Papers by Noah Quastel
On August 4, 2014 the tailings pond failed at the Mount Polley copper, gold and silver mine in B... more On August 4, 2014 the tailings pond failed at the Mount Polley copper, gold and silver mine in British Columbia. The dam failure was amongst the largest recorded, and led to widespread debate in the province concerning weak environmental law and the effects of deregulation. This paper examines the changing role of the law in British Columbia around mining and the environment in relationship to the Mount Polley disaster. It draws on the work of the early Soviet legal theorist Evigny Pashukanis to help understand law’s role in the commodification of nature. Pashukanis suggests not only a legal analysis of the commodity form. Contemporary law departs from the rigid and formal property and contract rules that Pashukanis considered and respond to shifting technologies and environmental concern. But Pashukanis provides a starting point for analysis of how nature is commodified and the multiplicities of, and variegated legal geographies of, commodity forms.
This paper identifies three distinct traditions in what might be described as 'ecological politic... more This paper identifies three distinct traditions in what might be described as 'ecological political economy'. First, a " Promethean " approach posits that capitalism has a relentless drive towards growth and bears responsibility for the wholesale transformation of nature. Second, critics of sustainable capitalism acknowledge the possibility of capitalist futures with a better management of natural resources and carbon emissions. The Strategic Relational Approach, developed by Bob Jessop and Ngai-Ling Sum, points to a unique third type of ecological political economy. Each approach is shown to have distinct views concerning the commodification of nature, the role of the state, and ways to understand ecological and social transitions. The Strategic Relational Approach points to the possibility of counter-hegemonic strategies and collective mobilization to transform the state and so redirect, control and contain capitalist relations with nature.
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 2011
This paper draws on Margaret Radin's theorization of 'contested commodities' to explore the proce... more This paper draws on Margaret Radin's theorization of 'contested commodities' to explore the process whereby informal housing becomes formalized but also shaped by legal regulation. As cities seek to move once informal housing into the domain of official legality, they can seldom rely on a simple legal framework of private law principles of property and contract. Instead, they face complex trade-offs between providing basic needs and affordability and meeting public law norms around living standards, traditional neighbourhood feel, and the environment. This paper highlights these issues through an examination of the uneven process of legal formalization of basement apartments in Vancouver, Canada. Choosing a long time period -- from 1928 to 2009 -- we explore how basement apartments became a vital source of housing often at odds with city planning that long favoured a low-density residential built form. We suggest that Radin's theoretical account makes possible identifying legalization and official market construction with both questions of whether to permit commodification and how to permit commodification. Real world commodification processes -- including legal sanction -- reflect hybridization, pragmatic decision-making and regulatory compromise. The resolutions of questions concerning how to legalize commodification are also intertwined with processes of market expansion.
Livability refers to quality of life in cities. However it has been widely interpreted, and inclu... more Livability refers to quality of life in cities. However it has been widely interpreted, and includes both the promotion of, as well as opposition to, industrial development and infrastructure projects. While in the 1960s it was linked to new social movements by the 1970s it had become enshrined in official government policy. Livability is now linked to efforts to make cities more sustainable through promoting compact walkable communities as well as serving as a basis for global competition between cities. Despite these many uses, the term points to the need for governance to not simply foster economic development but include concerns about how cities are places for people and nature.
In 2010, the largest hydropower dam ever constructed in Laos, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Power Project... more In 2010, the largest hydropower dam ever constructed in Laos, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Power Project, was completed with crucial—indeed, deal-making—support from the World Bank. Although the vast majority of the electricity produced by the project is exported to neighboring Thailand, the most important negative social and environmental impacts have occurred in Laos. While much attention has focused on the dam reservoir, there have been significant effects downstream from the project along the Xe Bang Fai (XBF) River, a major tributary of the mainstream Mekong River. In this article we examine the complex relationships between energy produced by NT2 and energy consumption patterns in Thailand. We link varying electricity demand in Thai air conditioning, fluctuating water releases from the NT2 dam, and downstream changes in XBF hydrol- ogy. Taking a political ecology approach, we emphasize how NT2 is part of rescaling electricity production and consumption networks, changes to their modes of ordering, and the reworking of nature–society relations. Although NT2 involves a complex array of social and environmental civil society concerns for Thailand, Laos, and global society, this was largely obscured by the commercial and technical orientation of its novel gover- nance systems
Urban Geography, Jan 1, 2012
Urban planning policy in North America is increasingly dominated by the ideal of "sustainability-... more Urban planning policy in North America is increasingly dominated by the ideal of "sustainability-as-density"-the promotion of walkable neighborhoods containing high-density housing in proximity to transit and daily amenities. Although this planning approach is increasingly scrutinized due to its links to gentrification and rising regional housing costs, there are few examples of analysis of neighborhood-level effects, especially social impacts. This study extends a political ecology perspective to combine quantitative, cultural, and critical policy analysis methods to analyze neighborhood densification initiatives in the city of Vancouver, Canada. Densification was found to be entangled with socioeconomic neighborhood composition as well as cultural and lifestyle characteristics of gentrification. Increased public concern over tensions between the promotion of densification and housing affordability is also a factor, despite some limited efforts by the City of Vancouver to address social concerns. This suggests a need to rethink the roles of both densification and "the social" more generally in urban sustainability policy. [
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review/ …, Jan 1, 2008
This article analyzes the later work of Michel Foucault on ethics, freedom, and self-governance a... more This article analyzes the later work of Michel Foucault on ethics, freedom, and self-governance as it applies to the ethics of consumption and to new ethical consumerist movements such as fair-trade coffee. Foucault's emphasis on practices of the self helps elucidate the virtue ethics involved in consumption choices. Ethical consumption is cast as a set of practices of self-development: through critical activity and the quest for freedom, persons seek to transform themselves to live in reciprocal relationships with other persons and nature. This requires public deliberation and collective action to effect change within ourselves and our practical systems of consumption and production. RÉSUMÉ : Cet article consiste en une analyse des derniers textes de Michel Foucault au sujet de la gouvernance de soi-même, de l'éthique et de la liberté. J'utilise ces concepts pour discuter l'éthique de la consommation et la nouvelle importance mise sur la consommation équitable pour des produits comme le café équitable. Le travail de Foucault sur le souci de soi aide pour élucider l'éthique de la vertu dans les choix du consommateur. La consommation équitable est considérée comme faisant partie d'une ensemble de pratiques qui développe le soi. Par la poursuite de la liberté au moyen d'actions critiques, on essaie de se transformer afin de former des relations réciproques avec la nature et les autres. Ceci exige un discours public et des recours collectifs concernant la transformation de soi-même et de nos systèmes de consommation et production.
mirage Contract, sustainability and the ecology of exchange. xmlui.dri2xhtml.structural.head-subt... more mirage Contract, sustainability and the ecology of exchange. xmlui.dri2xhtml.structural.head-subtitle. Login/Register. ...
This article explores the possibilities for a political ecology of gentrification. Gentrification... more This article explores the possibilities for a political ecology of gentrification. Gentrification research, while firmly rooted in materialist social science, has not yet broadened its interests to consider ecological aspects of, or the role in gentrification of, discourses, social movements, and state policies of the environment. Understanding the political ecologies of gentrification involves recognizing the ways in which material relations and uneven resource consumption, concepts of nature, and the politics of urban environmental management affect gentrification processes. By synthesizing diverse literatures in urban studies, political ecology, urban environmental governance, consumption studies, and gentrification, this study argues that Vancouver, British Columbia represents a well-developed urban crucible for the new political ecologies of gentrification in North America. New developments in Vancouver increasingly contribute to gentrification using languages of sustainability and green consumption in a process of ecological gentrification. [
Articles (Peer-reviewed) by Noah Quastel
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 2011
In 2010, the largest hydropower dam ever constructed in Laos, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Power Project... more In 2010, the largest hydropower dam ever constructed in Laos, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Power Project, was completed with crucial—indeed, deal-making—support from the World Bank. Although the vast majority of the electricity produced by the project is exported to neighboring Thailand, the most important negative social and environmental impacts have occurred in Laos. While much attention has focused on the dam reservoir,
there have been significant effects downstream from the project along the Xe Bang Fai (XBF) River, a major tributary of the mainstream Mekong River. In this article we examine the complex relationships between energy produced by NT2 and energy consumption patterns in Thailand. We link varying electricity demand in Thai air conditioning, fluctuating water releases from the NT2 dam, and downstream changes in XBF hydrology. Taking a political ecology approach, we emphasize how NT2 is part of rescaling electricity production and
consumption networks, changes to their modes of ordering, and the reworking of nature–society relations. Although NT2 involves a complex array of social and environmental civil society concerns for Thailand, Laos, and global society, this was largely obscured by the commercial and technical orientation of its novel governance systems.
Books by Noah Quastel
Review of law and policy on radon gas across Canada and select EU countries across areas of workp... more Review of law and policy on radon gas across Canada and select EU countries across areas of workplace health and safety, occupier's liability, tenants rights, public health and other legal and policy domains. . Shows where new legislation and policy action needed in Canada.
The City of Vancouver has emerged as an examplar of urban sustainability and environmental planni... more The City of Vancouver has emerged as an examplar of urban sustainability and environmental planning, combining leadership on climate action, urban containment boundaries and commitment to walkable complete communities. However, environmental improvement has occurred hand in hand with high home prices. By 2016 there was near consensus concerning a housing crisis and regional level gentrification and municipal, provincial and federal governments are beginning to implement a series of new regulatory measures. This paper suggest these regulatory changes amount to a new, perhaps less than ideal form of, ‘Just Green Enough” strategy that in turn can be analyzed through the concept of “Sustainability Fix”. The concept of a fix has been applied to many cities to describe policies that combine environmental improvement and capital accumulation strategies. This paper reflects on the concept, and suggests Bob Jessop’s state theory and cultural political economy provides a unique theoretical lens for analyzing a fix. Drawing on new changes to Vancouver’s housing system, this paper argues a sustainability fix can actively incorporate, absorb, and deflect civil society concerns around environmental gentrification.
This book chapter appears in 2018. Just Green Enough
Urban Development and Environmental Gentrification
Edited by Winifred Curran, Trina Hamilton. Routledge
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Papers by Noah Quastel
Articles (Peer-reviewed) by Noah Quastel
there have been significant effects downstream from the project along the Xe Bang Fai (XBF) River, a major tributary of the mainstream Mekong River. In this article we examine the complex relationships between energy produced by NT2 and energy consumption patterns in Thailand. We link varying electricity demand in Thai air conditioning, fluctuating water releases from the NT2 dam, and downstream changes in XBF hydrology. Taking a political ecology approach, we emphasize how NT2 is part of rescaling electricity production and
consumption networks, changes to their modes of ordering, and the reworking of nature–society relations. Although NT2 involves a complex array of social and environmental civil society concerns for Thailand, Laos, and global society, this was largely obscured by the commercial and technical orientation of its novel governance systems.
Books by Noah Quastel
This book chapter appears in 2018. Just Green Enough
Urban Development and Environmental Gentrification
Edited by Winifred Curran, Trina Hamilton. Routledge
there have been significant effects downstream from the project along the Xe Bang Fai (XBF) River, a major tributary of the mainstream Mekong River. In this article we examine the complex relationships between energy produced by NT2 and energy consumption patterns in Thailand. We link varying electricity demand in Thai air conditioning, fluctuating water releases from the NT2 dam, and downstream changes in XBF hydrology. Taking a political ecology approach, we emphasize how NT2 is part of rescaling electricity production and
consumption networks, changes to their modes of ordering, and the reworking of nature–society relations. Although NT2 involves a complex array of social and environmental civil society concerns for Thailand, Laos, and global society, this was largely obscured by the commercial and technical orientation of its novel governance systems.
This book chapter appears in 2018. Just Green Enough
Urban Development and Environmental Gentrification
Edited by Winifred Curran, Trina Hamilton. Routledge