Table Of ContentEster Boserup’s Legacy on Sustainability
Human-Environment Interactions
VOLUME 4
SeriesEditor:
ProfessorEmilioF.Moran, MichiganStateUniversity(Geography)
EditorialBoard:
BarbaraEntwisle, Univ.ofNorthCarolina(Sociology)
DavidFoster, HarvardUniversity(Ecology)
HelmutHaberl, KlagenfurtUniversity(Socio-ecologicalSystemScience)
BillieLeeTurnerII, ArizonaStateUniversity(Geography)
PeterH.Verburg, UniversityofAmsterdam(EnvironmentalSciences,Modeling)
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/8599
Marina Fischer-Kowalski (cid:129) Anette Reenberg
Anke Schaffartzik (cid:129) Andreas Mayer
Editors
Ester Boserup’s Legacy
on Sustainability
Orientations for Contemporary Research
2123
Editors
MarinaFischer-Kowalski AnkeSchaffartzik
InstituteofSocialEcology InstituteofSocialEcology
AlpenAdriaUniversity AlpenAdriaUniversity
Vienna Vienna
Austria Austria
AnetteReenberg AndreasMayer
Dept.Geosciences&ResourceMgmt InstituteofSocialEcology
UniversityofCopenhagen AlpenAdriaUniversity
KøbenhavnK Vienna
Denmark Austria
Chapter1isreprintedwithpermissionfromPNAS.
B.L.TurnerIIandMarinaFischer-Kowalski.
EsterBoserup:Aninterdisciplinaryvisionaryrelevantforsustainability.
PNAS2010,Volume107,no.51,pp.21963–21965
ISBN978-94-017-8677-5 ISBN978-94-017-8678-2(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-017-8678-2
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Preface
In the year marking the 100th anniversary of Ester Boserup’s birthday, the inter-
national scientific conference “A Centennial Tribute—Long-Term Trajectories in
Population,GenderRelations,LandUse,andtheEnvironment”washeldattheIn-
stitute of Social Ecology inVienna,Austria. The main objective of this event was
tocommemorateBoserup’sscientificandpoliticalachievementsandtoexplorethe
importanceofherthoughtsforthecurrentscientificdiscourse. Followingthiscall,
120participantsfrom21differentcountriesinEurope,Asia,Africa,NorthAmerica,
andOceaniagatheredinVienna.ThediversityoffieldsinwhichBoserup’sworkhas
foundresonanceresultedintheconferencebecomingaplatformoftrulyinterdisci-
plinary discourse. Participants came from a wide range of academic backgrounds,
suchasagriculturalsciences,biology,geography,history,ecology,landscapeplan-
ning,physics,sociology,environmentalsciences,andeconomics.Thecontributions,
aselectionofwhichareincludedinthisbook, paidtributetoBoserup’sagendaas
sheherselfdescribedit:
Myownresearchfocusedontheinterplayofeconomicandnon-economicfactorsinthe
processofsocialchange,bothtodayandinthepast,viewinghumansocietiesasdynamic
relationshipsbetweennatural,economic,cultural,andpoliticalstructures,insteadoftrying
toexplainthemwithintheframeworkofoneorafewdisciplines.(Boserup1999)
The need to adequately address the complexity of sustainability issues from the
vantagepointofdifferentdisciplinesasdescribedbyBoserupcontinuestoholdtrue
today.Boserupwasnotonlyascientistbutalsoadiplomat.Shespentmuchofher
lifetimeonmakingherscientificinsightsbearfruitsininternationalpolicies:Across
many years, she was consultant and delegate to the UN Economic Commission
forEurope(UNECE),theUNIndustrialDevelopmentOrganisation(UNIDO),the
FoodandAgricultureOrganisation(FAO),andtheInternationalLabourOrganisation
(ILO).Manytracesofherworkareburiedinthearchivesoftheseorganizations.Her
keeninterestinunderstandingtheinterrelationsbetweenpopulationgrowth,gender
issues,ruraldevelopment,agriculture,andenvironmentalproblemswasdrivenboth
byacademiccuriosityandpracticalconcernandallowedhertoquestiondevelopment
issueswithapersistencythatcontinuestoimpactcurrentdiscourses.
This book is the fourth volume in the human-environment interactions series
which provides a broad scope of the research on the pervasive impact that human
v
vi Preface
activitieshaveontheearthsystem.Withinthisseries,thebookathandhasaunique
focusasitproposesare-evaluationofEsterBoserup’spioneeringworkinthefield
ofsustainabilitysciencebytracingherimpactoncurrentresearch.
Boserup’stheoriesontheroleofwomenindevelopment,firstpublishedin1965
and followed by a second book in 1970, and on the interplay between population
dynamics, agricultural growth and the environment, as outlined in her most com-
prehensivebookin1981,continuetoresonateinmanyfieldsofresearchandinthe
currentdiscourseonsustainability.Theconferencewasorganizedintothreelarger
interrelatedthematicareasallofwhicharealsorepresentedbythecontributionsin
thisbook:
1. Long-TermSocio-EcologicalChange
2. Agriculture,LandUse,andDevelopment
3. Gender,Population,andEconomy
Ininterpretingsocietyasacoupledsocialandbiophysicalsystem,Boserupwasone
ofthepioneersofaholisticinvestigationofLong–TermSocio-EcologicalChange.
Thisissuewasafocusofboththeconferenceandthisbook.Boserupconceptualized
human societies–in their present-day form and in their historical development-as
dynamicrelationshipsbetweennatural,economic,cultural,andpoliticalstructures.
She maintained that such dynamics also characterize subsistence agriculture soci-
etieswhichthedevelopmenttheoriesofBoserup’stimeconsideredtobestaticand
“backward”.Boserup’sanalysisinthisregardisreinforcedbyanumberofcontribu-
tionstothisbook.Atthesametime,othercontributionsshowthatinherinsistence
on the gradualism of development, Boserup underestimated the huge impact that
the use of fossil fuels would have on agriculture, developing societies, and on the
overexploitationofresourcesworldwide.
Asecondfocalpointfortheconferenceandthisbookwasagriculturalproduction
andlanduse,viewedinthecontextofcomplexinterrelationsbetweensocietaldevel-
opment and factors such as population dynamics, gender relations, and education.
EsterBoserupcontradictedthethesesputforthbytheBritishReverendandscholar
Thomas Malthus. He postulated that population growth would invariably lead to
poverty because agricultural production would not be able to keep up with the in-
creasing demand for food. Boserup responded by documenting the ability of rural
societiestoinnovate.Butshenotonlysuggestedthatitwaspossibleforagricultural
production to keep pace with a growing population, she also indicated that some
oftheinnovationrequiredintheprocessdependedonacertainpopulationdensity,
i.e.wasdrivenbypopulationgrowth,ratherthanbeinghinderedbyit.Inthe1970s,
Boserup had thus positioned herself in opposition to the mainstream theories and
policiesofdevelopment.
Boserup played a pioneering role in making the relevance of gender relations
forsocietaldevelopmentvisible.Thisworkformsthethirdfocusoftheconference
andthisbook. Boseruppointedoutthatneglectingtheworkperformedbywomen
resultsinanincompletepictureoftheoveralllabourforceanddivisionoflabouron
whichasocietyisbasedatagivenstageinitsdevelopment.Itisnoteworthythather
Preface vii
perspectiveseemstoinfluencethecompositionoftheresearchcommunitysignifi-
cantly:Contrarytothenormallyobservedgenderbalanceatscientificconferences,
morethanhalfoftheparticipantsattheBoserupConferenceinViennawerefemale
scholars.Moreover,twothirdsofthechaptersinthisbookhavefemaleleadauthors
Finally,theconferencewasenrichedbypresentationsofscholarspersonallyac-
quaintedwithEsterBoserupandabletogiveinsightsintoissuesespeciallyimportant
toher.
Hence,abroadspectrumofBoserup’sideasiscoveredbythechaptersinthisbook.
The first three chapters are a comprehensive review of her political and scientific
work. Section 2 focuses on the applicability of Boserup’s reflections on land use,
technology,andagriculturebydrawingfromawiderangeofcasestudiesondifferent
temporalandspatialscales.Section3emphasizesthekeyroleofwomenandgender
relationsforagricultureanddevelopment.Alltogether,the16chaptersinthisvolume
symbioticallyillustratehowthemainstrandsofBoserup’stheoriesarereflectedin
contemporaryresearch.
TheinterdisciplinarysystemicperspectiveandthemannerinwhichBoseruppo-
sitionedherselfattheinterfacebetweenacademiaandpoliticsformintegralpartsof
her intellectual legacy. From the variety of academic backgrounds and agendas to
thecountriesfromwhichthescholarscome:Itisthediversityofthecontributionsto
theconferenceandalsoofthechaptersinthisbookthatbestreflectthecontinuing
impactthatEsterBoserup’sworkhasonscientificresearchtoday.
ViennaandCopenhagen MarinaFischer-Kowalski
February2013 AnetteReenberg
AnkeSchaffartzik
AndreasMayer
Contents
PartI EsterBoserup’sIntellectualHeritage
1 Ester Boserup: An Interdisciplinary Visionary Relevant
forSustainability............................................... 3
B.L.TurnerIIandMarinaFischer-Kowalski
2 “Finding Out Is My Life”: Conversations with Ester Boserup
inthe1990s.................................................... 13
JonMathieu
3 Boserup’s Theory on Technological Change as a Point
of Departure for the Theory of Sociometabolic Regime
Transitions .................................................... 23
MarinaFischer-Kowalski,FridolinKrausmann,AndreasMayer
andAnkeSchaffartzik
PartII LandUse,TechnologyandAgriculture
4 The Dwindling Role of Population Pressure in Land Use
Change—aCasefromtheSouthWestPacific...................... 45
TorbenBirch-ThomsenandAnetteReenberg
5 Conceptual and Empirical Approaches to Mapping
andQuantifyingLand-UseIntensity ............................. 61
KarlheinzErb,MariaNiedertscheider,JanPhilippDietrich,
ChristophSchmitz,PeterH.Verburg,MartinRudbeckJepsen
andHelmutHaberl
6 Malthusian Assumptions, Boserupian Response in Transition
toAgricultureModels .......................................... 87
CarstenLemmen
ix
x Contents
7 Reconciling Boserup with Malthus: Agrarian Change and Soil
DegradationinOliveOrchardsinSpain(1750–2000)............... 99
JuanInfante-Amate,ManuelGonzálezdeMolina,TomVanwalleghem,
DavidSotoFernándezandJoséAlfonsoGómez
8 Beyond Boserup: The Role of Working Time in Agricultural
Development .................................................. 117
LisaRinghofer,SimronJitSinghandMarinaFischer-Kowalski
PartIII PopulationandGender
9 Following Boserup’sTraces: From Invisibility to Informalisation
of Women’s Economy to Engendering Development inTranslocal
Spaces ........................................................ 141
GudrunLachenmann
10 Daughters of the Hills: Gendered Agricultural Production,
Modernisation, and Declining Child Sex Ratios in the Indian
CentralHimalayas ............................................. 159
PernilleGooch
11 RevisitingBoserup’sHypothesesintheContextofAfrica ........... 175
NgoziM.NwakezeandAnkeSchaffartzik
12 An Interpretation of Large-Scale Land Deals Using Boserup’s
Theories of Agricultural Intensification, Gender and Rural
Development .................................................. 189
JuliaA.Behrman,RuthMeinzen-DickandAgnesR.Quisumbing
13 Labour Migration and Gendered Agricultural Asset Shifts
in Southeastern Mexico: Two Stories of Farming Wives
andDaughters................................................. 203
BirgitSchmook,ClaudiaRadelandAnaCrisolMéndez-Medina
14 Working Time of Farm Women and Small-Scale Sustainable
FarminginAustria ............................................. 221
BarbaraSmetschka,VeronikaGaubeandJulianaLutz
15 A Human EcologicalApproach to Ester Boserup: StepsTowards
EngenderingAgricultureandRuralDevelopment ................. 239
PartoTeherani-Krönner
16 Conclusions: Re-Evaluating Boserup in the Light
oftheContributionstothisVolume............................... 259
MarinaFischer-KowalskiandAnetteReenberg
Bibliography...................................................... 267
