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Journal ArticleDOI

Political ecology, ecological economics, and public health: interfaces for the sustainability of development and health promotion

01 Jan 2007-Cadernos De Saude Publica (Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz)-Vol. 23
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus contributions from political ecology and ecological economics to the field of collective health with a view towards integrating the discussions around health promotion, socio-environmental sustainability, and development.
Abstract: This article proposes to focus contributions from political ecology and ecological economics to the field of collective health with a view towards integrating the discussions around health promotion, socio-environmental sustainability, and development. Ecological economics is a recent interdisciplinary field that combines economists and other professionals from the social, human, and life sciences. The field has developed new concepts and methodologies that seek to grasp the relationship between the economy and ecological and social processes such as social metabolism and metabolic profile, thereby interrelating economic, material, and energy flows and producing indicators and indexes for (un)sustainability. Meanwhile, political ecology approaches ecological issues and socio-environmental conflicts based on the economic and power dynamics characterizing modern societies. Collective health and the discussions on health promotion can expand our understanding of territory, communities, and the role of science and institutions based on the contributions of political ecology and ecological economics in analyzing development models and the distributive and socio-environmental conflicts generated by them.

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Citations
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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, Santos et al. presented a study focused on quantifying the turbulent diffusion of particles through numerical simulations of turbulent media, in order to identify the impact of fertilization and dispersion of air pollutants on human health and environment.
Abstract: SANTOS, Eduardo de Melo dos. Turbulent Diffusion Atmospheric: an application to agricultural systems. 2017. 90 f. Dissertation (Master of Science) – School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 2017. Corrected version. In the present study, we study the diffusion dispersed atmospherically compounds, such as fertilizers and particular pesticides in large scale agricultural environments. This study focuses on the applicability of numerical and theoretical and phenomenological models of turbulent phenomena in estimates of economic and environmental advantages of these systems. The Earth's atmosphere, in typical size and speed ranges of the study object of this work is a turbulent system. Turbulence is a complex phenomenon which involves the dynamic interaction of different ranges resulting in a large-scale collective effect due to a nonlinear interaction between perturbation modes in a fluid. The modeling of turbulence, so it is generally possible through Direct Numerical Simulation DNS. A typical consequence of turbulence is the diffusion, i.e., increased separation – in unbound systems – of particulate bodies, much higher than those of the standard thermal molecular diffusion rates. In this work we present a study focused on quantifying the turbulent diffusion of particles through numerical simulations of turbulent media, in order to identify the impact of fertilization and dispersion of air pollutants on human health and environment.

21 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A fuzzy rule-based system has proved to be a useful tool to integrate information and assist in the public planning of interrelated areas and the design of a fuzzy linguistic model that synthesises these indicators were described.

14 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the limits, alternatives and challenges of environmental management in contemporary globalized capitalist societies are discussed based on a critical analysis supported by authors from social sciences, political ecology and public health.
Abstract: This article discusses the limits, alternatives and challenges of environmental management in contemporary globalized capitalist societies. It is based on a critical analysis supported by authors from social sciences, political ecology and public health. To this end, we systematize the meaning of hegemonic environmental management in terms of eco-efficiency and its limits to tackle environmental risks and construct democratic processes and societies. We developed four ideal scenarios involving possible combinations of environmental management and democracy. This model served as a base, together with academic studies and the theoretical and militant experience of the authors, for a reflection on the current characteristics and future trends of environmental management and democracy, with emphasis on the reality of Latin America, specifically Brazil. Lastly, we discuss possibilities for social transformation taking into consideration the contradictions and emancipatory alternatives resulting from confrontations between hegemonic tendencies of the market and counter-hegemonic utopias and social movements. The latter assume principles of environmental justice, economic solidarity, agro-ecology and sustainability as well as the construction of new epistemologies.

12 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The "Indice de Desempenho Ambiental" (IDA) as mentioned in this paper is an indicator of the transparencia das acoes publicas nas esferas do meio ambiente e da qualidade de vida.
Abstract: A avaliacao de determinantes ambientais que interferem na saude humana no âmbito das responsabilidades municipais pouco se difundiu ate o presente momento no Brasil. Entretanto, a dramatica mudanca climatica e a evolucao da sociedade brasileira exigem que o acompanhamento publico das acoes do governo em direcao as "cidades saudaveis" seja efetivamente valorizado. O presente trabalho apresenta o "Indice de Desempenho Ambiental" como ferramenta de apoio a promocao da transparencia das acoes publicas nas esferas do meio ambiente e da qualidade de vida. O objetivo desse indicador e permitir a comparabilidade de dados ambientais entre municipalidades que integram a Regiao Metropolitana de Campinas. Com essa finalidade, foi desenvolvido um instrumento quantitativo para facilitar o acompanhamento das responsabilidades municipais sobre o meio ambiente. Esse artigo apresenta o "Indice de Desempenho Ambiental" como um indice de segunda geracao que objetiva condensar informacoes relevantes sobre o meio ambiente e a qualidade de vida no âmbito municipal.

12 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Poison Package dismantles this wide legal framework and prevailing institutional structure in the country, which had only failed to make further progress because of the gap between the legislation and the practice by institutions.
Abstract: Bill of Law (PL, for its acronymun in Portuguese) n. 6,299/2002 has been called the “Poison Package” in a joint dossier prepared by the Brazilian Association of Public Health (Abrasco) and the Brazilian Association of Agroecology (ABA) and delivered to the National Congress in late May 2018. The bill is tragic and emblematic for analyzing the country’s current political and institutional scenario based on the socioecological and public health problems caused by the country’s prevailing agricultural development model. Since the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, the Federal Government and the National Congress have accelerated changes in public policies and legislation that adhere to the “market” agenda, this strange entity in the neoliberal ideology that orients economic globalization and defends financial investors and powerful transnational groups. Essentially, PL 6,299 combines several other bills circulating in the National Congress from 1999 to 2017. It assumes the primacy of agribusiness’s economic interests rather than defending health and the environment, starting with the replacement of the concept of agrotoxic (as pesticide is defined in the legislation to highlight the danger to human health and the environment) with the term “phytosanitary products”. It removes from Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) and Brazilian Institute of Environmental and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) various attributions in the licensing process, while expanding the regulatory powers of the Ministry of Agriculture. PL 6,299 replaces Law n. 7,802 of 1989, known as the Agrotoxic Law, an important milestone in the process of Brazil’s re-democratization and in the political link between collective health and environmentalism, with broad support from labor unions, social movements, and sectors of civil society. The Poison Package dismantles this wide legal framework and prevailing institutional structure in the country, which had only failed to make further progress because of the gap between the legislation and the practice by institutions. The gap reveals intense contradictions generated by the economic, political, and media forces that sustain the agribusiness model. The pesticides issue gained national attention in 2008, when it was announced that Brazil had become the world’s leading pesticides consumer. The year 2011 witnessed the creation of the Permanent Campaign against Pesticides and in Defense of Life, convening numerous social movements, unions, NGOs, universities, and research institutions. That same year saw the release of the documentary Poison is on the Table, by filmmaker Silvio Tendler, and in 2015 the book ABRASCO Dossier: A Warning on The Impacts of Pesticides was published 1. In addition to the exposés, these initiatives present The tragic “Poison Package”: lessons for Brazilian society and Public Health

9 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Nancy Krieger1
TL;DR: This paper argues that the central question becomes: who and what is responsible for population patterns of health, disease, and well-being, as manifested in present, past and changing social inequalities in health?
Abstract: In social epidemiology, to speak of theory is simultaneously to speak of society and biology. It is, I will argue, to speak of embodiment. At issue is how we literally incorporate, biologically, the world around us, a world in which we simultaneously are but one biological species among many—and one whose labour and ideas literally have transformed the face of this earth. To conceptualize and elucidate the myriad social and biological processes resulting in embodiment and its manifestation in populations' epidemiological profiles, we need theory. This is because theory helps us structure our ideas, so as to explain causal connections between specified phenomena within and across specified domains by using interrelated sets of ideas whose plausibility can be tested by human action and thought.1–3 Grappling with notions of causation, in turn, raises not only complex philosophical issues but also, in the case of social epidemiology, issues of accountability and agency: simply invoking abstract notions of ‘society’ and disembodied ‘genes’ will not suffice. Instead, the central question becomes: who and what is responsible for population patterns of health, disease, and well-being, as manifested in present, past and changing social inequalities in health?

1,719 citations

Book
16 Oct 1990
TL;DR: The Environmental Justice Movement: Survey Results as mentioned in this paper showed that 80% of the participants believed that environmental justice should be a priority issue in government policy making, and 75% of those believed that government should take environmental justice into account.
Abstract: * List of Tables and Illustrations * Preface * Acknowledgments * List of Acronyms * 1. Environmentalism and Social Justice * Race Versus Class in Spatial Location * The Theoretical Basis of Environmental Conflict * Translating Concern into Action * Environmentalism and Civil Rights * A Note on the Research Approach * 2. Race, Class, and the Politics of Place * Consequences of Uneven Development * Endangered Environs * Growing Black Militancy * Waste-Facility Siting Disparities * 3. Dispute Resolution and Toxics: Case Studies * Defining and Defending Against a Threat * Houston's Northwood Manor Neighborhood * West Dallas (Texas) * Institute (West Virginia) * Alsen (Louisiana) * Emelle-Sumter County (Alabama) * Summary of Disputes and Resolutions * 4. The Environmental Justice Movement: Survey Results * Rating of Environmental Problems * Siting Conflict and the Question of Equity * Economic Versus Environmental Trade-Offs * Environmental Activism * 5. Environmental Racism Revisited * The Role of Racism * Unequal Protection * Environmental Apartheid * Louisiana as "Paradise" Lost * From American Dream to Nightmare * 6. Environmental Justice as a Working Model * Waiting for Government Action * Impetus for Changing the System * Executive Order 12898 * Remedying Past Inequities * A Model Environmental Justice Framework * Winning at the Grass Roots * Relocation from "Mount Dioxin," * Citizens Against Nuclear Trash Chalk Up Major Victory * Corporate Welfare and Environmental Racism: The Case of Shintech * Conclusion * 7. Action Strategies for the Twenty-First Century * Lessons Learned * Mobilizing the Grass Roots * Toward the Politics of Inclusion * Conclusion * Notes * Selected Bibliography * Appendix: Resources and Contacts * Index

1,624 citations

Book
01 Jan 1996

1,047 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the earlier intellectual background of societal metabolism in terms of material and substance flows can be found in this article, followed by an integrated discussion of some of the major conceptual and methodological properties of MFA, with a particular focus on the field of bulk materials flows on a national level.
Abstract: Summary “Societal metabolism” provides the appropriate conceptual basis for the rapidly growing development and analylical and policy interest in materials flow analysis (MFA). Following the review of the earlier intellectual background of societal metabolism in the first installment of this two-part article, this paper focuses on the current state of the art by examining more recent research referring t o societal metabolism in terms of material and substance flows. An operational classification of the literature according to frame of reference (socioeconomic system, ecosystem), system level (global, national, regional, functional, temporal), and types of flows under consideration (materials, energy, substances) highlights some of its characteristic features. There follows an integrated discussion of some of the major conceptual and methodological properties of MFA, with a particular focus on the field of bulk materials flows on a national level, comparing the major empirical results. Finally, the theoretical stringency research productivity, and political relevance of the MFA-related studies are assessed.

672 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 1999-Futures
TL;DR: This work portrays these systems as Self-Organizing Holarchic Open (SOHO) systems and interpret their behaviours and structures with reference to non-equilibrium thermodynamics: holons, propensities and canons; and information and attractors.

491 citations