Objective
This Call for Papers mainly focuses on South Asia and the Global South in comparative perspectives. The objective is to engage with the discourses of sustainable development from both local and global perspectives related to ecological resources and community livelihood. Local and global perspectives are bridged by incorporating the conceptual/theoretical importance of ecological system in environmental sustainability, and by generating significant policy linkages among local people, nature, and development
Context
The notion of sustainable development has been a dominant discourse at the global level. This concept needs to be dealt with from local perspectives in the context of environmental, economic, social, and transnational dynamics. Based on the global capitalist political economy, this discourse informs how technological and market-economic interventions in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin (GBB) in South Asia and beyond promote certain version of ‘developmental success’. It describes wetland and riverine systems as the major obstacles in promoting agricultural development and focuses more on ecological development with water development programs such as the Flood Action Plan (FAP) in Bangladesh. It has scored major successes in agricultural development, economic growth, and food security in the GBB area and beyond.
However, such successes have been achieved at great cost such as environmental degradation. Furthermore, local discourse of sustainable development in the context of fertile land, superfluous wild fish, and community bonding are losing their grounds due to the continuous decrease of the riverine system and common pool resources. Environmental degradation – flooding, river bank erosion, salinity, arsenic contamination, water logging, and drought – are causing further vulnerabilities with social inequality (Hossen 2017).
Under these circumstances, it is essential to address the socio-ecological concerns in maintaining the ongoing success. Sustainability approach can be helpful in addressing these concerns, with democratic participation of the local communities(Giddens 2009; Sultana and Loftus 2012),which can be promoted by civil society (Blaikie 1985). Under the framework of environmental governance, an achievable goal is to create the basin scale ecosystem (Adger Adger, Brown, Fairbrass, Jordan, Paavola, Rosendo, and Seyfang 2003; Hossen and Wagner 2016; Wagner 2010). Giddens (2009) emphasized this sustainability perspective with four principles: (1) ecological wisdom (ecological harmony or equilibrium), (2) social justice, (3) participatory democracy and nonviolence, (4) sustainability and respect for diversity. Giddens (2009: 36) focuses on the coordination between sustainability and development, though they may be perceived to be two competing concepts. Other scholars (e.g., Hajer 1995, Jänicke 1997, Martell 1994, and Spargaaren 1987) proposed the notion of ‘green society’ as the foundation for sustainable development. The term green society is described here as a society where the adopted development approach will not harm the ecological base of the nature.
Here a major question needs to be unpacked and answered to better understand the feasibility of this green society notion for environmental sustainability: can the green society be achieved with the green capitalism, currently being pursued by the global perspective of sustainable development? As a response, Martell (1994) was not convinced by the capitalist framework, while Spaargaren (1987) and Mol (1995) emphasized on developing green capitalism with soft technology. However, soft technology cannot establish the fourth industrial revolution and robotic society based on the principle of the global capitalist political economy. The notion of sustainable development needs to be addressed effectively to achieve sustainability as the ultimate goal. The collectivist intervention in coordinating with the techno-sphere, bio-sphere, and socio-sphere can be helpful in promoting sustainability (Martell 1994; Ostrom 1990).
Themes & Topics
▪ Discourse on sustainable development: theory and practice
▪ Science, politics, modernity, and development
▪ Basin Governance and environmental sustainability perspective
▪ Agricultural development and food security
▪ Environmental degradation and social problems
▪ Ecological system and community sustainability
▪ Democracy, civil society, and representation
Submission Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures
Papers should be submitted, together with the author’s CV (maximally 4 pages) and a cover letter, by email to this Call’s Lead-Editor M. Anwar Hossen and the journal’s Editor-in-Chief Pak Nung Wong, with contact details below.
Submissions must be written in lucid and accessible English language with policy-makers as the main intended audience. Papers should be original and must not be submitted to another journal or publisher for consideration of publication.
Submitted papers will be reviewed and selected by the responsible editors for their relevance and quality. Each selected paper will be sent to peer-reviewers in the second-round assessments. Authors will be notified of the results as soon as the reviewers’ reports are available. When a revised article is accepted for publication, it will be scheduled for publication in a regular Bandung issue.
Author’s instructions are available at:
https://brill.com/fileasset/downloads_products/Author_Instructions/BJGS.pdf.
Any inquiries may be sent to the two responsible editors:
M. Anwar Hossen
Department of Sociology,
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: anwar_sociology@du.ac.bd
Pak Nung Wong
Department of Politics,
Languages & International Studies
University of Bath, U.K.
Email: p.wong@bath.ac.uk
References
Adger, W Neil, K. Brown, J. Fairbrass, A. Jordan, J. Paavola, S. Rosendo, and G. Seyfang (2003). ‘Governance for Sustainability: Towards a “Thick” Analysis of Environmental Decision Making’. Environment and Planning A. 35: 1095-1110.
Blaikie P. (1985). The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries. London and New York: Longman
Giddens, A. (2009). The Politics of Climate Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hajer M. A. (1995). The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Hossen, M.A. and J. Wagner 2016. ‘The Need for Community Inclusion in Water Basin Governance in Bangladesh’. Bandung: Journal of the Global South 3:18: 1-17.
Hossen, M.A. (2017). Water Policy and Governance in South Asia: Empowering Rural Community. London and New York: Routledge.
Jänicke M. (1997). ‘The Political System’s Capacity for Environmental Policy’. In: Jänicke M., H. Jörgens, & H.Weidner (Eds.) (1997) National Environmental Policies. Heidelberg: Springer.
Martell, L. (1994). Ecology and Society: An Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Mol, A. P. J. (1995). The Refinement of Production; Ecological modernization Theory and the Chemical Industry. Utrecht: Van Arkel.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peet, R and M. Watts (Eds.) (1996). Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development Social Movements. New York: Routledge.
Sultana, F. and A. Loftus (Eds.) (2012). The Right to Water: Politics, Governance and Social Struggles. London: Earthscan.
Wagner, J. (2010). ‘Water Governance Today’. Anthropology News 51(1): 5-9.