Peopling the Environmental State: River Restoration and State Power. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sneddon, Chris; Magilligan, Francis J.; Fox, Coleen A.
• Is Part Of: Annals of the American Association of Geographers. Volume 112:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 18
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: dam removal -- environmental governance -- political ecology -- river restoration -- state theory; 大坝拆除、环境治理、政治生态学、河流修复、国家理论。; ecología política -- gobernanza ambiental -- remoción de represas -- restauración de ríos -- teoría del estado; Geography -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Geography; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2021.1913089
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2469-4452

Abstract

Abstract : Dam removal in the United States is an increasingly attractive option for advocates of river restoration. We argue that dam removal in New England (United States) is a useful lens for examining state actors' capabilities to govern environmental processes. Our analytical framework builds off and integrates strategic-relational approaches (SRAs) to state power and those approaches more concerned with "peopling" the state through state agents' everyday encounters with civil society. The complex suite of issues—ranging from safety and the environmental benefits of free-flowing rivers to historical preservation and cultural heritage—characterizing dam removal and similar restoration efforts challenge state agents to become more multidimensional in environmental governance. Our research reveals that some state agencies in New England have been more effective than others at adopting these novel roles and managing environmental conflicts. Our research also suggests we view the "state" as a complex collective of relations and actors that exerts power over nature–society relations in strategic and often contradictory ways. Our empirical findings, coupled to more nuanced theories of state–nature relations, direct attention to how state power is unevenly distributed within environmental governance arrangements. These findings also suggest that consideration of environmental interventions directed by state agents has the potential to contribute to a progressive and ecologically mindful set of political commitments.