- Between weeks 8 and 12, each student should provide a weekly reflection (500 words) on the data you have collected to date.
- What data did you collect?
- What is your initial impression of the data?
- How have the data you have collected this week changed/progressed your thinking about your research project?
- What challenges did you encounter while collecting the data?
- What are your next steps?
This week, I continued to find articles, and began to dive into some more specific areas related to my topic. Rather than just getting a general overview of the relationship between neoliberalism and the environment, I have begun to find arguments that explore the nuances of this relationship, or particular issues or questions within this general topic. The two articles that I annotated this week will be helpful in developing more specific analyses of my interview data.
Additionally, I have begun to take steps towards beginning my interview process. I have fleshed out my interview protocol in further detail, adding more sub-questions to help draw out answers about specific questions, and adding new questions. I added a question that asks specifically about capitalism, because I think that this might be a way of tapping into neoliberal discourse using language that is more familiar to my respondents. I also decided to add a question towards the end that asks them if they are familiar with neoliberalism and, depending on their answer, potentially asking how neoliberalism impacts their activism. I don’t expect my respondents to be familiar with neoliberalism, but if they are, it might be revealing about the ways they approach activism.
I have sent out two initial emails to potential respondents. I know both of them personally, but am not especially close to either of them, so I think I would be able to conduct a proper interview with each of them. I also asked them for other people who might be interested in taking part in the project so that I can begin to snowball respondents.
Dempsey, Jessica and Morgan M. Robertson. 2012. “Ecosystem Services: Tensions, Impurities, and Points of Engagement within Neoliberalism.” Progress in Human Geography; London 36(6):758–79.
This article elaborates on the concept of “ecosystem services,” which was a prominent idea in one of the articles that was in my annotated bibliography last week. The authors argue that not all uses of the concept of ecosystem services reflect neoliberal ideologies. They explore some of the inconsistencies that are internal to neoliberalism, and how these reflect themselves in the literature on ecosystem services. This work aligns itself with that of David Harvey and Wendy Brown, who recognize that the ideals of neoliberalism frequently contradict one another. This article helps to bring nuance to the ideas that are fueling the debate about neoliberalism and the environment, which is important. It also presents a framework for potentially understanding contradictions that may arise in the ways that my informants talk about environmentalism.
Tienhaara, Kyla. 2014. “Varieties of Green Capitalism: Economy and Environment in the Wake of the Global Financial Crisis.” Environmental Politics 23(2):187–204.
This work examines three proposals that were presented after the 2008 economic crisis, which were meant to stimulate the economy in ways that benefit the environment. The author claims that the “Green New Deal,” a “Green Stimulus,” and a “Green Economy” plan are all distinct from one another and present varying relationships to capitalism. This article stuck out to me immediately because I know that Bowdoin activists have been proponents of the Green New Deal, which was recently proposed to Congress. I anticipate that this might come up in my interviews, and so being able to understand and articulate how this proposal relates to neoliberalism and global capitalism, as well as having alternatives to compare it to, would potentially be a very fruitful part of my analysis. This article will be useful in understanding this proposal’s position in the world of environmental activism and green capitalism, and provide me with the tools I need to analyze the Green New Deal with regards to neoliberalism, if it becomes relevant from my interviews.
Comments:
Your articles and research plan looks great! Your first article is indeed aligned with how we have been talking about neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is fraught with contradictions and acknowledging that is an important step to engage in a nuanced analysis of neoliberal processes. I liked that you are already working with a complex understanding of neoliberalism.
As for your interviews, there is a chance that your informants will have different ideas about what capitalism is. Or they might emphasize different aspects of capitalism. Try to be attuned to those differences and maybe ask them what they think about different views regarding capitalism. Also, there is a chance that you might not be able to get much out of this question (like maybe they will give you standard answers). In that case, you should ask yourself what you want to find out by asking this question: do you want to ask about companies? certain industries?