 PHASES OF ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION
Pre-European Aboriginal Australia (Pre-1788)
• Settlement approx. 60,000 years ago, occurred in waves, whole continent
settled 20,000 years ago
• Population: low density + relatively stable (est <1.5 million in 1788)
• Nature Publication: uses genetic research to show initial migration 50,000ya,
pops spread rapidly on East + West coast, then once settled, stayed in
geographic regions until arrival of Europeans
• Conflicting views of Aboriginal impact pre-invasion
1. Little permanent effect (this view allowed Europeans to claim Terra Nullius
2. Adapted environment + actively shaped it – complex environmental + cultural interaction + complex
responses to environmental challenges
▪ This view more received by scholars
▪ Gammage (2011): argues Aboriginals carefully + systematically managed landscape, curated it
▪ Pascoe (2014): argues Aboriginal nations built sophisticated agriculture + manipulated landscape
▪ Flannery (1994): argues extinction of mega-fauna was influences by Aboriginal over-hunting + fire
European Settlement/Colonisation (1788-1850)
• E. Coast in 1788, settler culture, adopted doctrine of Terra Nullius
o Confiscated land violently
o Exterminated indigenous culture (through disease, battle + missions)
o Put farming + agriculture on land they didn’t understand
• Dispossession = loss of cultural + ecological knowledge of land (eg. firestick farming)
• Changing landscape: (caused environmental collapse)
o Land clearing (pastoral, mining, timber)
o Imported incorrect crops + technology + species (unsuited to Aus, incl. pests + weeds) – invasive species
lead to ecological disruption’
• Crosby (1986): titled this ecological imperialism, a way of thinking about radical transformations
Consolidation (1850-1930)
Key Actors:
• International organisations
• Government (local, state + federal)
• Multilateral bodies (work within +
externally from government)
• Civil society (NGO’s, media)
• Business
Problems in Environmental History
• Selective interpretation of records
• Over generalisations
• Credible authors can be wrong
• Historical records of vegetation +
anthropogenic characteristics can be
incorrect
Why Environmental Histories Matter
• Important for land management goals
(use as baselines)
• Prove relentless change of landscapes
• New stories occur: changing knowledge
+ value systems
Document Summary
Exert influence over a range of different scales: global. Key actors: government (local, state + federal, multilateral bodies (work within + externally from government, civil society (ngo"s, media) Lecture 1b: knowing nature: castree"s ideas of nature: non-human, intrinsic (inherent, biological) + superordinate (governing forces, elemental) Human-made v natural" artificial if made by humans. As biological organisms, humans are inherently part of nature. Yet we transform the world immensely + see ourselves as separate from nature. Very act of making sense of nature brings it into existence a human conceptualisation to allow understanding. By identifying + cataloguing it, we are constructing the concept of nature. If we cannot determine if humans are part of nature, then we cannot define nature. Interpretations change over time: nature previously seen with terror + something to rule over, now seen with wonder. Nature: contested term, must critically analyse how nature is constructed. No fixed meaning causes environmental conflict (e. g science v culture use of nature)
