Clement Loo | University of Minnesota, Morris (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Clement Loo
Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2013
We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narra... more We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narrative and believe that such a narrative requires significant nuance. Hall rightly recognizes the importance of appropriately framing the current narratives appealed to by the environmental movement. They are too simplistic and, as such, misleading. The optimistic frames tend to ignore the real losses people experience in trying to live greener lifestyles. The ‘doom and gloom’ frames are apt to foster a sense of hopelessness rather than motivate change. However a stronger narrative, as we think Hall would agree, requires that the more qualitative, multifaceted, and mutable nature of value be considered. Consider Hall’s discussion of sacrifice. In her response to the optimistic reformers who choose a positive frame, she argues that there is too great a readiness to discard the notion of sacrifice. While reformers view sacrifice as being excessively focused on loss, Hall suggests that inherent in the notion of sacrifice is the willful exchange of a loss of something valued for something valued more deeply. Though Hall recognizes that sacrifice is not merely deprivation when she defines it as a ‘surrender of something valued . . . for the sake of something regarded as more important’ (Hall, 2013), sacrifice seems to be understood as a sort of quantitative transaction—where something of x value is exchanged for something else of greater value y. To think of sacrifice in this way is an over-simplification. While sacrifice does involve giving something up for the sake of something else as Hall suggests, it is more complicated than that. Consider actual cultural practices involving, or commonly understood as, sacrifice—such as cases of willful self-denial or fasting for Lent or Ramadan. In these cases, what might be seen as the loss associated with the fasting is a price paid for a valued religious tradition but it is not only that. To frame what is given up as merely a price paid for something more worthy does not capture that the act of self-denial is important and valuable in itself. The value of sacrifice is more than what one receives in exchange. The putative loss may not be a loss at all. Rather, it expresses an aspiration of the self. In some circumstances it is a way to achieve simplicity, self-control, and empathy for others who have experienced loss. In others, it is part of a practice that reinforces virtue, such as when giving selflessly—which often means anonymously—is seen as an important practice. The greater the value of what is given, the greater the value of what the giver
Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2016
Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptati... more Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptation fail. Each of the arguments discussed by Brooks appeals to end-state solutions that are some comb...
Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptati... more Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptation fail. Each of the arguments discussed by Brooks appeals to end-state solutions that are some combination of poorly defined, inadequate, inappropriate, or are impossible. Thus, those arguments provide us with relatively limited guidance regarding what we should do about climate change. I hope to extend Brooks’ article by providing a rough sketch of how we might think about responding to climate change that does not depend upon achieving a particular end state.
Data about flow rate, fishing intensity, and expenditures made by anglers can be used to capture ... more Data about flow rate, fishing intensity, and expenditures made by anglers can be used to capture some of the recreational value of waterways in economic terms in a way that avoids a number of the weaknesses of the most commonly used tools such as the contingent valuation method.
Furthermore, recreational fishing may spur more economic activity than competing uses of riverine flows such as agriculture. This suggests that potential opportunity cost in regards to recreation ought to be a factor considered in management decisions.
We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narra... more We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narrative and believe that such a narrative requires significant nuance. Hall rightly recognizes the importance of appropriately framing the current narratives appealed to by the environmental movement. They are too simplistic and, as such, misleading. The optimistic frames tend to ignore the real losses people experience in trying to live greener lifestyles. The ‘doom and gloom’ frames are apt to foster a sense of hopelessness rather than motivate change. However a stronger narrative, as we think Hall would agree, requires that the more qualitative, multifaceted, and mutable nature of value be considered.
There is currently a gap between assessment and intervention in the literature concerned with cli... more There is currently a gap between assessment and intervention in the
literature concerned with climate change and food. While intervention is local and context dependent, current assessments are usually global and abstract. Available assessments are useful for understanding the scale of the effects of climate change and they are ideal for motivating arguments in favor of mitigation and adaptation. However, adaptation projects need assessments that can provide data to support their efforts. This requires the adoption of a more local and context-sensitive approach to assessments. I suggest that Community-Based Participatory Research has the potential to be a tool for such an approach.
This paper argues that the definition of food justice must be defined in more participatory terms... more This paper argues that the definition of food justice must be defined in
more participatory terms. Current accounts of food justice tend to emphasize distributional inequalities. However, there is broad recognition that these distributional inequalities are the result of participative inequalities and that the participation of marginalized groups in advocacy plays an important role in creating just food
systems. In addition, thinking of food justice in more participative terms also suggests a more well-rounded and comprehensive approach to dealing with inequalities within the food system. One manner in which the concept of food justice can be redefined to better capture the importance of participative justice is by considering what is required for informed consent.
Book Chapters by Clement Loo
![Research paper thumbnail of Climate Change and Food Justice [in Di Paola and Pellegrino (Eds.) Canned Heat: Theoretical and Practical Challenges to Global Climate Change]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35720160/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](
Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2013
We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narra... more We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narrative and believe that such a narrative requires significant nuance. Hall rightly recognizes the importance of appropriately framing the current narratives appealed to by the environmental movement. They are too simplistic and, as such, misleading. The optimistic frames tend to ignore the real losses people experience in trying to live greener lifestyles. The ‘doom and gloom’ frames are apt to foster a sense of hopelessness rather than motivate change. However a stronger narrative, as we think Hall would agree, requires that the more qualitative, multifaceted, and mutable nature of value be considered. Consider Hall’s discussion of sacrifice. In her response to the optimistic reformers who choose a positive frame, she argues that there is too great a readiness to discard the notion of sacrifice. While reformers view sacrifice as being excessively focused on loss, Hall suggests that inherent in the notion of sacrifice is the willful exchange of a loss of something valued for something valued more deeply. Though Hall recognizes that sacrifice is not merely deprivation when she defines it as a ‘surrender of something valued . . . for the sake of something regarded as more important’ (Hall, 2013), sacrifice seems to be understood as a sort of quantitative transaction—where something of x value is exchanged for something else of greater value y. To think of sacrifice in this way is an over-simplification. While sacrifice does involve giving something up for the sake of something else as Hall suggests, it is more complicated than that. Consider actual cultural practices involving, or commonly understood as, sacrifice—such as cases of willful self-denial or fasting for Lent or Ramadan. In these cases, what might be seen as the loss associated with the fasting is a price paid for a valued religious tradition but it is not only that. To frame what is given up as merely a price paid for something more worthy does not capture that the act of self-denial is important and valuable in itself. The value of sacrifice is more than what one receives in exchange. The putative loss may not be a loss at all. Rather, it expresses an aspiration of the self. In some circumstances it is a way to achieve simplicity, self-control, and empathy for others who have experienced loss. In others, it is part of a practice that reinforces virtue, such as when giving selflessly—which often means anonymously—is seen as an important practice. The greater the value of what is given, the greater the value of what the giver
Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2016
Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptati... more Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptation fail. Each of the arguments discussed by Brooks appeals to end-state solutions that are some comb...
Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptati... more Brooks convincingly makes the case that the current arguments for climate mitigation and adaptation fail. Each of the arguments discussed by Brooks appeals to end-state solutions that are some combination of poorly defined, inadequate, inappropriate, or are impossible. Thus, those arguments provide us with relatively limited guidance regarding what we should do about climate change. I hope to extend Brooks’ article by providing a rough sketch of how we might think about responding to climate change that does not depend upon achieving a particular end state.
Data about flow rate, fishing intensity, and expenditures made by anglers can be used to capture ... more Data about flow rate, fishing intensity, and expenditures made by anglers can be used to capture some of the recreational value of waterways in economic terms in a way that avoids a number of the weaknesses of the most commonly used tools such as the contingent valuation method.
Furthermore, recreational fishing may spur more economic activity than competing uses of riverine flows such as agriculture. This suggests that potential opportunity cost in regards to recreation ought to be a factor considered in management decisions.
We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narra... more We think Hall (2013) is correct in arguing that the environmental movement needs a stronger narrative and believe that such a narrative requires significant nuance. Hall rightly recognizes the importance of appropriately framing the current narratives appealed to by the environmental movement. They are too simplistic and, as such, misleading. The optimistic frames tend to ignore the real losses people experience in trying to live greener lifestyles. The ‘doom and gloom’ frames are apt to foster a sense of hopelessness rather than motivate change. However a stronger narrative, as we think Hall would agree, requires that the more qualitative, multifaceted, and mutable nature of value be considered.
There is currently a gap between assessment and intervention in the literature concerned with cli... more There is currently a gap between assessment and intervention in the
literature concerned with climate change and food. While intervention is local and context dependent, current assessments are usually global and abstract. Available assessments are useful for understanding the scale of the effects of climate change and they are ideal for motivating arguments in favor of mitigation and adaptation. However, adaptation projects need assessments that can provide data to support their efforts. This requires the adoption of a more local and context-sensitive approach to assessments. I suggest that Community-Based Participatory Research has the potential to be a tool for such an approach.
This paper argues that the definition of food justice must be defined in more participatory terms... more This paper argues that the definition of food justice must be defined in
more participatory terms. Current accounts of food justice tend to emphasize distributional inequalities. However, there is broad recognition that these distributional inequalities are the result of participative inequalities and that the participation of marginalized groups in advocacy plays an important role in creating just food
systems. In addition, thinking of food justice in more participative terms also suggests a more well-rounded and comprehensive approach to dealing with inequalities within the food system. One manner in which the concept of food justice can be redefined to better capture the importance of participative justice is by considering what is required for informed consent.