Abstract
This chapter examines some examples of development-oriented research directed toward actively furthering social as well as environmental justice (McIntyre-Mills, Report prepared for South Australian Local Government Association. Flinders University, Adelaide 2013; McIntyre-Mills, Systemic ethics and non-anthropocentric stewardship. Springer, New York, 2014a; McIntyre-Mills, Transformation from Wall Street to wellbeing. Springer, New York, 2014b; McIntyre-Mills, Planetary passport. Springer, New York, 2017; Roman-Alcalá, Paper presented for discussion at an international conference held at Yale University entitled Food Sovereignty: a critical dialogue 2013; Roman-Alcalá, Globalizations 12(4):545–558, 2015; Maathai, Unbowed: A memoir, Anchor Books, New York, 2006). I start with McIntyre-Mills’ facilitation of research (in conjunction with a local government association) in a region of South Australia. The research involved employing a software package with which participants were encouraged to engage in an interactive fashion to expand their reflections around social and environmental issues in relation to alternative development scenarios. I then discuss the deliberations of Roman-Alcalá (Globalizations 12(4):545–558, 2015) as he reflects as an insider on a case of “Occupy The Farm” on Earth Day at the University of California in 2012. Based on interviews and conversations with some of those involved (and his own theorizing ) he explores the intention of the activists toward transcending economistic thinking within a global movement for social justice and deep ecological thinking. Finally, I turn to the autobiographical narration of Maathai (Unbowed: A memoir, Anchor Books, New York, 2006) in relation to her involvement in founding the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. I class this as an example of transformative autoethnographic research which expresses her learning and her critical spirit, while inspiring practices undertaken with a similar spirit of care for people and the land.
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Notes
- 1.
Apart from working at Flinders University in South Australia (and being an adjunct professor at the University of Indonesia), Janet McIntyre-Mills attained the position of honorary professor at the University of South Africa (2014) and she has visited South Africa several times since then; we have thus had various occasions in which I have spoken to her to further explore her intentions.
- 2.
In a talk given in Cyprus in 2015 as part of a conference organized by the World Futures Centre, she noted that “as a social anthropologist and sociologist I have drawn inspiration from people with whom I have learned whilst undertaking field work in a range of contexts” (http://www.sddp-international.org/SDDP2015Conf/index2.html: see row two, column two).
- 3.
She cites Shiva’s account (2002) of the manner in which, as she summarizes, “global markets and mainstream research supported by corporate profits have disempowered local producers and in particular women farmers whose knowledge of plants was challenged by patriarchy and the ‘enlightenment’ during the witch hunts in Europe and America and then extended through the commodification [across the globe] of seeds through patents” (2014b, p. 123).
- 4.
McIntyre-Mills indicated to me by email (March 2017) that the original initiative was funded by the Australian Research Council, Neporendi Council and the (then) South Australian Department of Health. The software was funded together with her co-researchers “Assoc. Prof. Douglas Morgan, Senior Lecturer, Bevin Wilson, informatics designer Denise De Vries and several mentors including senior researcher Kim O’Donnel”. Douglas Morgan was at the time also” chair of Neproendi, an advocacy organization with and for Aboriginal people living in the Southern Region and Bevin [from Flinders University] had been his senior mentor”.
- 5.
McIntyre-Mills clarified by email (March 2017) that: “At this next stage of the research I worked with some other researchers, but Bevin remained mentor. The scenarios presented as a basis for the local government research flowed from what I had learned from these mentors and the many informants in Alice Springs where I had previously worked and where my mentors stressed the importance of wellbeing as the outcome of many interrelated aspects that were explained in dreaming stories, such as Mpantwe (Caterpillar Dreaming) … . The many other narratives by leaders helped inform the design of scenarios which were then explored in the next project [with SALGA]”.
- 6.
As will be seen in Sect. 6.3, Antonio Roman-Alcalá inserted a number of additions at different places into my draft text (that I had previously emailed to him). This too was one of his insertions.
- 7.
In outlining the history of the Green Belt Movement she indicates that:
The Green Belt Movement is a grassroots Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that focuses on environment conservation and development. It does this mainly through a nationwide grassroots tree-planting campaign that is its core activity. Unlike many other organizations in Africa, it is not a branch of a foreign NGO but an indigenous initiative, registered and headquartered in Nairobo. (2004, p. 6)
She also remarks (2006, p. 329) that the GBM did not only plant trees, but planted ideas, such as ideas linked to empowering people. She sums this up as follows: “By planting trees, my colleagues in this grassroots movement and I planted ideas. The ideas, like the trees, grew” (2006, p. 329).
- 8.
For example, in West Java (Indonesia) she has being working with collaborators to introduce a (revised) process (http://www.sddp-international.org/SDDP2015Conf/index2.html).
- 9.
McIntyre-Mills states in this regard (2013, p. 6) that the research was funded by the Australian Local Government Association and managed by Janet McIntyre (Social and Policy studies) to conceptualize and implement the project with Dr. Denise de Vries (Informatics, Flinders University) and David Hope (accountant and risk management consultant for local government). She also acknowledges support from the following:
• Sun Binchai (Hons graduate, Informatics, Flinders University),
• Ivantia Mokoginta (Ph.D. student, Economics and Public Policy),
• Adib Mohamned Shomad (Ph.D. student, Public policy and management),
• Barbara Dickson (MA student, Public Policy and engagement specialist for an urban renewal department, public sector, Adelaide),
• Dr John Mugabushaka (Ph.D. graduate and public policy and youth justice officer, public sector, Adelaide).
- 10.
This is consistent with Salleh’s point (2015, p. 1) that “climate politics will go nowhere as long as peoples’ movements remain locked into debates over arithmetic. It is time to re-set the start line for climate struggles in a place that transcends the old episteme” (http://ppesydney.net/another-climate-strategy-is-possible/). McIntyre-Mills adds that besides being locked in disagreements about arithmetic, we also need to rethink outdated narratives.
- 11.
- 12.
The weightings given to perceptions were obtained by analyzing data from a matrix spanning the following snapshot of factors downloaded from the publicly accessible software in June: For example, these are the findings on 1/07/2012, but the research is ongoing and the data set continues to grow as it is extended (p. 62). McIntyre-Mills commented to me in an email (March 2017) that “the spread sheets are actually just weightings of perceptions on what works, why and how …. we were subverting evidenced-based policy, which is all about evidence based on top down instruments for data collection. We were trying to get people to think and express emotions and ideas”.
- 13.
This student from the Congo had helped as a research assistant to gather some of the data during this research project and was now participating in discussing the project (pers. comm. via email from McIntyre-Mills, March 2017).
- 14.
Bawden argues in this regard that it may be important not only to urge people to “think about their thinking” but to think about the worldviews that underlie their thought processes (2005, p. 152). One could perhaps argue that by offering different scenarios which in effect express worldviews, McIntyre-Mills was laying the ground for people to reflect on their worldviews. But Bawden’s suggestion is that thinking about thinking (or even about consequences of life choices) does not necessarily prompt people to reconsider their initial worldviews, By McIntyre-Mills asking a direct question about this to participants (as I suggested), this in itself could serve as a (further) stimulus to make them more aware of the need to reflect upon their worldviews. As Bawden puts it, “I believe that worldviews themselves need to be consciously developed” (2005, p. 152).
- 15.
Regarding our capacities to “make and remake neural connections in the brain,” McIntyre-Mills (2014b, p. 10) refers to research work on the plasticity of the brain, as undertaken by, for example, Greenfield (2000).
- 16.
Their heavy consumption consists in their “driving big 4 wheel drives, running air-conditioning day and night and buying food out of season, pre-packaged, etc.” (pers. comm. via email, March 2017).
- 17.
Roman-Alcalá indicated to me via email (3 July 2016) in responding to my draft Sect. 6.3.1 of this chapter that this is “exactly what I hope”.
- 18.
This is consistent with Fenelon and Hall’s point that “in recent decades, there have been indigenous movements that challenge globalizing capitalism. … . These movements and organizations represent indigenous peoples on social-group levels and collectively, with great variation in their approaches toward issues, resistance, and political participation” (2008, pp. 1870–1871).
- 19.
When I asked Roman-Alcalá by email what his role in the organization of the film was, he replied (3 July 2016) that “I was interviewed for the film (but actually didn’t end up being in it very much!) I also worked more with the filmmakers on the film Edible City (ediblecity.net) which I appear in much more. So … long story short: I was not central to that movie being made on OTF but certainly I support(ed) it”.
- 20.
- 21.
This is distinguished from a more “analytic approach”, in which as, Anderson (2006, p. 378) suggests, writers are more committed to offering “theoretical analysis” of the cultural and social mileux in which events being recounted are taking place (p. 378). But Denshire and Lee argue that while this “binary classification is useful as an initial way of making visible the variation in how autoethnographic writers integrate the strands of self and culture in their writing”, it implies a separation between self and culture (2013, p. 222). In other words, holding onto a clear distinction between evocative and analytic autoethnographic work which is seen as either more evocative (personally-infused) or more analytic (offering more distanced analyses) fails to do justice to the way in which selves becomes constituted in and through the social practices in which they become involved (p. 222). Nonetheless, I would suggest in this regard that perhaps, in drawing a distinction between more evocative and more analytic approaches we can focus on the intentionality of the author (as understood), that is, on whether we interpret the (implicit or explicit intention) as being evocative or as presenting a stance of “analytic objectivity”. In the case of, say, Maathai’s writing (or my reading hereof), I consider her work as intentionally evocative.
- 22.
She later became its chair: 1981–1987.
- 23.
Finzer (2015) suggests in this regard that “powerful storytelling counts among the most effective forms of activism as speakers and writers use story to build empathy in audiences” (p. 2).
- 24.
Maathai states in this regard that “the challenges facing Africa, particularly the degradation of the environment, are facing the entire world. This is why the GBM International [another organization which she founded] was founded. Only by working together can we hope to solve some of the problems of this precious planet” (2006, p. 329). Here again she used the book as a platform to try to remind us of our connectedness to one another and to the planet.
- 25.
Roman-Alcalá indicated to me (by email 3 July 2016) when he saw this characterization of his work that he: “Agreed! ☺”.
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Romm, N.R.A. (2018). Development-Oriented Research to Forward Social and Environmental Justice: Responsibly Strengthening Discourses and Actions Toward an Inclusive Wellbeing. In: Responsible Research Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74386-8_6
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