1st Edition

Environmentalism, Ethical Trade, and Commodification Technologies of Value and the Forest Stewardship Council in Chile

By Adam Henne Copyright 2015
    168 Pages
    by Routledge

    168 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book explores the global connections between Chilean landscapes and Northern consumers embodied by the Forest Stewardship Council logo, the green seal of approval for certified sustainably-produced "good wood." How do we decide what makes good forestry? What knowledges and values are expressed or silenced when "good" is defined with a market mechanism like certification? Henne's ethnographic study documents the new forms of labor and the new expectations about sustainability and responsibility that certification generates, in the context of the competing ideas about how to manage a forest – or even what a forest is – that constitute forest certification in Chile. A critical analysis of certification’s practices helps understand the role of ethical trade initiatives in creating sustainable, survivable global futures.

    Preface: Knowledge and Nature  1. Introduction: Good Wood  2. Making Wood and Making Persons  3. Putting Knowledge to Work  4. Green Lungs  5. Certification and the Politics of Scale  6. Conclusion

    Biography

    Adam Henne is Assistant Professor of International Studies & Anthropology at the University of Wyoming.