SECTION 2: Commodity-Chain Analysis

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Section 2 Title Page: Place, People, Name, Date,
Geographical Co-ordinates

Environmental Conflict

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Commodity-Chain: diagram a commodity chain that shows how you are connected -- along the commodity-chain -- to your environmental conflict/problem at the site that you examined in Section 1 of your semester project.

(Some projects to not involve commodities that are traded globally. In this instance, your commodity chain may focus on the national scale: however, you should take a node of your commodity chain and show how it might be connected to you, for example, through ownership by a global corporation that has US consumers or shareholders. Please consult your TA or the Professor if you need assistance in this regard.)

Option A: provide a map that shows where the project travels and provides information on the reasons for it particular global route

Option B: Diagram a commodity-chain (or global value chain) such as those covered in the commodity chain lectures

For both Option A and Option B, show how your commodity chain links to at least one additional commodity chain at one node

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Commodity-Chain analysis -- Address the following:

1. What is the economic driver behind this problem? In other words, why does the problem persist despite its negative environmental impacts? how much money? How many people are involved (e.g. in using and/or processing)? What institutions (e.g., corporations, institutions, governments, militaries or militias, criminal organizations, NGOs) benefit from this problem?

2. Select a node of your commodity chain and explore the footprint of the environmental problem. (This will usually be the final 'end' point in your local site.

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Environmental Toxicity, Degradation, Destruction -- Address the following:

1. What is the environmental impact of your problem? Write an essay in which you specify the mechanism though which the environment is affected -- e.g., if toxicity, how does the toxin operate? if degradation, how is the environment degraded in its ability to sustain life?

2. Provide statistics! Give the magnitude of the problem in terms of areal extent and rate of destruction.

(If you examined toxicity as a part of your previous write-up you may reuse a portion of that information here. However, you must first consult with your TA!)

3. How is biodiversity affected?

SECTION 3: Environmental Conflict and Justice

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Section 3 Title Page:

Name, Project Title, 'Section 3'

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Environmental Conflict:

Explore the environmental conflict in detail. Imagine that you are writing an article or making a video on of this struggle: cover the basics -- Who, What, Where, When, How, Why?

How are the affected parties responding? Who is assisting them (e.g., NGOs or governments) in their concerns? What tactics are they using? (e.g.: political action such as new laws or regulations, boycotts, web videos, protests, marches, sabotage, armed struggle). Are they successful? What would you advise them to do in their place?

If no groups are openly contesting the environmental conflict, use information about involved actors to write about which group or groups might be positioned to fight back. Does the affected group form part of a community, village, or neighborhood? Could a local legislator, NGO or governmental agency take the lead? How could the group take action (protests, boycotts, marches, letters to the editor)? What would these groups need to do to make action possible? Think about access to political power and resources.

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Environmental Justice:

Referring to the essay by Bunyan Bryant, or to other sources on environmental justice (must be cited), discuss how this problem constitutes an issue of environmental justice. Be sure to comment specifically on issues of power and inequality. Are issues of traditional lands or indigenous rights at stake?

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Bibliography: Include all cited works from sections 2 and 3 here.