Theme issue  

The article discusses the present debate on Globality, Coloniality and Materiality. The early studies of political ecology related to historical materialism are confronted in recent debates with a new materialist thinking of more fluid interrelations between nature and non-nature. By addressing cultural studies and postcolonial studies the article suggests a decentralized perspective on history and geography in order to understand new forms of connectivity of nature and culture.

The article examines the relationship between the social and the material sphere and how they can be thought and analysed. Presenting different concepts of materiality in political ecology studies, the concept of a dispositive analysis is introduced to integrate both social and material conditions. By using the example of water and water infrastructure in the semi-arid region in Northeastern Brazil, the papers provides an empirical case study to show the advantages of an integrative approach.

Dieser Beitrag fokussiert die konzeptionelle Erfassung von Fragen der Maßstäblichkeit und Scale in der Politischen Ökologie. Anhand des Beispiels der Palmölproduktion in Indonesien, wird argumentiert, dass die Verknüpfung der Produktion von Natur und der Produktion räumlicher Maßstabsebenen die Veränderungen beim Zugang zu und bei der Kontrolle über natürliche Ressourcen sichtbar machen.

This paper undertakes a creative exploration of bulky rubbish [sperrmüll] in the City of Bonn by expanding on and utilising what has come to be known as non-representational thinking. Through this engagement, it is possible to see sperrmüll as an area-sized fabrication connecting humans and various other materialities. These perspectives are advanced as a way to expose that certain ecologies enable certain actions and hamper others.