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What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?

annlejan7

This text builds from earlier conceptions of the term “land dispossession” and “land grab”. As defined by the 2011 International Land Coalition, land grabbing specifically refers to large scale land acquisitions that are “ in violation of human rights, without prior consent of the preexisting land users, and with no consideration of social and environmental impacts”. Characterization of land grabs and their resulting harms most commonly considers the effect of physical displacement and harms within the articulated “grabbed” area (Nyantakyi-Frimpong, 2017;Ogwand, 2018;  huaserman, 2018). Li and Pan seek to expand the frame of analysis for land grabs beyond the site of grabbed land to consider the full extent of harms associated with land grabs both geographically (via pollution spillover to areas outside of “grabbed land”) and temporally (via latent “expulsion by pollution). 

 

What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?

annlejan7

 “While the villagers are not passive victims and have adopted various resistance strategies, the space for them to struggle and achieve success is confined and shaped by the existing power asymmetry in which local villagers, capital and local government are embedded.”  (Li and Pan, 2021, p 418). 

 

“...this framing of land dispossession is problematic in two aspects. Firstly, it obscures an invisible form of land dispossession in which people still maintain control of their land but its use value is damaged by pollution. This kind of indirect land dispossession could lead to expulsion, not due to the direct loss of control over land but by it being rendered useless by pollution.” Li and Pan, 2021, p 409). 

 

What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article?

annlejan7

 This text employs a case study approach to characterize how villagers in a village in China have been displaced “in-place” as a result of new industrial activities within the area  (all specific details have been hidden within the publication, wherein the names of villager groups and the site of study itself is referenced only by coded letters). The scale of analysis primarily centers at the village level, though analysis of the case study itself extends towards the country level specifically when analysis of state actors are involved. 

 

Who are the authors, where do they work, and what are their areas of expertise?

annlejan7

Authors Hua Li and Lu Pan are scholars from China. Li is  affiliated with the College of Humanities and Law at Taiyuan University of Technology, wherein her research focuses specifically on water politics, environmental justice, and rural development and agrarian change. Pan is affiliated with the College of Humanities and Development at China Agricultural University. Her research interests include marginalized communities, rural development, and agrarian change.

The refinery changing with the World

tschuetz

This 7-minute 'image film' was produced in light of the 100 year anniversary of the Wood River refinery. It briefly touches on the company's products, history and guiding values. I first saw the film in a small cinema room at the Wood River Refinery Museum and found this upload on YouTube. I was curious to see how anthropocenic effects are or are not depicted.  At about 90 seconds into the clip, a plant operator states: "This piece of land, this refinery has been here for a hundred years and it has changed with the world over the last hundred years, through world war two, but now we have women in the refinery." However, the narrative is not further developed, as the film cuts to another worker who recounts visiting the facility with his father. Certainly, a promotional film like this is supposed to present the company in the best light possible. When it comes to social and environmental change, a vague acknowledgment of World War II and a positive framing of women entering the company's workforce might indicate the limits of this visual mode of communication. 

pece_annotation_1474244999

xiaox
Annotation of

Life Box is designed for help people who are victim of nature disaster, such as flood, tsunami and earthquake. It is an air-droppable, foldable box housing with releif goods, such as water, food and so on. When natural disaster happen, relief providers sometimes could not reach to some disaster zone. For example, it could be landslide and stop the road after earthquake, therefore Life Box could be sent to the zone before the relief providers arrive and help the victims. 

pece_annotation_1474248154

xiaox
Annotation of

Live Box is designed for disaster zone after the natural disaster. Particularlly the area that relief providers can not arrive immediately. Live Box offers three usage types for different needs which are "air", "land" and " water". For example, the "air" type could be sent by aircraft to the area if the roads are blocked after earthquake. The "water" type could be used for flood-affected areas and it could be used as a shelter on water and land. Similarly, the "land" type could be used as temporary hospital or emergency centre.