James Ferguson and Larry Lohmann look at the Basotho in Lesotho, where NGOs and IGOs like the World Bank, UNDP, and USAID have made a presence. However, their attempts at development are at times ignorant of both what the local population wants and needs, and the impacts of addressing local, state, and global interests. Many nongovernmental organizations and international governmental organizations establish themselves in countries with the goal of sustainable development. “The Anti-Politics Machine” One of the many tourism shops in Panajachel (Photo by Sehdia Mansaray). People have access to shared histories, observations, and interactions with their environment that provide unique insight into the world around them. Their point of view is a shared image of the country as “underdeveloped” and needing aid in order to “develop.” Nazarea’s work is important because local knowledge should not be undermined as ignorant in human environment relations. Ferguson and Lohmann’s “Anti-Politics Machine” underscores that the point of view instituted by international development agencies in Lesotho are coming from the agencies. This can have implications towards any centralized or non-local implemented structures of environmental management. Similarly, Nazarea emphasizes that a point of view is “fixed.” Even if two peoples are looking at an image or an environment, there will be different interpretations or constructed landscapes. The discipline focusses on the local perspective and emphasizes that this perspective is just as if not more valuable than the West’s. Rather than just documenting local knowledge, Nazarea would like to see ethnoecologists implement local knowledge into action. Ethnoecology gives validation to the native’s point of view as legitimate for their given environment. The point of view with which one looks at environmental matters changes the narrative that is told or knowledge that is spread. Virginia Nazarea discusses the role ethnoecology has played in the past and the role she hopes it will play in the future. When it comes to science, often the “Western” point of view is given more validation than perspectives from the rest of the world. This work addresses the interpretation of cultural knowledge. “A View from A Point: Ethnoecology as Situated Knowledge” Markets are a site where production and consumption come together (Photo taken by Sehdia Mansaray in Saint-Denis, La Réunion.
Without a consumer, a producer takes on financial costs. Without a producer, a buyer will struggle to consume. Production and consumption for example are linked.
Societies are linked such that even lower and classes have a stake in their environment. Power however, can come in different forms. Power structures compose a complex system of regional to global actors that reflect control and status as an authority figure.
The world may be perceived in terms of those who have and those who do not, or power structures.
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