Debra Davidson | University of Alberta (original) (raw)
Books by Debra Davidson
This is one of very few sociological analyses of the Alberta tar sands—an enterprise warranting m... more This is one of very few sociological analyses of the Alberta tar sands—an enterprise warranting much closer scrutiny from academe than it has received to date. We do two things in this book. First, we take a good hard look at the tar sands from the broader context of peak oil and climate change, and conclude without much trouble that this form of development just doesn’t add up. Second, we analyze the frames, images and narratives that are used to legitimize this enterprise and the potential sources of weakness in those frames, and also the frames and narratives that are used to oppose it, and their potential to unseat legitimacy. We conclude that the legitimacy of the tar sands (and its state and industrial proponents) is fragile, but concerned citizens and organizations making up the resistance may not be capitalizing on those sources of fragility as well as they might. We situate this political moment in a complex systems framework, drawing on contemporary theory and critical perspectives on complexity/mobility, political ecology, human geography, legitimacy, citizenship, environmental sociology and discourse analysis.
How do our consumption decisions affect ecosystems? Can we rely on governments to maintain enviro... more How do our consumption decisions affect ecosystems? Can we rely on
governments to maintain environmental wellbeing? Do rural peoples “see” the
environment differently from urban residents? Is sustainability possible?
WE are confronted with personal and political decisions every day that affect the
environment, yet, we often do not know how to assess, much less understand,
our individual roles in them. In Consuming Sustainability, the authors examine
several contemporary environmental controversies in Canada to illustrate how a critical perspective can aid in understanding the complex social, economic and political issues that characterize our relationship to the environment and of the potential for change within them. Key concepts in environmental social science are introduced and used to clarify environmental and ecological controversies, and to address broader questions regarding structure, human agency, activism and the potential for sustainability in Canada and the world.
CONTENTS:
Chapter One: Power and Sustainability - Kierstin C. Hatt and Debra J. Davidson
Chapter Two: Clothes Encounters: Consumption, Culture, Ecology and Economy - Ineke C. Lock and Satoshi Ikeda Chapter Three: Water: The Struggle to Decommodify a Human Right - Stephen Speake and Mike Gismondi
Chapter Four: You Are What You Eat. - Ella Haley, Kierstin C. Hatt and Richard Tunstall
Chapter Five: The Air up There - Debra J. Davidson and Josh Evans
Chapter Six: Space, the Canadian Frontier? Landscape and Canadian Identities - Jeff Masuda and Jeji Varghese
Chapter Seven: Economy, Work, and the Environment in Canada - Satoshi Ikeda and Mike Gismondi
Chapter Eight: Are We Becoming Hazardous Material? - Ella Haley and Richard Tunstall
Chapter Nine: Entropic Futures - Mike Gismondi and Debra J. Davidson
Chapter Ten: Towards a Sustainable Future - Debra J. Davidson and Kierstin C. Hatt
Teaching Documents by Debra Davidson
Papers by Debra Davidson
In this study, two policy process models or frameworks are examined with a view to understanding ... more In this study, two policy process models or frameworks are examined with a view to understanding policy-related responses in the Prairie forest sector: the policy community–network approach and the advocacy coalition framework. A questionnaire was sent to 851 governmental and societal decision makers in the agriculture, forest, and water resource sectors. The survey examined existing policy communities and policy networks, as well as policy-oriented belief structures. Three hundred and fifty-six usable responses ...
Journal of Risk Research, 2003
This paper presents a case study of a landslide that devastated a small rural community in the re... more This paper presents a case study of a landslide that devastated a small rural community in the redwoods of northern California. This seemingly mundane event is used to explore several insights offered by recent literature on environmental risk, and illustrate the extent to which our reliance on modern, technologically complex industrial systems as the basis for risk scholarship may limit
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_0963662520982540 for Co-producing uncertainty in publ... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_0963662520982540 for Co-producing uncertainty in public science: The case of genomic selection in forestry by Gwendolyn Blue and Debra Davidson in Public Understanding of Science
Is urban agriculture capable of becoming a 'game changer', contributing to the sustainabl... more Is urban agriculture capable of becoming a 'game changer', contributing to the sustainable transition of our conventional agri-food systems? Or is it more likely to be 'window dressing', characterized by limited participation and influence? The answer depends upon how we measure system change. The value of urban agriculture is often measured in physical – caloric – terms. By assessing the multiple emergent effects of urban agriculture activities through an extensive, in-terdisciplinary literature review, this article provides a more informed context to a discussion of the disruptive potential of urban agriculture. Several features of urban agriculture suggest its potential to be an important contributor to agri-food system transition; however, a number of key challenges must be acknowledged and addressed. Ultimately, producing food in cities is not inherently transformative in and of itself, but the potential and observed new forms of social en-gagement emerging in m...
Environment and Society, 2018
This report represents the culmination of the final capstone team research project conducted by t... more This report represents the culmination of the final capstone team research project conducted by the undergraduate students of the University of Alberta's Environmental and Conservation Sciences Program, Human Dimensions Majors, and Environmental Studies major. The research project was supervised by Dr. Debra J. Davidson, Professor in the Department of resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, and the project took place during the Winter Term, January through April, 2015. Students met weekly for a three-hour class period, as well as in smaller working groups. The students worked collaboratively on a research team, with responsibility for identifying research questions, conducting literature reviews, developing a methodology, pursuing original research, and presenting oral and written summaries of their work. All students expressed enthusiasm for exploring the potential for expansion of the use of renewable energy sources in Alberta's electricity grid, while bringing unique perspectives and skills to the project. The students were divided into three working groups according to their interests: one focused on science and engineering aspects of renewable energy technologies, one focused on policymaking and politics, and one focused on the role of consumers and civil society. The team concluded that there is significant potential for Alberta to transition towards a pathway of renewable energy development, particularly in the electricity sector. Doing so would have several benefits, including a more diversified economy and energy supply, job creation, and significant ecological and environmental health benefits. Student-led research was conducted to assess the potential for renewable energy expansion in Albertan's electricity sector. According to this study, many experts agree that Alberta has access to the biophysical and technological capacity that would support a 100% renewable energy-based electricity grid. This potential is constrained, however, by infrastructure limitations, a relatively tepid political enthusiasm, and a well-entrenched fossil-fuel sector. Overcoming these constraints will require a combination of policies to support the renewable energy sector, as well as public dialogues that highlight a constructive, futures orientation toward renewable energy, emphasize the economic competitiveness and social and environmental benefits of renewables, while avoiding negative framing of the fossil fuels sector. It is worth noting that, over the course of the Winter term, the Province of Alberta experienced an unprecedented shift in electoral politics, as the reigning Progressive Conservative Party was replaced by the New Democratic Party, with Rachel Notley as Premier. The new ruling party entered with a climate change and energy platform that departed notably from its predecessor, and therefore the political landscape governing energy in the Province shifted significantly during the preparation of this report. While the Instructor assumed responsibility for the final editing and dissemination of this report, every effort was made to present the original work of the student research team with a minimal amount of editorial revision as necessary.
Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, Apr 1, 2009
Canadian Journal of Sociology, 2008
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2018
We comment on the recent comprehensive review “Barriers to enhanced and integrated climate change... more We comment on the recent comprehensive review “Barriers to enhanced and integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation in Canadian forest management” by Williamson and Nelson (2017, Can. J. For. Res. 47: 1567–1576, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2017-0252 ). They employ the popular barriers analysis approach and present a synthesis highlighting the numerous barriers facing Canadian forest managers. The underlying functionalist assumptions of such an approach are highly problematic from both a scholarly and a practical policy perspective. We argue that social scientists engaged in climate change research who want to influence policy-making should understand and then empirically apply causal mechanisms. Methods such as process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) are promising tools that can be employed in national- or local-level assessments.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2017
Nature Climate Change, 2017
opinion & comment and training, especially when it comes to comprehending 'simple' added abstract... more opinion & comment and training, especially when it comes to comprehending 'simple' added abstractions to iconic representations (for example, speech bulbs, mathematical symbols, thought or speech balloons, prohibition crosses, action lines, and emotion symbols such as hearts for love) 15. Second, research on the use of basic graphs (see Fig. 1b) to present numerical information to enable people to assess health risks 16 shows, on the one hand, how reading even the simplest graphs or icon arrays is highly dependent on numerical and graphical literacy, but, on the other hand, that adding simple graphs increases accuracy rates considerably for less educated audiences and those with lower levels of literacy.
Nature Climate Change, 2016
The value of the social sciences to climate change research is well recognized, but notable gaps ... more The value of the social sciences to climate change research is well recognized, but notable gaps remain in the literature on adaptation in agriculture. Contributions focus on farmer behaviour, with important research regarding gender, social networks and institutions remaining under-represented.
This is one of very few sociological analyses of the Alberta tar sands—an enterprise warranting m... more This is one of very few sociological analyses of the Alberta tar sands—an enterprise warranting much closer scrutiny from academe than it has received to date. We do two things in this book. First, we take a good hard look at the tar sands from the broader context of peak oil and climate change, and conclude without much trouble that this form of development just doesn’t add up. Second, we analyze the frames, images and narratives that are used to legitimize this enterprise and the potential sources of weakness in those frames, and also the frames and narratives that are used to oppose it, and their potential to unseat legitimacy. We conclude that the legitimacy of the tar sands (and its state and industrial proponents) is fragile, but concerned citizens and organizations making up the resistance may not be capitalizing on those sources of fragility as well as they might. We situate this political moment in a complex systems framework, drawing on contemporary theory and critical perspectives on complexity/mobility, political ecology, human geography, legitimacy, citizenship, environmental sociology and discourse analysis.
How do our consumption decisions affect ecosystems? Can we rely on governments to maintain enviro... more How do our consumption decisions affect ecosystems? Can we rely on
governments to maintain environmental wellbeing? Do rural peoples “see” the
environment differently from urban residents? Is sustainability possible?
WE are confronted with personal and political decisions every day that affect the
environment, yet, we often do not know how to assess, much less understand,
our individual roles in them. In Consuming Sustainability, the authors examine
several contemporary environmental controversies in Canada to illustrate how a critical perspective can aid in understanding the complex social, economic and political issues that characterize our relationship to the environment and of the potential for change within them. Key concepts in environmental social science are introduced and used to clarify environmental and ecological controversies, and to address broader questions regarding structure, human agency, activism and the potential for sustainability in Canada and the world.
CONTENTS:
Chapter One: Power and Sustainability - Kierstin C. Hatt and Debra J. Davidson
Chapter Two: Clothes Encounters: Consumption, Culture, Ecology and Economy - Ineke C. Lock and Satoshi Ikeda Chapter Three: Water: The Struggle to Decommodify a Human Right - Stephen Speake and Mike Gismondi
Chapter Four: You Are What You Eat. - Ella Haley, Kierstin C. Hatt and Richard Tunstall
Chapter Five: The Air up There - Debra J. Davidson and Josh Evans
Chapter Six: Space, the Canadian Frontier? Landscape and Canadian Identities - Jeff Masuda and Jeji Varghese
Chapter Seven: Economy, Work, and the Environment in Canada - Satoshi Ikeda and Mike Gismondi
Chapter Eight: Are We Becoming Hazardous Material? - Ella Haley and Richard Tunstall
Chapter Nine: Entropic Futures - Mike Gismondi and Debra J. Davidson
Chapter Ten: Towards a Sustainable Future - Debra J. Davidson and Kierstin C. Hatt
In this study, two policy process models or frameworks are examined with a view to understanding ... more In this study, two policy process models or frameworks are examined with a view to understanding policy-related responses in the Prairie forest sector: the policy community–network approach and the advocacy coalition framework. A questionnaire was sent to 851 governmental and societal decision makers in the agriculture, forest, and water resource sectors. The survey examined existing policy communities and policy networks, as well as policy-oriented belief structures. Three hundred and fifty-six usable responses ...
Journal of Risk Research, 2003
This paper presents a case study of a landslide that devastated a small rural community in the re... more This paper presents a case study of a landslide that devastated a small rural community in the redwoods of northern California. This seemingly mundane event is used to explore several insights offered by recent literature on environmental risk, and illustrate the extent to which our reliance on modern, technologically complex industrial systems as the basis for risk scholarship may limit
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_0963662520982540 for Co-producing uncertainty in publ... more Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pus-10.1177_0963662520982540 for Co-producing uncertainty in public science: The case of genomic selection in forestry by Gwendolyn Blue and Debra Davidson in Public Understanding of Science
Is urban agriculture capable of becoming a 'game changer', contributing to the sustainabl... more Is urban agriculture capable of becoming a 'game changer', contributing to the sustainable transition of our conventional agri-food systems? Or is it more likely to be 'window dressing', characterized by limited participation and influence? The answer depends upon how we measure system change. The value of urban agriculture is often measured in physical – caloric – terms. By assessing the multiple emergent effects of urban agriculture activities through an extensive, in-terdisciplinary literature review, this article provides a more informed context to a discussion of the disruptive potential of urban agriculture. Several features of urban agriculture suggest its potential to be an important contributor to agri-food system transition; however, a number of key challenges must be acknowledged and addressed. Ultimately, producing food in cities is not inherently transformative in and of itself, but the potential and observed new forms of social en-gagement emerging in m...
Environment and Society, 2018
This report represents the culmination of the final capstone team research project conducted by t... more This report represents the culmination of the final capstone team research project conducted by the undergraduate students of the University of Alberta's Environmental and Conservation Sciences Program, Human Dimensions Majors, and Environmental Studies major. The research project was supervised by Dr. Debra J. Davidson, Professor in the Department of resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, and the project took place during the Winter Term, January through April, 2015. Students met weekly for a three-hour class period, as well as in smaller working groups. The students worked collaboratively on a research team, with responsibility for identifying research questions, conducting literature reviews, developing a methodology, pursuing original research, and presenting oral and written summaries of their work. All students expressed enthusiasm for exploring the potential for expansion of the use of renewable energy sources in Alberta's electricity grid, while bringing unique perspectives and skills to the project. The students were divided into three working groups according to their interests: one focused on science and engineering aspects of renewable energy technologies, one focused on policymaking and politics, and one focused on the role of consumers and civil society. The team concluded that there is significant potential for Alberta to transition towards a pathway of renewable energy development, particularly in the electricity sector. Doing so would have several benefits, including a more diversified economy and energy supply, job creation, and significant ecological and environmental health benefits. Student-led research was conducted to assess the potential for renewable energy expansion in Albertan's electricity sector. According to this study, many experts agree that Alberta has access to the biophysical and technological capacity that would support a 100% renewable energy-based electricity grid. This potential is constrained, however, by infrastructure limitations, a relatively tepid political enthusiasm, and a well-entrenched fossil-fuel sector. Overcoming these constraints will require a combination of policies to support the renewable energy sector, as well as public dialogues that highlight a constructive, futures orientation toward renewable energy, emphasize the economic competitiveness and social and environmental benefits of renewables, while avoiding negative framing of the fossil fuels sector. It is worth noting that, over the course of the Winter term, the Province of Alberta experienced an unprecedented shift in electoral politics, as the reigning Progressive Conservative Party was replaced by the New Democratic Party, with Rachel Notley as Premier. The new ruling party entered with a climate change and energy platform that departed notably from its predecessor, and therefore the political landscape governing energy in the Province shifted significantly during the preparation of this report. While the Instructor assumed responsibility for the final editing and dissemination of this report, every effort was made to present the original work of the student research team with a minimal amount of editorial revision as necessary.
Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, Apr 1, 2009
Canadian Journal of Sociology, 2008
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2018
We comment on the recent comprehensive review “Barriers to enhanced and integrated climate change... more We comment on the recent comprehensive review “Barriers to enhanced and integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation in Canadian forest management” by Williamson and Nelson (2017, Can. J. For. Res. 47: 1567–1576, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2017-0252 ). They employ the popular barriers analysis approach and present a synthesis highlighting the numerous barriers facing Canadian forest managers. The underlying functionalist assumptions of such an approach are highly problematic from both a scholarly and a practical policy perspective. We argue that social scientists engaged in climate change research who want to influence policy-making should understand and then empirically apply causal mechanisms. Methods such as process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) are promising tools that can be employed in national- or local-level assessments.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2017
Nature Climate Change, 2017
opinion & comment and training, especially when it comes to comprehending 'simple' added abstract... more opinion & comment and training, especially when it comes to comprehending 'simple' added abstractions to iconic representations (for example, speech bulbs, mathematical symbols, thought or speech balloons, prohibition crosses, action lines, and emotion symbols such as hearts for love) 15. Second, research on the use of basic graphs (see Fig. 1b) to present numerical information to enable people to assess health risks 16 shows, on the one hand, how reading even the simplest graphs or icon arrays is highly dependent on numerical and graphical literacy, but, on the other hand, that adding simple graphs increases accuracy rates considerably for less educated audiences and those with lower levels of literacy.
Nature Climate Change, 2016
The value of the social sciences to climate change research is well recognized, but notable gaps ... more The value of the social sciences to climate change research is well recognized, but notable gaps remain in the literature on adaptation in agriculture. Contributions focus on farmer behaviour, with important research regarding gender, social networks and institutions remaining under-represented.
Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies/revue d'études interculturelle de l'image, 2012
(2014). Climate technology investment and innovation: potential benefits of CO2 capture from the ... more (2014). Climate technology investment and innovation: potential benefits of CO2 capture from the air. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 11(4-1) RELEASED ON Monday,
Sustainability, 2013
If we wish to understand how our species can adapt to the coming tide of environmental change, th... more If we wish to understand how our species can adapt to the coming tide of environmental change, then understanding how we have adapted throughout the course of evolution is vital. Evolutionary biologists have been exploring these questions in the last forty years, establishing a solid record of evidence that conventional, individual-based models of natural selection are insufficient in explaining social evolution. More recently, this work has supported a growing consensus that our evolution, in which we have expressed extraordinary adaptive capacities, can best be explained by-Multi-level Selection‖, a theory that includes the influence of both genes and culture to support unique adaptive capacities premised on pro-social behaviours and group selection, not individuallevel competition for survival. Applying this scholarship to contemporary concerns about adapting to environmental change may be quite fruitful for identifying sources of vulnerability and adaptive capacity, thereby informing efforts to enhance the likelihood for sustainable futures. Doing so, however, requires that we bridge the gap between evolutionary biology, and the social sciences study of sustainability.
Science, 2013
Resource exploitation can lead to increased ecological impacts even when overall consumption leve... more Resource exploitation can lead to increased ecological impacts even when overall consumption levels stay the same.
Risk Analysis, 2004
This article examines factors that predict perceptions of risk associated with global climate cha... more This article examines factors that predict perceptions of risk associated with global climate change. The research focuses on the perceptions of those associated with climate change pol icy making in the prairie region of Canada. The data are from an online survey (n = 851) of those policy actors. The analysis integrates several dominant approaches to the study of risk perception: psychometric approaches that examine the effects of cognitive structure; demo graphic assessments that examine, for example, differences in perception based on gender or family status; and political approaches that suggest that one's position in the policy process may affect his or her perceived risk. Attitudes toward climate change are to a degree predicted by all of these factors, but only when indirect effects are observed. Sociodemographic charac teristics have little direct effect on perceived risk, but do affect general beliefs that affect risk perceptions. Perceived risk is related more strongly to these general beliefs or world views than to more specific beliefs about the effects of climate change on weather patterns. Position within the policy process also contributes to our understanding of perceptions, with industry and govermnental actors demonstrating similar attitudes, which contrast with environmental groups and university-researchers.