Introduction,
2017
Pomona College
Table Of Contents: Volume 1: Oil Palm In Southeast Asia: Culture, Politics, And Sustainability,
2017
Claremont Colleges
Table Of Contents: Volume 1: Oil Palm In Southeast Asia: Culture, Politics, And Sustainability
EnviroLab Asia
No abstract provided.
Resisting Dams And Plantations: Indigenous Identity In Sarawak,
2017
Yale-NUS
Resisting Dams And Plantations: Indigenous Identity In Sarawak, Wan Ping Chua '17
EnviroLab Asia
The market and community are always intertwined, and sustained through economic power, social obligations and ideologies. In Sarawak, Malaysia, the expansion of land use for the development of cash crops and energy infrastructure has faced resistance from indigenous communities who depend upon land for subsistence lifestyles. In this encounter, values and cultures are reworked, and the ways in which the community and market rely upon each other in the community changes. The examination of the rice and wild foods sustenance lifestyle of the indigenous Kenyah in Sarawak, Malaysia, and resistance against land development projects, suggest that in the conflicts over …
What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?,
2017
Claremont McKenna College
What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?, Grace Stewart '17
EnviroLab Asia
A recurring theme throughout the EnviroLab Asia clinic trip to Singapore and Malaysian Borneo was the concept of "sustainable development." In this essay, I explore my own thoughts and concerns regarding this phrase, such as the tension that exists between "sustainability" (the maintenance of resources) and the conventional concept of "development" (which consumes resources and can often wreak environmental destruction). I reflect on this tension within the context of environmental issues faced by the Dayak people in Sarawak--the building of the Baram Dam, and the prevalence of oil palm plantations.
Going Home,
2017
Claremont McKenna College
Going Home, Johann Lim '18
EnviroLab Asia
In this reflection, Johann shares how the people he met on the trip (faculty, student fellows, activists and the indigenous people we lived with) furnished him with a lot of knowledge about his home country and the surrounding region and in the process shattered some misconceptions. He also contemplates how the experience prompted him to reevaluate his role as a consumer, activist, and future educator.
Landscapes Of Globalisation In Se Asia,
2017
Yale-NUS
Landscapes Of Globalisation In Se Asia, Brian G. Mcadoo
EnviroLab Asia
As economies continue to expand in Southeast Asia, urban and rural landscapes are undergoing industrial-scale change at a staggering pace. A number of growing industries are responsible for these changes, from soil and biodiversity loss caused by palm-oil deforestation to rainforest flooded in the interest of “climate neutral” hydropower. To best understand the wide-reaching effects of these transformations, a radically interdisciplinary approach is needed to unravel the intersection between environmental degradation, economics and culture. Is the quest for biofuels and carbon-neutral energy to support burgeoning largely urban populations, sometimes in other nations, effectively shifting the environmental costs to rural communities? …
Transformation,
2017
Pomona College
Transformation, Wallace M. Meyer Iii
EnviroLab Asia
Prior to leaving for Claremont Colleges’ Envriolab Asia trip to Malaysia and Singapore, I was conflicted by the question: Do we have the moral authority to interfere with resource extraction and oil-palm development in SE Asia? At that time, the trip seemed imperialistic. Why should people from Malaysia, Indonesia or any developing SE Asia country listen to a group of liberal arts college faculty from a city where widespread habitat modifications have led to significant loss of native habitats, declines in biodiversity, and changes in how these ecosystems function? Many observations transformed my opinion and have inspired me to advocate …
Adaptation And Power,
2017
Pitzer College
Adaptation And Power, Elizabeth Weinlein '17
EnviroLab Asia
Academic knowledge of some of the inequities and injustices embedded in economic development was given greater depth and significance after the EnviroLab Asia clinic trip to Southeast Asia; the same was true result occurred after the group’s meeting with Dyack activists.
Re-Envisioning Sustainable Oil-Palm In Se Asia,
2017
Pomona College
Re-Envisioning Sustainable Oil-Palm In Se Asia, Wallace M. Meyer Iii
EnviroLab Asia
In Southeast Asia, expansion of oil-palm agriculture, in combination with other industries (logging, fiber, and mega-dams), is transforming significant portions of the landscape threatening biodiversity, key ecosystem services, and human cultural diversity. While transformative answers to these multifaceted environmental issues seem daunting, the conservation biology literature provides a road map for effective techniques to mitigate environmental degradation while allowing for thoughtful, well-planned economic growth. I suggest that the lack of strict operational definitions and a holistic approach to sustainability are the two most critical factors hindering development of sustainable oil-palm agriculture. The task for environmental practitioners is to succinctly define …
The Impacts Of Logging And Palm Oil On Aquatic Ecosystems And Freshwater Sources In Southeast Asia,
2017
Pitzer College
The Impacts Of Logging And Palm Oil On Aquatic Ecosystems And Freshwater Sources In Southeast Asia, Isabelle Ng '17
EnviroLab Asia
The process of deforestation has large environmental implications on terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats. Palm oil plantations lead to sedimentation and agricultural runoff into streams and rivers. Such high nutrient inputs could lead to eutrophication, bioaccumulation, and toxic blooms, which could lead to changes in aquatic ecosystems as well as drinking water quality for surrounding communities. Pollutants from streams and rivers are furthermore, channeled down into estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems, thus negatively impacting those areas as well. One possible way to reduce the amount of runoff is by treating the waste produced by palm oil mills as well …
Narratives About Energy, Megaprojects, And The Ecology Of Tropical Rivers: The Baram River Dam Project,
2017
Pomona College
Narratives About Energy, Megaprojects, And The Ecology Of Tropical Rivers: The Baram River Dam Project, Marc Los Huertos
EnviroLab Asia
The conflict between development goals to build dams for hydroelectricity and indigenous peoples in Sarawak was set in motion in the 1970s. In spite of the potential ecological damage, hydroelectric development has been justified by developed and developing countries for decades. These impacts include changes in river geomorphology, water quality, and habitat value and access. Moreover, in the Bakun and Baram river watersheds, the Dayak people of Sarawak have poignantly demonstrated the socio-ecological disruption. For the time being, the construction of the Baram Dam has been halted.
Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil,
2017
Pomona College
Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil, Stephen Marks, Justin Lauw '18, Shivang Mehta '19, Fernando Salud '17
EnviroLab Asia
As the two leading palm oil producing countries, Indonesia and Malaysia have come under external pressures to limit deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions related to land use conversion for oil palm cultivation. We examine various institutional frameworks that have emerged to mediate these pressures. These frameworks can be distinguished by their geographic scope—domestic, region, and global—as well as by the nature of control—private, non-profit, and governmental. The frameworks have taken the form of sustainability certification systems from non-profit organizations or governments, corporate sustainability policies, or the setting through global or bilateral negotiations of voluntary national targets for limiting deforestation or …
Forest Threnody,
2017
SEGi College Subang Jaya, Malaysia
Forest Threnody, Yii Kah Hoe
EnviroLab Asia
Yii Kah Hoe’s Forest Threnody, which received its world premiere on November 1, 2015 in Garrison Theater at Scripps College, Claremont CA, was performed by the Claremont Concert Choir and Claremont Chamber Choir of CMC, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges.
Minority Religions In The Sasanian Empire: Suppression, Integration And Relations With Rome,
2017
Eastern Illinois University
Minority Religions In The Sasanian Empire: Suppression, Integration And Relations With Rome, Lee Patterson
Faculty Research & Creative Activity
Gauging the importance of religion to the exercise of political will inthe Sasanian world requires enormous care. It is all too easy to takethe Great Kings at their word as they championed the doctrines ofZoroastrianism in their political pronouncements, especially as someof them also persecuted Christianity. Whether or not such sentimentswere genuine, a closer analysis of the evidence suggests a more pragmaticroyal use of religion. The political realities on the groundwere more often the deciding factor in how the kings related to thereligious sectors of Sasanian society. This state of affairs sometimesset the kings against the Zoroastrian clerics, whose agendas …
Foreword,
2017
Mighty-Campaign Director
Indigenous People, Development And Environmental Justice: Narratives Of The Dayak People Of Sarawak, Malaysia,
2017
Pitzer College
Indigenous People, Development And Environmental Justice: Narratives Of The Dayak People Of Sarawak, Malaysia, Elizabeth Weinlein '17
EnviroLab Asia
Focusing on the indigenous people of Sarawak, this article explores the authors learned biases as well as the dispelling of myths through hands on experiences in Malaysia. Over the period of a couple days, it becomes apparent that the indigenous people in Sarawak are not victims of systems of oppression, but survivors who continue to fight for their land rights and livelihoods.
Straits Talk,
2017
Pomona College
Just Research,
2017
Pomona College
Just Research, Ki’Amber Thompson '18
EnviroLab Asia
The trip to Malaysia Borneo was an eye-opening experience that reinforced the need for researchers to listen to the indigenous peoples and to integrate their knowledge and understanding of place into any scientific, political, or policy analyses designed to restore the impact of deforestation and dam projects in the region.
Up Close: An Interview,
2017
Pomona College
Up Close: An Interview, Madi Vorva '17
EnviroLab Asia
A long-time US activist against the deleterious impact of oil-palm deforestation in Southeast Asia learned a great deal about the indigenous peoples’ struggles there to gain control over their lives and livelihoods.
[Review Of The Book Mao And The Sino-Soviet Partnership, 1945-1959: A New History, By Z. Shen & Y. Xia].,
2017
Old Dominion University
[Review Of The Book Mao And The Sino-Soviet Partnership, 1945-1959: A New History, By Z. Shen & Y. Xia]., Austin Jersild
History Faculty Publications
[Introduction] Soviet General Secretary Nikita Krushchev was in Beijing in the fall of 1954 to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the Chinese revolution, open a huge exhibit designed to facilitate socialist bloc collaboration with Chine, and establish a positive tone and relationship with Chinese leaders who had reason to be wary of historic Soviet objectives in the Far East. In a speech before he left to mark the anniversary of the revolution, he focused on the sensitive question of colonialism in Chinese history, and the importance of the revolution in the creation of a new and independent china free of …
