ð¿Wild Ones #25: Environmental Communication Digest
Oceaniaâs âKastom Ekonomi' + Britain Talks Climate + How Environmental Journalism Is Surviving + Two Trees Make a Forest + Hearing Gretaâs Message + More!
Hi everyone, welcome back to Wild Ones, a bi-weekly digest by me, Gavin Lamb, about news, ideas, research, and tips in environmental communication. If youâre new, welcome! You can read more about why I started Wild Ones here. Sign up here to get these digests in your inbox:
ð Environmental Keyword
Oceaniaâs âKastom Ekonomiâ (or âTraditional Economyâ in Bislama)
In Vanuatu, Kastom Ekonomi translates as âtraditional economyâ in Bislama, a creole language and one of the official languages of Vanuatu.
In one of the many fascinating lexical entries in the recent book Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary (Columbia University Press, 2019), anthropologist Kirk Huffman provides an overview of why the notion of Kastom Ekonomi is resurging in Pacific Island nations like Vanuatu.
He writes, âIn conversations with Pacific village chiefs, you will typically hear:
âForeigners used to tell us we needed to âChangeâ; then they told us we needed âProgressâ, and now they tell us we need âDevelopmentâ. It usually means they are after something we have â either our forests or our land or what is under our land, or our souls or language or culture, or our feeling of contentment with our way of life . . .â (Huffman 2008â15).â
Huffman describes the colonial history of Vanuatu and its âunique experience of two colonial powers ruling it at the same time â Britain and France. Thus, since independence in 1980, many ni-Vanuatu have been wisely suspicious of outside influences. Their traditional way, known as Kastom in Pidgin English, is seen by economists as âblocking developmentâ.
Melanesians, however, tend to see Kastom as protecting them from bad development and the disease that comes with it â Sik blong Mane or money addiction.
In 2005, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre began promoting the traditional Melanesian lifestyle and economy, and in 2007, the government declared a Yiablong Kastom Ekonomi.â
Huffman argues that culturally and ecologically exploitative development policies are pushed by organizations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), foreign governments, logging or mining companies, or NGOs.
In particular, one of Huffmanâs concerns is the banning of Kava, a plant (or its root more precisely) that is used to produce a drink with sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant properties. The plant is often used for ceremonial purposes as well as to facilitate discussions, collaborative community discourse, and conflict resolution.
Huffman suggests that the banning of Kava in 2008 supported by powerful development groups is one sign of how disconnected current development policy agendas are from the sustainable ecocultural connections Pacific Islandersâ have long cultivated with their ancestral homes.
Here is a short interview of Kirk Huffman describing his resistance to the Kava Ban, and what more ecologically and culturally aware development polices based in Indigenous understandings of kastom ekonomi might look like in a time of climate crisis:
ð Tools & Opportunities
Britain Talks Climate: A toolkit for engaging the British public on climate change
Sustainability Action Networkâs Guide to the Green New Deal.
Exploring Nature Writing: Examples and Tips for Writing About the Wild
Decolonizing Science Communication: Exploring Indigenous Views on Science and Journalism(Northwest Science Writers Association) (Video)
Decolonizing Science Communication II: Indigenizing Science Journalism and Uplifting Native Stories(Northwest Science Writers Association) (Video)
ð° News & Events
How Environmental Journalism Is Surviving â and Thriving â in an Unstable World
Upcoming Orion Live Online Event (November 30): Pam Houston & Amy Irvine: âAmy and Pam discuss their new book, Airmail: Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place, and its relevance in the face of an unsettling winter and political transition. Orion editor Sumanth Prabhaker will join the event to share Orionâs role in this project. Register here.â
Ocean Oddities: A Killer in the Waves Off Kamchatka?: Russian surfers report sickness, symptoms as peninsula sees mass die-off of sea life
Climate Scientists Debunk âPoint of No Returnâ Paper Everyoneâs Freaking Out About
The Phoenix, a new climate justice newsletter on Substack from Eric Holthaus, author of Future Earth: A Radical Vision for Whatâs Possible in the Age of Warming.
What the Survival of the Hawaiian Language Means to Those Who Speak It
A Smithsonian curator recalls his own experience learning the native tongueThe Dark Divide, a new film featuring David Spade and Debra Messing. The film is based on the new book by Robert Michael Pyle, a lepidopterist and nature writer. A portion of the film's profits will be donated to the National Wildlife Federationâs mission to protect wildlife and wild places. Hereâs the trailer.
ð Research
New book!: Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts by Jessica J. Lee
A Call to Arms for Climate Change? How Military Service Member Concern About Climate Change Can Inform Effective Climate Communication
The influence of issue framing on support for solar energy in the United States
ð¡ Ideas
Hearing Gretaâs Message. Review of the new film I am Greta by climate policy expert and professor Leah Stokes
Forming a âMore Perfect Unionâ Through Indigenous Values
Illuminating Kirinyaga: Meaning and Knowing in Mount Kenyaâs Forests
On Sleeping in the Largest Organism on Earth: An ode to aspens
Donna Haraway: Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene
ð¡ Writings from my desk
The Rights of Mother Earth: A Nation Grants Legal Personhood To Nature
Sustainable Tourism In The Anthropocene: A new book explores the novel collaboration between scientists and the tourism industry unfolding in the Bahamas.
Thanks so much as always for your interest in my work, and if you found this useful, I'd love to hear from you, leave a comment to let me know what you think about this digest:)