Michael Dove

The “Hikayat Banjar,” a native court chronicle from Borneo, characterizes the irresistibility of natural resource wealth to outsiders as “the banana tree at the gate.” Michael R. Dove employs this phrase as a root metaphor to frame the history of resource relations between the indigenous peoples of Borneo and the world system. In analyzing production and trade in forest products, pepper, and especially natural rubber, Dove shows that the involvement of Borneo’s native peoples in commodity production for global markets is ancient and highly successful and that processes of globalization began millennia ago. Dove’s analysis replaces the image of the isolated tropical forest community that needs to be helped into the global system with the reality of communities that have been so successful and competitive that they have had to fight political elites to keep from being forced out.

A History of Marginal Peoples and Global Markets in Borneo

The Banana Tree at the Gate

The "Hikayat Banjar," a seventeenth-century native court chronicle from Southeast Borneo, characterizes the irresistibility of natural resource wealth to outsiders as "the banana tree at the gate." Michael R. Dove employs this phrase as a root metaphor to frame the history of resource relations between the indigenous peoples of Borneo and the world system, standing on its head the prevailing view of resource-poor and economically marginal tropical forest dwellers. In analyzing production and trade in forest products, pepper, and especially natural rubber, Dove shows that the involvement of Borneo's native peoples in commodity production for global markets is ancient and highly successful. This success is based on the development of a "dual" household economy, with distinct subsistence- and market-oriented sectors, which has historically made these "smallholders" extremely competitive with the large-scale, heavily capitalized, state-supported plantation sector. Dove sheds new light on the nature of smallholders and in particular their relationship with the global economic system. He demonstrates that processes of globalization began millennia ago and that they have been more diverse and less teleological than often thought. His analysis replaces the image of the isolated tropical forest community that needs to be helped into the global system with the reality of communities that have been so successful and competitive that they have had to fight political elites to keep from being forced out. The ubiquitous but historically inaccurate emphasis on isolation and resource-poverty disguises that the overweening characteristic of these communities is their political marginality and that their greatest want is not to be uplifted economically but to be empowered politically.

Arturo Escobar

Alf Hornborg

James Greenberg

Andrew Gardner

Mette Brodgen

Hanne Svarstad

Anne Ferguson

Charles Stevens

Josiah Heyman

Fiona Mackenzie

William Derman

Environmental issues have become increasingly prominent in local struggles, national debates, and international policies. In response, scholars are paying more attention to conventional politics and to more broadly defined relations of power and difference in the interactions between human groups and their biophysical environments. Such issues are at the heart of the relatively new interdisciplinary field of political ecology, forged at the intersection of political economy and cultural ecology. This volume provides a toolkit of vital concepts and a set of research models and analytic frameworks for researchers at all levels. The two opening chapters trace rich traditions of thought and practice that inform current approaches to political ecology. They point to the entangled relationship between humans, politics, economies, and environments at the dawn of the twenty-first century and address challenges that scholars face in navigating the blurring boundaries among relevant fields of enquiry. The twelve case studies that follow demonstrate ways that culture and politics serve to mediate human-environmental relationships in specific ecological and geographical contexts. Taken together, they describe uses of and conflicts over resources including land, water, soil, trees, biodiversity, money, knowledge, and information; they exemplify wide-ranging ecological settings including deserts, coasts, rainforests, high mountains, and modern cities; and they explore sites located around the world, from Canada to Tonga and cyberspace.

Political Ecology Across Spaces, Scales, and Social Groups

Donald Buraglio

Writers like Donald and Mike work at the grassroots level to promote and support our sport. Their love of running shines through every page of what they write. They have a unique perspective on The Running Life and make us smile and gain insight at the same time. Whether you are an experienced runner, a novice, or even a non-runner this compilation of articles will inspire. --Amby Burfoot, Editor at Large, Runners World Magazine and 1968 Boston Marathon winner As a resident of Pacific Grove, Im just like all the other runners on the Central Coast. We eagerly await the Thursday edition of the Monterey Herald so we can see what Donald and Mike are thinking and saying about The Running Life. Its great that this book will allow a wider audience the opportunity of reading these great columns.--Blake Russell, 2008 Womens Olympic Marathon Im out in Buraglio and Dove territory every year for the Big Sur Marathon. Its great to swap stories with Donald and Mike, run, and enjoy the magnificent Central Coast. They are both very knowledgeable and their articles cover every aspect of our sport. A fun read for sure.--Bart Yasso, Chief Runner, Runners World Magazine Ive always been an instinctive runner. I love to run and feel the flow. Donald and Mike capture all I love about running in their articles. They know the spirit as well as the technical side of running. I recommend this series of articles for anyone. You will really capture and understand why we love The Running Life. --Nelly Wright, Pacific Grove, California, 1984 Womens Olympic Marathon

Wisdom and Observations from a Lifetime of Running

The Running Life

The story of the notorious Jewish gangster who ascended from impoverished beginnings to the glittering Las Vegas strip"A highly readable, fast-moving contribution to the annals of 20th-century organized crime."—Kirkus ReviewsIn a brief life that led to a violent end, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (1906–1947) rose from desperate poverty to ill-gotten riches, from an early-twentieth-century family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side to a kingdom of his own making in Las Vegas. In this captivating portrait, author Michael Shnayerson sets out not to absolve Bugsy Siegel but rather to understand him in all his complexity.Through the 1920s, 1930s, and most of the 1940s, Bugsy Siegel and his longtime partner in crime Meyer Lansky engaged in innumerable acts of violence. As World War II came to an end, Siegel saw the potential for a huge, elegant casino resort in the sands of Las Vegas. Jewish gangsters built nearly all of the Vegas casinos that followed. Then, one by one, they disappeared. Siegel’s story laces through a larger, generational story of eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early- to mid-twentieth century.

The Ecological Challenge of Human Consciousness

Bitter Shade

A graduate school student at Berkeley in 1971 finds a class project from a 1959 Criminology seminar detailing an assignment to commit the perfect murder. He investigates and finds more than he wants about this strange class assignment. Although CRIM 279 is listed as fiction; the author claims it is a true account that he promised would not be published until 45 years after the crime! You will be drawn into the atmosphere of the University of California and immersed in the drama of the class of CRIM 279 as they intellectually and philosophically discuss the details of their plan and attempt to carry it out. Their unique personalities create tension and suspense as their interaction takes them in directions they never dreamed toward the perfect murder. CRIM 279 is thought provoking and fun and you will be left to wonder if it is fact or fiction!

Michael Dove

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