My evaluation on current event on Kanchan case in Nepal.
Quite surprised seeing unilateral views on this topic, even from highly respected people. First, they watched Kanchan talking and started blaming her husband; and now, they saw her husband responding and started blaming Kanchan. Why do we always act like mindless emotional fools? Fact is simple, their married life had problems, directly/indirectly both of them exaggerated it and broke up without clear financial settlement. Apart from Mr. Regmi, Kanchan's family was far more responsible for what she is at the moment. NOW: Kanchan is in a mood to avenge, Mr. Regmi is willing to close the chapter that remained open in the past but wants minimum damage in his side. Diksha and Kantipur could have helped mend them at this point even without broadcasting that story, esp. as it will have negative impacts on their own two kids... In a way, both are the losers... winners here are publicity hungry NGOs like the one by Diksha Chapagain, who trade emotions and family values for their benefits (will donors ever learn that their project achievements indicators need to be changed?) and TRP hungry media like Kantipur who sell stories without basic fact-checking (Will media ever maintain basic ethics in communication?)... and to be very frank, root of the problem lies in our society...where we assume husband-wife relations should last for eternity. Come on, time has changed and we gotta accept it, and have to be more practical and more liberal. If it doesn't work, make things easy and give way to others. You can't trap anyone just because you married that person once. parent relationship in this case we do need to wait sons's story whoever may be guilty

Field trip to Enchanted Rock Texas

My first field trip in my first year of PhD. program with Dr. Earl for the geo-morphological was one of its kind in terms of learning how geomorphological study of the enchanted rock (granite) one of the oldest rocks in the Texas point from which the state began forming billions of years ago.

 Though its just about 1820 feet dropped its height 

  From 1840, its feels like you are on top of the highest elevation in the State

Amazing Landscape for Hiking and refreshing air..but beware of Rattle Snakes..

Fossils around Enchanted Rock Area

Dr. Earl describing about formation of black patches on the summit of the Enchanted Rock as a process of continuing weathering that may lead to form a vernal pool after millions of years in the future.






Fossils around Enchanted Rock Area




PanoramicView of Enchanted Rock Area

My Experiences and Learning outcomes (Environmental Justice Course at UW)

           The course on “environmental justice” has broadly widened my understanding of environment and justice from interdisciplinary approach. The essay “In Search of Nature” (1995) by William Cronon (1995), the work of Evans (2002) and Guha’s work on interpretation on contested notions of environment helped me to understand the meaning of environment from multiple perspectives.  I came to understand how the concept of environment is profoundly influenced by social, cultural, economic, political and technological settings due to which different versions of environment co-exist in society. It was interesting for me that these contested concepts were included in our academic discussion combined with examples from day-to day happenings.

The course provided opportunity for me to learn about leading contemporary political thinker, scholars and their contribution in the areas of philosophical concepts of justices. These extended from Mill’s greatest happiness principle to Rawls’s difference principle and finally to  Irish Young’s social connection model (2011)  who provided philosophical yet   applicable thoughts to see the issues of justices revolving around environmental policy planning and decision making process.

The most important aspect of this course that received through knowledge on understanding the environmental justice cases and movements in the USA. The justice component in relation to environment helped to understand the extent of the problem. For example, some of the important studies on this topic  by General Accounting Office (1983) report, United Church of Christ (UCC) study in 1987 and Bullard (1990) showed strong correlations to race, class and gender makeup, the environmental justice framework of looking at the environment was attractive to me. I felt alienated from these issues discussed in the classroom because they did not deal with communities similar to those in which I was raised. Now, I am able to identify the causes of these issues at the organizational, social, cultural,  economic and public policy levels with potential solutions to the problem.
Similarly, I came to learn about analyzing the interwoven concepts of recognition, distribution participation and capability, how they are embedded in environmental justice and learned that justice cannot be served if we look into these dimensions of justice in isolation. The course materials and scholarly literature review on these concepts largely contributed to my application of these concepts in the context of national and transnational environmental justice issues.

               The other important aspect of this course is its  focus on how government’s regulatory structure, priorities and conflicting of nature of political responsibility can decrease motivation for environmental enforcement. For example while President Bill Clinton signed the Executive Order 12898  that nominally committed the federal government to see the issues environment justice in their policies, planning and programs , it was clearly seen that Bush administration did not direct its policies to establish goals for integrating environmental justice into its plans and programs to the extent of the order. Thus, government totally failed to deliver its political responsibility. The political responsibility as per Young in connection to her “Social Connection Model” (Young 2011) is the collective responsibility that needs to be taken by all the stakeholders and political parties to create a just society in the future.

In conclusion, I have now robust and substantial understanding on the concepts environment and justice.  I have learned to incorporate about the notions of distributive, procedural and structured justices that can serve to address the issues of environmental injustices occurring around the globe. These concepts have certainly developed my policy aptitude to deal with current environmental justice issues in developed and developing country. I hope the theoretical knowledge on concepts of environment and justice combined with their practical applications will largely helped me to address  interdisciplinary to tackle pressing environmental issues of our time.

References:
 Bullard, R. D. (1983). Solid waste sites and the black Houston community. Sociological Inquiry 53, pp. 273–228.
Bullard, R. D. (1990). Dumping in  Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality.  Boulder, CO: Westview Press (12).
Bullard, RD (2000). People  of Color Environmental Groups Directory. Flint, MI: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Bullard, R.D,   (2004). The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, p.144.
Cronon, William. (1995),  “Introduction:  In Search of Nature” in Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature.  New York:  Norton, pp.23-56.
Cutter, S. L. (1996).  Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 20,  pp. 529–539.
Cutter, S.L., Boruff, B.J., & Shirley, W.L. (2003).  Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 84, pp. 242–261.
Coalition against Bayer Dangers(2005,) CBGnetwork(at)aol.com, retrieved on April 15,2012.
Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations” found at http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/execordr.html. Retrieved on April 9,.2012.
Evans, Mei Mei (2002), “’Nature’ and Environmental Justice” in the Environmental Justice Reader, eds. Joni Adamson, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel Stein.  Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 181-193.

Hughes, Pamela L (2011), “Environmental Justice Case Study”, University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
 Gabrielson, Teena (2012), “Class Lecture Notes”, ENR-5890, Environmental Justice, Spring Semester, University of Wyoming.
Gouveia V.  and Ticker J. (2003). Toxic Chemicals and Childhood Cancer: a Review of the Evidence
Taylor, D. (2000). The Risk of the Environmental Justice Paradigm. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 43, pp. 508 – 580.
Global Environmental Change (2006), Climate and Vulnerability, found at http://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-environmental-change/pdf, retrieved on April 2,2012.
Flynn, J.,  Slovic, P., & Mertz, C. K. (1994).  Gender, Race, and Perception of Environmental Health Risks. Risk Analysis, Vol. 14(6), pp. 1101 – 1108.
Fox, F.A. , Grropman,J.D. ,&  Burke, T. A (2003). Evaluating Cumulative Risk Assessment for Evaluating Cumulative Risk Assessment for Environmental Justice: A Community Case Study, pp. 203-209 .
Jones, R. E. (1998). Black concern for the Environment: Myth Versus Reality. Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 11, pp. 209 – 228.
Kates, R. W., & Kasperson, J. X.  (1983).  Comparative Risk Analysis of Technological Hazards (a review). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,Vol. 80 (22), pp.7027-7038.
Kumpulainen, S.  (2006). Vulnerability Concepts in Hazard and Risk Assessment, found at  http://arkisto.gtk.fi/sp/SP42/4_vulnera.pdf, retrieved on April28,2012.
Lucy H. Ford(2003). “Challenging Global Environmental Governance: Social Movement Agency and Global Civil Society.” Global Environmental Politics Vol 3(2), p 125.
Mills, John Stuart (2001), Utilitarianism.  Dover Publications.
Mohai, P., & Bryant, B. (1998). Is there a “race” effect on concern for environmental quality?  Public Opinion  Quarterly, Vol. 62, pp.  475 – 505.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (2005), Bayer’s Investigation Report, found at https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=444, retrieved on February, 26, 2012.
Rawls, John (2001),  Justice as Fairness:  A Restatement.  Cambridge, MA:  Belknap Press. Pp 11-25.
Satterfield, T. A., Slovic, P., Gregory, R., Flynn, J., & Mertz, C. K. (2001).Risk, Media, and Stigma: Understanding Public Challenges to Modern Science and Technology.  London : Earthscan, , pp. 69 – 83.
Schlosberg, D. (2003). The Justice of Environmental Justice: Reconciling Equity, Recognition, and Participation in a political movement. Moral and  political reasoning in environmental practice, pp. 77-106.
Schlosberg, D (2007). Defining   Environmental Justice.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of  Risk. Science, Vol.236, pp. 280 – 285.
Susan C. (2006).  “The Geography of Social Vulnerability:  Race, Class and Catastrophe” SSRC. http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Cutter. Retrieved on  April 11, 2012.
Satterfield,T.A,  Mertz, . C.K. Slovic, P. (2004). Discrimination, Vulnerability, and Justice in the face of risk, Risk Analysis, 24 (2004), pp. 115–129.

U.S, National Environmental Justice  Advisory Council (2004). Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiples Stressors: Environmental Justice and Commutative Risk/ impacts, p.
“USA Today Special Report: The Smokestack Effect – Toxic Air and America’s Schools,” published in USA Today January 2009, retrieved on February 24, 2012 found at http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
U.S.  Census  Bureau, 2010. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4806128.html retrieved on February 27, 2012.
Young, Iris Marion (2011), Responsibility for Justice.  New York:  Oxford University Press, pp. 90-97.
Yohe, G., & Tol, R. S. J (2001).. Indicators for Social and Economic Coping Capacity – Moving Toward aWorking Definition of Adaptive , found at Capacityhttp://www.aiaccproject.org/resources/ele_lib_docs/gyoheindicators.doc.pdf, retrieved on April 22,2012/
Zimmerman, R (1986). The Management of Risk, In V. T. Covello,  J. Menkes ,and J Munpower, The Revaluation and Management of Risk , New York: Plenum,  pp. 435-460,

Social connection model of responsibility” put forward by Iris Marion Young (2006)

I have been much influenced by the philosophical conception of “social connection model of responsibility” put forward by Iris Marion Young (2006) in her book “Responsibility for Justice.” In my understanding, the social connection model postulates that all those who contribute in structural injsutices and  processes, all the stake holders involved must be responsible for the injustice incurred. From Iris Young’s perspective by the term “structural injustice” I understand these are injustices created by the institutions in the society in pursuit of fulfilling their goals and objectives.

            I believe that the social connection model is well implicated into one  my research topics that I am interested in. In this conncetion, I have been looking into the history of solid waste management practices and systems in the city of Kathmandu. Several studies have shown that Kathmandu since 1980s had  agencies such as German Technical Organization, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kathmandu Metropolitan city and the Government of Nepal, who attempted to tackle the solid waste management issue of Kathmandu city. Despite these attempts, the issue of solid waste management even today remains as a major environmental problem. At imes, the city’s waste is  dumped along the river side or left over the street corridors. It is primarily due to lack of space in landfill site or sometimes communities around the  landfill site obstruct KMC to dump waste at the vicinity of their neighborhood and plus all even public themselves neglect and scatter  waste  along their residential streets. The  communities living near by the landfill site have perception that injustice has been created to them by the  municipality and the government of Nepal by dumping waste  in their neigbhorhoods and not fulfilling their demands of proper health and santitaion.Often times, they claim that they have been suffering from various common diseases like fever, headache and cholera. In this case,I am of the opinion that all the stakeholders involved including public themselves should take a collective responsibility. This will help even the public to be  more responsible and accountable to their actions.

                Similarly, in my understanding, social connection model implies across the borders, too. Implication of this model will help to deal environmental issues such as global warming, climate change, biodiversity and public health issues. All the institutions involved must take collective responsibility for their actions These issues imply to political responsibility of the nations since  the issues are global in its nature and every nation involved need to be aware of their actions and outcomes . Therefore ,combined responsibility by the  nations is required in order to combat such global issues.

Though this concept of social connection model of responsibility is found contrasted to the notion of  liability model which is  applied in legal and moral discourse.  While some people might think the best way for theorizing responsibility for structural injustice is to adopt the liability model, there are problems with this approach. There are good practical as well as theoretical reasons for saying that responsibility in relation to structural injustice is a special kind of responsibility, rather than a separate responsibility understood as guilt, blame, fault, or liability. I opine that the objective of the social model of responsibility is not merely to look back and assign blame. Rather, it is to look forward and explore how the structure and the processes can be modified for better to preventing  the injustice from recurring.

Recognition, Distribution ,Participation and Capability in Env. Justice issues

The concept of recognition in relation to environmental justice is defined as the “recognition of individuals and communities as unfairly affected and insist on being seen and heard mainly by governments and private stakeholders for the most part they have been ignored” (Schlosberg, 2003). It can be argued that lack of recognition is embodied within environmental justice. This is demonstrated by different forms of harms and degradation that mainly affected lives of minorities, people of color, low income population and indigenous people. This is an injustice “as it not only constraints people and does them harm but also it impairs these persons in their positive understanding of self-an understanding acquired by inter subjective means” (Schlosberg 2007 p. 18). Often times, misrecognition of society and individuals occurs due to weak institutional mechanisms and policy implementation that favor a majority population dominating the minorities (Grabielson..).  
Young’s thoughts on recognition appeal for the “mechanisms for the effective recognition and representation of distinct voices and perspectives” (Young1990, p.184). Here she argues that it is not only the recognition of identities of the communities but also of their voice and concerns that will provide justice. In her thoughts it is forward looking responsibility of the social institutions to create mechanisms equal participation and representation of the community members and recognize their voice.

Similarly, environmental justice is also defined in terms of the distribution (or mal distribution) of environmental goods and harms (Bullard, 1990). Here, the distribution especially focuses to “inequitable share of environmental ills that poor communities and communities of color live with (Schlosberg 2007 p. 55). As support to distribution pattern of environmental goods and harms, the first study, a General Accounting Office (1983) report, found that three out of four landfills in the United States were located near predominantly African-American communities. The next study done by United Church of Christ (UCC) study in 1987, showed that 37.6 percent of US landfills were located in or near predominantly African-American neighborhoods, and that, compared with whites, African-Americans were two to three times more likely to live near a hazardous landfill. Bullard’s classic study dumping in Dixie (1990) also intensively focused on distributional inequity. Thus, in these studies, the issue of distribution in environmental justice, race remained an independent factor in relation to the distribution of commercial hazardous waste facilities and other environmental consequences.
Likewise, I can feel that the concept of participation is embodied within the   environmental justice definition provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

“Environmental Justice  is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, culture, education, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies (EPA 1997).

 In my understanding, meaningful involvement means every person and communities, above all   potentially affected community residents should get an opportunity to participate in decisions making process in any environmental planning that will basically affect their health or environment. For Lee “self-determination and participation in decision-making about one’s own environment is the central to the environmental justices (1993, p. 39). This shall appreciate diverse cultural perspectives and honor cultural integrity. National Environmental Policy Commission also feels that “Public participation is one of the cornerstones of environmental justice” (NEPC, 1999).  Participation of diverse group along with their voice can influence the regulatory agency's decision. In  connection with environmental justice and participation issues in the USA , “one of the most serious flaws in permitting is the way environmental agencies fail to engage the public in permit decision-making” (NEJAC,2000). Thus, it is necessary that people from diverse culture be engaged in any of the environmental planning and their issues and concerns be considered by the agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In this notion, Rawls on the in his Theory of Justice (1971) mentions that the application of the principle of equal liberty to the constitution produces the principle of participation which is assumed to be "equal" though the nature of equality. Based on this principle, it can be asserted that all the citizens must be dealt equally so that they have easy access to participation in all forms of environmental, social, and political decision making process.  As such, one of the principles of   environmental justice “demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation” (Principles of Environmental Justice, 1991).

Likewise, capability in relation to environmental justice includes “what is necessary for functioning and flourishing of human and nonhuman alike; they address the integral aspects of the living process”(Scholsberg,2007,p.30). Therefore, environmental injustice is seen as a process that takes away the ability of individuals and their communities to fully function, through poor health and wide spread environmental threats. This thought goes beyond the limits of distributional theory. Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum (Sen 1985, 1999a, 1999b; Nussbaum and Sen 1992; Nussbaum 2000, 2006a) have developed a theory of justice that focuses on the capacity necessary for individuals to fully function in their chosen lives. The central argument of their capability approach is how those distributions affect people’s well-being and their ability to function. The focus is not only on the distribution of goods, but also more particularly on how those goods are transformed into the flourishing of individuals and communities. Schlosberg (2007) argues that capabilities are about person’s ability to do and to be what they choose in the context of a given society.  In this case capabilities also refer to empowerment of society so they are capable of understanding the issues of justice and able to raise voice against any kind of ills they suffer in society. This needs education and training that most of the poor communities are deprived of. Therefore, a number of academic examiners of the environmental justice movement note that the most important part of environmental justice activism is building community and community capacity, and facilitating community empowerment (Cole and Foster 2001).

 Bottom-line, it is to be noted that the concepts of distribution recognition, participation and capability are interwoven and justice can be served if we look into these dimensions of justice in isolation. In this context Schlosberg (2007) argues that when we look into the distribution of environmental risks, we also complain about misrecognition of community member. At the same time, we see the lack of participatory opportunities and consequently hampering our community functioning. Thus these concepts are thoroughly integrated and embodied in the notions of justice in the environmental justice movements and principles.
References:
 Bullard, R. D. (1983). Solid waste sites and the black Houston community. Sociological Inquiry 53, pp. 273–228.
Bullard, R. D. (1990). Dumping in  Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality.  Boulder, CO: Westview Press (12).
Bullard, RD (2000). People  of Color Environmental Groups Directory. Flint, MI: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Bullard, R.D,   (2004). The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, p.144.
Cronon, William. (1995),  “Introduction:  In Search of Nature” in Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature.  New York:  Norton, pp.23-56.
Cutter, S. L. (1996).  Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 20,  pp. 529–539.
Cutter, S.L., Boruff, B.J., & Shirley, W.L. (2003).  Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 84, pp. 242–261.
Coalition against Bayer Dangers(2005,) CBGnetwork(at)aol.com, retrieved on April 15,2012.
Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations” found at http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/execordr.html. Retrieved on April 9,.2012.
Evans, Mei Mei (2002), “’Nature’ and Environmental Justice” in the Environmental Justice Reader, eds. Joni Adamson, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel Stein.  Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 181-193.

Hughes, Pamela L (2011), “Environmental Justice Case Study”, University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
 Gabrielson, Teena (2012), “Class Lecture Notes”, ENR-5890, Environmental Justice, Spring Semester, University of Wyoming.
Gouveia V.  and Ticker J. (2003). Toxic Chemicals and Childhood Cancer: a Review of the Evidence
Taylor, D. (2000). The Risk of the Environmental Justice Paradigm. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 43, pp. 508 – 580.
Global Environmental Change (2006), Climate and Vulnerability, found at http://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-environmental-change/pdf, retrieved on April 2,2012.
Flynn, J.,  Slovic, P., & Mertz, C. K. (1994).  Gender, Race, and Perception of Environmental Health Risks. Risk Analysis, Vol. 14(6), pp. 1101 – 1108.
Fox, F.A. , Grropman,J.D. ,&  Burke, T. A (2003). Evaluating Cumulative Risk Assessment for Evaluating Cumulative Risk Assessment for Environmental Justice: A Community Case Study, pp. 203-209 .
Jones, R. E. (1998). Black concern for the Environment: Myth Versus Reality. Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 11, pp. 209 – 228.
Kates, R. W., & Kasperson, J. X.  (1983).  Comparative Risk Analysis of Technological Hazards (a review). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,Vol. 80 (22), pp.7027-7038.
Kumpulainen, S.  (2006). Vulnerability Concepts in Hazard and Risk Assessment, found at  http://arkisto.gtk.fi/sp/SP42/4_vulnera.pdf, retrieved on April28,2012.
Lucy H. Ford(2003). “Challenging Global Environmental Governance: Social Movement Agency and Global Civil Society.” Global Environmental Politics Vol 3(2), p 125.
Mills, John Stuart (2001), Utilitarianism.  Dover Publications.
Mohai, P., & Bryant, B. (1998). Is there a “race” effect on concern for environmental quality?  Public Opinion  Quarterly, Vol. 62, pp.  475 – 505.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (2005), Bayer’s Investigation Report, found at https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=444, retrieved on February, 26, 2012.
Rawls, John (2001),  Justice as Fairness:  A Restatement.  Cambridge, MA:  Belknap Press. Pp 11-25.
Satterfield, T. A., Slovic, P., Gregory, R., Flynn, J., & Mertz, C. K. (2001).Risk, Media, and Stigma: Understanding Public Challenges to Modern Science and Technology.  London : Earthscan, , pp. 69 – 83.
Schlosberg, D. (2003). The Justice of Environmental Justice: Reconciling Equity, Recognition, and Participation in a political movement. Moral and  political reasoning in environmental practice, pp. 77-106.
Schlosberg, D (2007). Defining   Environmental Justice.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of  Risk. Science, Vol.236, pp. 280 – 285.
Susan C. (2006).  “The Geography of Social Vulnerability:  Race, Class and Catastrophe” SSRC. http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Cutter. Retrieved on  April 11, 2012.
Satterfield,T.A,  Mertz, . C.K. Slovic, P. (2004). Discrimination, Vulnerability, and Justice in the face of risk, Risk Analysis, 24 (2004), pp. 115–129.

U.S, National Environmental Justice  Advisory Council (2004). Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiples Stressors: Environmental Justice and Commutative Risk/ impacts, p.
“USA Today Special Report: The Smokestack Effect – Toxic Air and America’s Schools,” published in USA Today January 2009, retrieved on February 24, 2012 found at http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
U.S.  Census  Bureau, 2010. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4806128.html retrieved on February 27, 2012.
Young, Iris Marion (2011), Responsibility for Justice.  New York:  Oxford University Press, pp. 90-97.
Yohe, G., & Tol, R. S. J (2001).. Indicators for Social and Economic Coping Capacity – Moving Toward aWorking Definition of Adaptive , found at Capacityhttp://www.aiaccproject.org/resources/ele_lib_docs/gyoheindicators.doc.pdf, retrieved on April 22,2012/
Zimmerman, R (1986). The Management of Risk, In V. T. Covello,  J. Menkes ,and J Munpower, The Revaluation and Management of Risk , New York: Plenum,  pp. 435-460,

Chaos Across Disciplines: A notion of chaos, consilience and enlightenment, review on “Back from Chaos” by E.O. Wilson in 1998

In the article  entitled “Back from Chaos”in by  E.O. Wilson in 1998, by the use of the term “chaos” he  refers to different kind of ongoing conflicts, contradictions in  splitting relationship among  different spheres of academia and philosophies such as  pure sciences, social sciences and the  humanities.  In order to address such conflicts and contradiction he says Wilson (1998: 41) points to an “ongoing fragmentation of knowledge and resulting chaos in philosophy.” He believes that there is a lack of communication between discrete academic disciplines such as science and humanities with their own way of interpretations standards. As a result, there is lot of chaos in philosophy,. Wilson holds that these fragmentations “are not reflections of the real world but artifacts of scholarship.”  Wilson uses  the term “consilience” or the unity of knowledge, from the Victorian philosopher of science, William  referring that “consilience” is the key to  unification of these  chaos  in philosophy in past few centuries. Wilson takes an even broader view of consilience. He is convinced that  there is inherent unity and objectivity of all knowledge. Thus, consilience would help in linking  theories, facts and knowledge across disciplines to create a common platform for explanation. Wilson also believes that in the gathering of  specialists across disciplines, they can reach to an agreement on “a common body of abstract principles” with trust in consilience as the foundation of natural sciences and its branches and also among social sciences to reduce the chaos in their philosophies. Wilson believes that intellectual unity can be created by extending the method of reductionism, widely used in the natural sciences, to all areas of knowledge.

When Wilson states that science is  the engine of Enlightenment, he may be meaning that the natural sciences in the past has provided the methods to acquire reliable knowledge about the world of which we are a part of. Rather than a mere act of faith taken on authority, the naturalist’s intellectual convictions about the forces governing the material universe are inspired by this scientific progress.  And the successes of the naturalistic worldview go beyond mere intellectual achievements. The extension of theoretical knowledge made possible by modern scientific investigation has been endlessly and creatively applied in the development of new technologies, a medium for social cooperation. These advances have given human beings unprecedented power in predicting, controlling, and protecting nature, all in the service of our flourishing on Earth.  

One of the Major Figures in the Discipline of Geography: Chauncy Dennison Harris( 1914- December 26, 2003)

One of the Major Figures in the Discipline of Geography: Chauncy Dennison Harris( 1914- December 26, 2003)

Life and career

Harris was born in 1914 in Logan, Utah.  He was the son of Academician Franklin S. Harris. He received a Bachleors of Arts Degree (B.A.) from Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah, in 1933.  Securing high ranking in his academics, Harris became the first Rhodes Scholar from BYU.   With this scholarship award, he got an opportunity to pursue his Second B.A. as well as a Master's Degree (M.A.) from Oxford.  He also received an M.A. from the London School of Economics before returning to the United States.  He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1940.  His dissertation was entitled, "Salt Lake City - a Regional Capital in 1940." This was the first work by Harris that made him popular in the field of geography.

After brief stays at Indiana University and the University of Nebraska , Harris was appointed Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Chicago in 1943.   Around this same time he was called into military service with the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Geographer. In Washington, he became interested towards dynamics happening around Soviet Union.   He started studying Russian and got also in searching cartographic and statistical information about the Soviet Union. Over the course of his career, “he made 14 trips to the Soviet Union and played an important role in fostering and promoting collaboration between American and Russian geographers” ( Mikesell, 2004).

During his professional career, Harris held a number of important and prestigious positions including dean of the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago (1954-1960). He served on the University of Chicago faculty from 1943 to 1984 and then continued as the Samuel N. Harper Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Geography until his death on December  26,  2003.

Major contributions and their impact on the discipline

In addition to his work on the Soviet Union, Harris made several important contributions to the field of American Urban Geography.  In particular, in 1945 he wrote "The Nature of Cities" with Edward Ullman.  The paper, published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, described the Multiple nuclei model of urban development, which had a great relevance for understanding American cities in the later 20th century. This model gives a suggestion as to the possible land use within a city. 
nterest in American geography, especially its economic geography, was expressed in “The Market as a Factor in the Localization of Industry in the United States” (1954b), which he regarded as one of his “most original and important papers.” In his chapter on “The Pressure of Residential-Industrial Land Use” (1956b) for the Princeton symposium on “Man's Role in changing the Face of the Earth,” he noted the rich economic value of residential and industrial, as opposed to agricultural, land use and so failed to deliver the anti-urban or anti-modern message that the organizers of the conference had expected . “Agricultural Production in the United States: The Past Fifty Years and the Next” (1957), in which he “demonstrated that intensification had been and would continue to be more important than expansion, was his last major paper on an American topic” (Berry, 2004).

Russian Reviews: As mentioned in the Memoriam( Mikesell, 2004), Harris's two most original and influential publications on the USSR were reviewed extensively and favorably in Western language journals. Cities of the Soviet Union was the subject of a meeting attended by eighty members of the Moscow branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR. The summary of that meeting (SG, April, 1972) includes comments by eight urban specialists.

Harris's Guide to Geographical Bibliographies and Reference Works in Russian or on the Soviet Union (1975), an annotated inventory of 2,660 works, attracted the attention of three Russian reviewers.  The English version of their comments (SG, March, May, 1976, October, 1979) reveals nearly unqualified praise.  Each of the reviewers noted with gratitude that Harris's guide was published in anticipation of the 23rd International Geographical Congress in Moscow and one of them suggested that it had “provided an object lesson” that should make Soviet geographers think seriously about how they might improve the quality and utility of their own reference works.

Honors:

Harris was one of the most respected modern geographers. Many of the honors reflect the respect for his scholarly accomplishments. Harris was awarded honorary degrees by the Universidad Católica de Chile (1956), Oxford University (1973), Indiana University (1979), Universität Bonn (1991), and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (1991). Other honors include the Alexander Csoma de Körösi Memorial Medal of the Hungarian Geographical Society (1971), the Lauréat d'Honneur of the International Geographical Union (1976), the Alexander von Humboldt Gold Medal of the Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin (1978), an award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic Studies from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (1978), the Cullum Medal of the American Geographical Society (1985), and the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1987). In addition, Harris was an honorary member of geographical societies in Belgrade, Berlin, Florence, Frankfurt-am-Main, London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and Warsaw. These degrees, awards, and honorary memberships, plus his two presidencies (AAG and American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies), three Festschriften, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, add up to an additional degree of national and international recognition.

Major Publications

1940. Salt Lake City: A regional capital. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Chicago. Privateedition  distributed by the University of Chicago Libraries. Chauncy Dennison Harris (1914–2003)

1941. Location of Salt Lake City. Economic Geography 17: 204–12.

1943. A functional classification of cities in the United States. Geographical Review 33:86–99.

1945.   With Edward L. Ullman. The nature of cities. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 242:7–17

1956. The pressure of residential-industrial land use. In Man’s role in changing the face of the Earth, ed. W. L. Thomas, 881–95. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1957. Agricultural production in the United States: The past fifty years and the next. Geographical Review, 47:175–93.

1959. Society, science, and education in the Soviet Union. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencec, 45:684–92.

1964. Methods of research in economic regionalization. Geographia Polonica, 4:59–86.

1965. The geographic study of foreign areas and cultures in liberal education, in Geography in undergraduate liberal education. Washington, DC: Association of American Geographers 25–33.

1968a.City and region in the Soviet Union. In Urbanization and its problems: Essays in honor of E. W. Gilbert, ed. R. B. Beckinsale, and J. M. Houston, 277–303. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell.

1968b. With Brian J. L. Berry. Central places. In International encyclopedia of the social science 2, 365–70. New York: Macmillan and the Free Press.

1969. East Germany: The land. In East Central Europe: A guide to basic publications, ed. Paul L. Horecky, 369–73. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

1970. Urbanization and population growth in the Soviet Union, 1959–1970. Geographical Review 61:102–24.

1973. Geographic studies of the Soviet Union: Some reflections. In Geographers abroad: Essays on the problems and prospects of research in foreign areas, ed. Marvin W. Mikesell, Research Paper 152, 1–15, 251–55. Chicago: University of Chicago, Department of Geography

1975. Guide to geographical bibliographies and reference works in Russian or on the Soviet Union. Chicago: University of Chicago Department of Geography Research Paper 164.

1976. Bibliography of geography: Part I. Introduction to general aids. Chicago: University of Chicago, Department of Geography Research Paper, 179.

1978. Patterns of cities. In A man for all regions: The contributions of Edward L. Ullman to geography, ed. J. D. Eyre, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, Department of Geography, Studies in Geography, 11, 66–79.

1979. Geography at Chicago in the 1930 and 1940s. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 69:21–32.

 1982. The urban and industrial transformation of Japan. Geographical Review,72:50–89.

1984. Bibliography of geography, Part 2. Regional, Volume 1. The United States. Chicago: University of Chicago, Department of Geography Research Paper 206. 178 pp.

1989. Geography. Encyclopedia Britannica 19:917–26.

1990. Urban geography in the United States: My experience of the formative years. Urban Geography, 11:403–17.

199. The unification of Germany in 1990. Geographical Review 81:170–82.

1992. Areal patterns of cities through time and space: Technology and culture (The nature of cities further considered).Colloquium Geographicum, 22:9–l5.

1997. The nature of cities and urban geography in the last half century. Urban Geography 18:15–35.

1998. Diffusion of urban models: A case study. Urban Geography, 19:49–67.

2001. English as international language in geography: Development and limitations. Geographical Review, 91:657–89.

 

References:

Mikesell, M. W. (2004), Chauncy Dennison Harris (1914–2003). Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94: 982–991.

Berry, Brian J. L. 2004. Chauncy D. Harris, 1914–2003. Urban Geography, 25:1–13.

Bond, Andrew R. 2004. Chauncy D. Harris, 1914–2003: An appreciation. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 45:83–89.

Demko, George J., & Roland J. Fuchs, 1984. Geographical studies on the Soviet Union: Essays in honor of Chauncy D. Harris. Chicago: University of Chicago, Department of Geography, Research Paper 211, 294 pp.