Sustainability Class May 10

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Wednesday, May 10: Guest Lecture: Sara Jo Breslow

"Drawing on interviews and vignettes from my field work in the Skagit Valley, I will attempt to explore the question: to what degree do differing scales of experience and imagination contribute to the conflict over salmon habitat restoration? Can we account for some of the misunderstanding and contention over salmon recovery by comparing and constrasting the different temporal and spatial scales within which various people (farmers, tribal members, fisheries scientists) negotiate their lives and work? What scales do different people take into account when considering the causes of, and potential solutions to salmon decline?

Some ideas for questions we could explore in discussion: How are considerations of scale and sustainaibility related? E.g. does sustainability depend on consideration of broader scales? Or attention to smaller scales? Or on how different scales intersect? Does sustainability depend on people agreeing on which scales are most significant?"

Here is my written exam on scale. I think the original question was something like: How do scholars in environmental history, political ecology, science studies and environmental anthropology address the question of scale in their work? And how do I plan to address the question of scale in my work? I am hoping this provides some theoretical context for the material from my field season that I plan to present Wednesday, and also provides food for thought for a discussion about scale and sustainability. It is a bit long - 20+ single spaced pages - so I would recommend people read the bits that seem interesting and skim the rest.

In addition, students are welcome to read the piece I wrote for the Community Forestry Research Fellowship newsletter to get an idea of my field site, In and Out of the Communities and Forests-to-be of Salmon Habitat Restoration," Regeneration! Newsletter of the Community Forestry Research Fellowship Program, Summer 2005.