This book addresses the topic of sustainability in the Scottish Highlands, offering a critical ethnography of the Wester Ross UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It explains what the UNESCO designation means in theory and practice and the community governance model adopted. Framed by critical theory, it unpacks the idea of the Biosphere as an alternative to ‘common sense’, a way to overcome the nature–culture dichotomy and capitalist, colonial ideologies.Zoe Malcolm outlines negotiations of nature–culture relationships, power and scale, focusing on actors within the Biosphere and situating these perspectives in wider national and international contexts. She explores examples such as tourism and place-making, community empowerment, nature conservation, heritage conservation, Gaelic language, crofting and land ownership.
Zoe Malcolm is Lecturer in Sociology (sustainable development) at the University of Edinburgh in the School of Social and Political Science.
List of FiguresList of AbbreviationsAcknowledgements1 Introduction: A Critical Ethnography of a Community Biosphere2 The Wester Ross Biosphere: Designation and Organisation3 The Biosphere as Regional Place-Making4 (Un)Sustainability and Nature-Culture Relations5 Conserving Cultural Heritage6 The Past, Present and Futures of Crofting7 Gaelic Language and Culture: Loss and Revival8 Wester Ross in the World: The Local-Global Nexus9 Towards Biocultural and Convivial Conservation10 The Politics of Land Use and Ownership11 Alternatives for Just and Sustainable Futures12 Conclusion: Moving Beyond Common SenseAppendix 1: Participant ListReferencesIndex
This highly innovative and inclusive study draws on a multidisciplinary methodology to present the first in-depth study of Scotland’s Wester Ross UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in its global context. It is admirably clear-eyed, taking a balanced but analytical perspective, but most importantly brings the experiences of local people and communities engaged and impacted by the Biosphere into focus.
Lowri Ann Rees, Ciarán Reilly, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Rees, Lowri Ann (Lecturer, Maynooth University) Reilly, Ciaran (Independent Scholar, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Lowri Ann Rees, Ciarán Reilly, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Rees, Lowri Ann (Lecturer, Maynooth University) Reilly, Ciaran (Independent Scholar, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology, Ciaran Reilly
Malcolm Combe, Jayne Glass, Annie Tindley, University of Strathclyde) Combe, Malcolm (Senior Lecturer in law and non-practising solicitor, Uppsala University) Glass, Jayne (Researcher in the Natural Resource and Sustainable Development group of the Department of Earth Sciences, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Malcolm Combe, Jayne Glass, Annie Tindley, University of Strathclyde) Combe, Malcolm (Senior Lecturer in law and non-practising solicitor, Uppsala University) Glass, Jayne (Researcher in the Natural Resource and Sustainable Development group of the Department of Earth Sciences, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Evans, Shaun (Director of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates, Newcastle University) McCarthy, Tony (Visiting Fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Evans, Shaun (Director of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates, Newcastle University) McCarthy, Tony (Visiting Fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Malcolm Combe, Jayne Glass, Annie Tindley, University of Strathclyde) Combe, Malcolm (Senior Lecturer in law and non-practising solicitor, Uppsala University) Glass, Jayne (Researcher in the Natural Resource and Sustainable Development group of the Department of Earth Sciences, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Malcolm Combe, Jayne Glass, Annie Tindley, University of Strathclyde) Combe, Malcolm (Senior Lecturer in law and non-practising solicitor, Uppsala University) Glass, Jayne (Researcher in the Natural Resource and Sustainable Development group of the Department of Earth Sciences, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Lowri Ann Rees, Ciarán Reilly, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Rees, Lowri Ann (Lecturer, Maynooth University) Reilly, Ciaran (Independent Scholar, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Lowri Ann Rees, Ciarán Reilly, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Rees, Lowri Ann (Lecturer, Maynooth University) Reilly, Ciaran (Independent Scholar, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology, Ciaran Reilly
Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Evans, Shaun (Director of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates, Newcastle University) McCarthy, Tony (Visiting Fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology
Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy, Annie Tindley, Bangor University) Evans, Shaun (Director of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates, Newcastle University) McCarthy, Tony (Visiting Fellow at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University) Tindley, Annie (Professor of British and Irish Rural History and Head of the School of History, Classics & Archaeology