Conceptualizing distal drivers in land use competition

TY - CHAP

T1 - Conceptualizing distal drivers in land use competition

AU - Niewhöner, Jörg

AU - Nielsen, Jonas Ø

AU - Gasparri, Gasparri

AU - Gou, Yaqing

AU - Hauge, Mads

AU - Joshi, Neha

AU - Schaffartzik, Anke

AU - Sejersen, Frank

AU - Seto, Karen C.

AU - Shughrue, Chris

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - This introductory chapter explores the notion of ‘distal drivers’ in land use competition. Research has moved beyond proximate causes of land cover and land use change to focus on the underlying drivers of these dynamics. We discuss the framework of telecoupling within human–environment systems as a first step to come to terms with the increasingly distal nature of driving forces behind land use practices. We then expand the notion of distal as mainly a measure of Euclidian space to include temporal, social, and institutional dimensions. This understanding of distal widens our analytical scope for the analysis of land use competition as a distributed process to consider the role of knowledge and power, technology, and different temporalities within a relational or systemic analysis of practices of land use competition. We conclude by pointing toward the historical and social contingency of land use competition and by acknowledging that this contingency requires a methodological–analytical approach to dynamics that goes beyond linear cause–effect relationships. A critical component of future research will be a better understanding of different types of feedback processes reaching from biophysical feedback loops to feedback produced by individual or institutional reflexivity.

AB - This introductory chapter explores the notion of ‘distal drivers’ in land use competition. Research has moved beyond proximate causes of land cover and land use change to focus on the underlying drivers of these dynamics. We discuss the framework of telecoupling within human–environment systems as a first step to come to terms with the increasingly distal nature of driving forces behind land use practices. We then expand the notion of distal as mainly a measure of Euclidian space to include temporal, social, and institutional dimensions. This understanding of distal widens our analytical scope for the analysis of land use competition as a distributed process to consider the role of knowledge and power, technology, and different temporalities within a relational or systemic analysis of practices of land use competition. We conclude by pointing toward the historical and social contingency of land use competition and by acknowledging that this contingency requires a methodological–analytical approach to dynamics that goes beyond linear cause–effect relationships. A critical component of future research will be a better understanding of different types of feedback processes reaching from biophysical feedback loops to feedback produced by individual or institutional reflexivity.

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-33628-2_2

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-33628-2_2

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 978-3-319-33626-8

VL - Volume 6 of the series Human-Environment Interactions

SP - 21

EP - 40

BT - Land Use Competition

A2 - Niewhöner, Jörg

A2 - Bruns, Antje

A2 - Hostert, Patrick

A2 - Krueger, Tobias

A2 - Nielsen, Jonas Ø

A2 - Haberl, Helmut

A2 - Lauk, Christian

A2 - Lutz, Juliana

A2 - Müller, Daniel

PB - Springer

ER -