Theorizing a child–dog encounter in the slums of La Paz using post-humanistic approaches in order to disrupt universalisms in current ‘child in nature’ debates

This paper theorizes children's interspecies relation with dogs in La Paz Bolivia utilizing post-humanism and new materialism as its approach. This approach allows for the deconstructing of human–nature binaries found in discourses central to the children in nature movement. Questioning the universalizing of children's experience in nature the paper considers three propositions. Firstly, what if children were viewed as nature rather than outside of it. Secondly, can the objects or ‘things’ of nature be viewed as animated. And finally, how sensitive is the contemporary imperative to reconnect children to a romanticized more natured life, to children's diverse worldly experiences. I explore these propositions drawing on a study where I have adopted a materialist ontology and theorized using the work of [Barad, Karen. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press] and her concept of intra-action as adopted by Rautio [2013a. “Children Who Carry Stones in Their Pockets: On Autotelic Material Practices in Everyday Life.” Children's Geographies 11 (4): 394–408]. Based on my child–dog interspecies exploration, I will conclude by re-addressing the three propositions.     

The Stade de France. The Last Expression of French Centralism?

The Stade de France was built for the 1998 World Cup finals. The success of the French team and the substantial infrastructure investment that came with the stadium transformed the image of the formerly industrial suburb of Plaine-Saint-Denis where the stadium is located. However, the impacts of the Stade de France have been uneven and the northern suburbs still present substantial challenges for economic and social renewal. Whilst the key decisions about locating the stadium were taken by central government, the arrival of the Stade de France coincides with radical change in the governance of urban renewal, and future planning of the area will be managed through complex arrangements of inter-communal cooperation and inter-governmental coordination.     

The Writing on the Wall: The Concealed Communities of the East Yorkshire Horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late 19th and early 20th century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy—the horselads—and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden history.     

Legal Dispossession: State Strategies and Selectivities in the Expansion of Indonesian Palm Oil and Agrofuel Production

This article examines the role of the state in the appropriation and control of land in Indonesian palm oil and agrofuel production. Drawing on political ecology and critical state and hegemony theory, it focuses particularly on the legal state strategies that support the hegemonic project of agro‐industrial and export‐oriented palm oil and agrofuel production. The article analyses the structural, strategic and spatial selectivities — the mechanisms of marginalization and privilege — that accompany the strategies the state employs. Three important strategies are discussed, namely the codification of land ownership, the concentration of land possession and the valorization of natural resources in the context of de‐ and recentralization. The article concludes that these legal state strategies represent an important means to organize and protect a large‐scale palm oil project as they succeed in universalizing dominant interests whilst at the same time (partially) integrating subaltern interests.