Managing Biosocial Systems in 2010

摘要

Bryant and Wilson's (1998) critique of state-centric expert-driven environmental managerialism has been the primary focus of this theme issue of Environments. However, the concluding section (Wither environmental management?) of their 1998 paper also makes two other points which deserve critical review and reflection. Specifically, Bryant and Wilson advocated a split between environmental science and environmental management on the grounds that science should focus exclusively on the physical and ecological dimensions of environmental change while management should focus on the social aspects. Secondly, they presented a geography-centric view of environmental management, predicting its rightful emergence as a 'fully fledged' sub-discipline of geography. Both positions seem at odds with an interdisciplinary approach and their own critique of state-centric, expert-driven environmental management practices. The selected papers in this issue demonstrate that the major points of Bryant and Wilson's rethinking of environmental management have remained relevant over the last twelve years. However, their conclusions about the necessary separation of social and ecological sciences and the centrality of geography to environmental management may not claim the same success.