The two chapters, Ecological Security and Gender and Environmental Security, both carried an emphasis on the significance of human relationships and natural ecosystems. Interestingly, each author’s analysis of these relationships observed them from different lenses. The Detraz chapter stated that gender plays a significant role in our society, particularly in the occupations people hold and their position and value they contribute to their society. Similarly, Pirages breaks down ecological security into key relationships of humans, pathogens, other animal species, and resources. The effects of their interconnected relationship varies depending on the society they are in, similarly to gender roles. I agree with both authors that these social relationships are the cement holding our greater societal structure together; our consumption and production patterns that have led us to our global climate crisis are embedded in this societal structure. The unanswered question after these readings is will changing this structure lead to less environmental damage?
Pirages talked about disequilibria, or environmental insecurity, which “resulted from changes in human activities or changes in nature” that usually led to the decrease in the population of one of the key component groups. For example, when the population of cattle has risen to unsustainable numbers on one area of land, that land soon becomes drained of its plant resources that the cattle are consuming. While I agree with Pirages that if two of the key components to environmental security are at equilibrium, they will continue to grow and prosper in population. When this situation is reversed, Pirages seem to present this as a negative thing to happen. I disagree with him on this point. I do not think that either the growth or the reduction of a population is necessarily bad or good, but rather nature’s way of neutralizing the imbalance.
The problem with globalization, which was mentioned in Parenti Part II, is that society’s consumption patterns do not change when a resource has been depleted or an ecosystem has been degraded because of their access to resources and people of other societies and lands. If a group is facing a drought, it will just have to collect water from another source. There is evidence of this happening peacefully and violently, but when there is conflict, societal structures change. My research paper will be focused on the change of societal relations because of peaceful resource trade because I am curious as to why violent resource trade is so common.