Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dan Brockington @danbrockington.bsky.social · 1d

#POLLEN"2026 panels are now live.

What happens now is a vital part of the preparation

Hundreds of potential participants will be sending in their ideas to the hundreds of different convenors. It is a rich moment of exchange and interaction.

Please spread the word.

shorturl.at/fCGhB

Call for presentations & posters - POLLEN

The call for presentations and posters is now open until 23:59 CET on Friday 5th December. Before proposing anything, please read the conference rationale & purpose, the rules below, and then browse t...

shorturl.at

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 2d

News that shocks no one: Carbon offsets do nothing for climate.

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

www.theguardian.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks for all the hard work, Dan and Barcelona team! This will certainly be another POLLEN to remember.

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Sep 9

ohhh! intriguing.. you coming to NL?!

Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Sep 8

Was great indeed to do this piece on The Value of Political Ecology in Biodiversity Conservation for Nature Reviews biodiversity with a great group of colleagues. Next time in person @jaredmargulies.bsky.social ?

Jared Margulies @jaredmargulies.bsky.social · Sep 8

I wish this could have been an interactive conversation because its a wonderful group of folks, but nevertheless I enjoyed taking some time to reflect on questions related to the value of political ecology for biodiversity conservation with @brambuscher.bsky.social and others rdcu.be/eEKqA

The value of political ecology in biodiversity conservation

Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Political ecology aims to understand how politics and power influence both social and ecological dynamics. Conservation biologists and political ecologists tackle many...

rdcu.be

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Jared Margulies @jaredmargulies.bsky.social · Sep 8

I wish this could have been an interactive conversation because its a wonderful group of folks, but nevertheless I enjoyed taking some time to reflect on questions related to the value of political ecology for biodiversity conservation with @brambuscher.bsky.social and others rdcu.be/eEKqA

The value of political ecology in biodiversity conservation

Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Political ecology aims to understand how politics and power influence both social and ecological dynamics. Conservation biologists and political ecologists tackle many...

rdcu.be

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Rosaleen Duffy @rosaleenduffy.bsky.social · Aug 27

2012 #ivory - Al Shabab vibes here when naive conservationists jumped on the idea environmental protection = global security. It doesn’t - just take one look at the Military Emissions Gap project. #Militarisation harms the environment

www.politico.eu/article/russ...

From Kyiv to the Suwałki Gap, bogs return as Europe’s defensive shield

Restoring the EU’s drained bogs would stop both Russian tanks and planet-warming pollution.

www.politico.eu

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Herman Lambers @herman61.bsky.social · Jul 7

We are in the middle of it.

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Jun 29

Another year, another "crucial global summit".

Except that no summit before has actually gone to the roots of the climate crisis and have altogether had near-zero impact.

We need to drastically rethink global environmental governance.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Climate is our biggest war’, warns CEO of Cop30 ahead of UN summit in Brazil

Negotiators doubt countries’ financial and environmental commitment as military and trade wars divert attention

www.theguardian.com

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Han Wiskerke @hanwiskerke.bsky.social · Jun 10

Een paar kritische kanttekeningen bij het recente pleidooi van de rectoren van de Nederlandse universiteiten over academische vrijheid: www.trouw.nl/opinie/opini...
@brambuscher.bsky.social @woinactie.bsky.social @remcobreuker.bsky.social @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @rensbod.bsky.social

Opinie: Universiteiten, jullie beperken ook zelf de academische vrijheid

De rectoren negeren hun eigen rol in de aantasting van de academische vrijheid. Zo zijn marktprincipes de universiteit in toenemende mate gaan regeren, schrijven Joost Jongerden, Bram Büscher en Han W...

www.trouw.nl

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Rosaleen Duffy @rosaleenduffy.bsky.social · May 28

📣 New Paper on #ConvivialConservation in Biological Conservation, brilliantly led by @judithekrauss.bsky.social We argue for greater transdisciplinary research to develop convivial forms of human-predator #coexistence. It’s #OA and you can read it here ⬇️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Coexistence beyond disciplinary silos: Five dimensions of analysis for more convivial human-predator interactions

Understanding human-predator interactions has been a central goal of conservation for decades, yet many previous efforts have approached this challeng…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · May 23

This was horrible, but I'm afraid we havent seen close to rock bottom yet. If post-truth becomes the norm, nothing is out of limits.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s ambush of South Africa’s president shows how low the US has fallen | Justice Malala

Instead of embarrassing Cyril Ramaphosa, the US president’s ‘gotcha’ moment illuminates the fact-free reality show that is Trump’s America

www.theguardian.com

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Journal of Political Ecology @jpoliticalecology.bsky.social · May 12

Koot, S 2025 Book review of Van Beemen, O. Ondernemers in het wild: Het ontluisterende verhaal van een club witte weldoeners in Afrika. J of Political Ecology 32(1). journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/ @pollenetwork.bsky.social @brambuscher.bsky.social Book is in Dutch German & French

Journal of Political Ecology

journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Mar 10

Ha - interesting! fences play a big part of the problems of this world, but the main problems are deeper - curious what you think of this:

Convivial fences? Property, ‘right to wildlife’ and the need for redistributive justice in South African conservation

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

www.sciencedirect.com

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POLLEN - Political Ecology Network @pollenetwork.bsky.social · Mar 6

New article: Authoritarianism isn’t just chaos—it’s a power reshuffle. Under Bolsonaro, a “new elite” tore down protections, fueling socioecological crises while hiding their own downfall. 🔥🌍 #Brazil #Authoritarianism onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Upsetting the Double Movement? Elite Schisms and Bolsonaro's Brazil in the Context of Global Authoritarian Capitalism

The brazen political antics and mystifying logics accompanying the contemporary rise of authoritarianism have garnered much interest in academic and popular media. A key question is how to make sense...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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POLLEN - Political Ecology Network @pollenetwork.bsky.social · Feb 27

The UN’s new biodiversity deal aims to protect 30% of Earth by 2030—but does it tackle the root causes of nature’s destruction? Without addressing economic expansion, pollution & systemic issues, conservation alone won’t be enough. #Biodiversity #NatureCrisis theconversation.com/biodiversity...

Biodiversity treaty: UN deal fails to address the root causes of nature’s destruction

Global summits to arrest Earth’s deteriorating health look increasingly farcical.

theconversation.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 26

Right, one of the biggest 'free' market capitalists believes that 'free-market thinking' is under threat and must become the official opinion of his newspaper

Seems Bezos is hellbent on ensuring his newspaper's creed 'democracy dies in darkness' becomes reality.

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/f...

Washington Post opinion editor departs as Bezos pushes to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’

Opinion editor leaves as Amazon executive and newspaper owner says ‘viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others’

www.theguardian.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 21

Rest in Peace James Ferguson.

@pollenetwork.bsky.social

brambuscher.com/2025/02/21/r...

RIP James Ferguson: a tribute

Very sad news. Jim Ferguson was a brilliant scholar, a leading light in Anthropology, development studies and the social sciences and an allround amazing intellectual. He profoundly influenced my t…

brambuscher.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

"Another approach to conservation is needed, one that takes seriously our economic system’s structural pressures, violent socio-ecological realities, cascading extinctions and increasingly authoritarian politics"

We wrote this 5 years ago. Could have been yesterday.

www.jstor.org/stable/26677...

www.jstor.org

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

AMEN.

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

Of course not. If you deliberately do not address root causes you will never meet your targets.

theconversation.com/biodiversity...

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

Convivial conservation goes to the roots of the problem: 1) the capitalist growth economy; 2) the structural alienation of people from the rest of nature

Only by directly targeting these can we move beyond virtue signaling to push for a revolutionary alternative

www.convivialconservation.com

Homepage - Convivial Conservation

www.convivialconservation.com

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

Surely well intentioned, but typical of what Catherine Liu calls 'virtue hoarding',

"the credentialed elite class that serves capitalism while insisting on its own progressive heroism"

One wonders how this can come from the US given the ongoing politics?

www.upress.umn.edu/978151791225...

Virtue Hoarders

A denunciation of the credentialed elite class that serves capitalism while insisting on its own progressive heroism Professional Managerial Class (PMC) elit...

www.upress.umn.edu

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

From the paper: "These tools are interlinked with the blue economy and can drive the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems"

In other words: business-as-usual.

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 19

Another 'groundbreaking' conservation approach full of nice-sounding virtue-signals (innovation, livelihoods, prosperit, etc) without going to the roots of the problem

Nothing critical about capitalism, authoritarianism or growth.

What we need is an actual CONVIVIAL conservation revolution.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · Feb 6

🌊 A new study led by Scripps Oceanography marine biologist @octavioaburto.bsky.social introduces #MarineProsperityAreas — a groundbreaking approach to balancing ocean conservation and community livelihoods. Dive into this innovative framework for marine conservation.
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/marine-...

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 14

www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikel...

Politieke bemoeienis met academische vrijheid is geen aanmoediging - Joop - BNNVARA

Door Joost Jongerden.

www.bnnvara.nl

Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 13

This is so frightening - authoritarian fascism in full frontal attack mode. As prof. Pagel emphasises, we must acknowledge we are in a full-blown democratic crisis, call it out for what it is and fight it with every means possible.

@sierra-deutsch.bsky.social @esthermarijnen.bsky.social

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · Feb 13

🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."

Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.

I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9

This is a venn diagram showing how 69 Trump actions map onto domains covering: undermining democratic institutions; suppressing dissent and media; dismantling social protections; attacking science and education; destabilising the global order. A table version is available here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LZN7QnbSyFfUZJG8Sn1MWpK0VnfBtb0OSyZ1jxP3xBk/edit?usp=sharing

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · Feb 13

🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."

Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.

I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9

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Bram Büscher @brambuscher.bsky.social · Feb 11

Led by @sierra-deutsch.bsky.social and co-authored with Rob Coates&Laila Sandroni, this paper seems all too prescient right now..

Sierra's apt phrasing of 'brazen political antics and mystifying logics accompanying authoritarianism' are in full display

Resisting fascism is more important than ever

Sierra Deutsch @sierra-deutsch.bsky.social · Feb 11

Wondering where all this fascism is coming from? In this new article @brambuscher.bsky.social, Robert Coates, Laila Sandroni & I use Bolsonaro as a case study & look to Karl Polanyi & literature on authoritarian neoliberalism & the elite for some answers. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

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Sierra Deutsch @sierra-deutsch.bsky.social · Feb 11

Wondering where all this fascism is coming from? In this new article @brambuscher.bsky.social, Robert Coates, Laila Sandroni & I use Bolsonaro as a case study & look to Karl Polanyi & literature on authoritarian neoliberalism & the elite for some answers. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

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