Between the local and the global in the Age of the Anthropocene: the case for the “regional” in Environmental Studies and Sciences

Abigail Jahiel ()

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2015, vol. 5, issue 2, 224-230

Abstract: This article notes that two analytical lenses, one focused on the “local” and the other on the “global,” have influenced the Environmental Studies and Sciences (ESS) curriculum from its earliest days. It argues that, while vitally important, in the Age of the Anthropocene, the local/global paradigm is not enough. A necessary corrective is the incorporation of a regional analytical perspective. Such a perspective is needed to provide students with meaningful knowledge of peoples, their livelihoods, and their relationship to ecosystems in parts of the world between the local and the global. Revealing the networked relationships between places in concrete human terms sensitizes students to the complex reasons for ecological destruction and better prepares them to contribute to more just and sustainable outcomes. The paper defines a regional perspective; demonstrates the value of a regional lens to ESS using a case study of one region (Asia) and one environmental issue (land use changes due to commodity crop expansion); reviews empirical information on how the Asian region is presently incorporated in the undergraduate ESS curriculum; and, based on these findings, concludes by addressing how a regional lens might be more fully incorporated in undergraduate ESS teaching. Copyright AESS 2015

Keywords: Environmental curriculum; Regionalism; Asia; Globalization; Anthropocene (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13412-015-0251-y (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:224-230

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13412

DOI: 10.1007/s13412-015-0251-y

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences is currently edited by Walter A. Rosenbaum

More articles in Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences from Springer, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().