Environmental insecurity and the global poor

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Zoe Meers

In order to create environmentally sustainable development practices, we need to ensure that different population trends and societal demographics are taken into account and that a global, interdisciplinary, cooperative approach is the basis for sustainable development goals to be met. As it currently stands, many state actors, IOs and development organizations are really concerned about climate change, especially on a macro-level. In chapter 12, Upreti defines macro-level environmental security as groups being primarily concerned with the effects of large-scale changes to our ecosystems. While we do need to be concerned about these issues, at a global level we cannot afford to ignore micro-level environmental security issues. We need to deal with micro-level problems to ensure that the poor are not further left behind and the wealth disparity does not grow larger.

 

The poorest segments of the population strongly feel the effects of climate change, perhaps more so than the global middle-class or the wealthy. They are the ones that disproportionally feel the effects of micro-level environmental insecurity, such as prolonged drought, flooding, lack of fresh water sources, air and water pollution, metal contamination, emissions from power plants, immediate resource scarcity and poorly managed waste. Secondly, poverty-stricken nations are often less secure, especially in terms of national security. Environmental security is often not a high priority but it should be because it threatens everyone’s livelihood. I wonder, however, if this is really a statement of privilege – how can the global poor think about solving environmental insecurity on a local level when they’re just trying to survive?

 

In the race to development further and at the fastest pace, states have forgotten to develop societies without compromising the needs of future generations. Indeed, the structural adjustment approach of the IMF and the World Bank have hindered the creation of environmentally sustainable development, creating a vicious cycle of keeping the poor poor (because the policies are ineffective) and worsening the planet at the same time. IOs and state actors have been looking at the environment and development through one lens – their own – and failing to take into account that of the poor in the Global South and the afflictions of the majority of the world’s population. I am interested in looking at how we can make international development practices environmentally-friendly – can we do this with existing frameworks or should the international development field be overhauled in order to take into account the effects of climate change?

 

 

Posted in Demography and Development -- Week 6 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Population, Development, and Ecological Civilization in China

Posted on October 24, 2016 by dmadsen@smith.edu

Much of what was said by both Sciubba et al. and Upreti relate to my own research on environmental challenges in China. While Sciubba explains the different consequences that the intercourse between demographic fluctuations and different types of political regimes can have on national security, Upreti addresses the contradictions between development and natural resource management/conservation.

Two points that jumped out at me as being particularly relevant points of discussion in the context of contemporary China are the correlation between population trends and regime change, and certain population trends and internal instability, notably an increase in crime. Both of these phenomena – a substantial young population without available resources and affirmation as a motor for democratization, and this same trend as a cause for increased internal violence and organized crime – have been a reality and a consistent thorn in the side of China’s political elites over the past few decades. The Communist Party’s recent push for the implementation of “ecological civilization” is deeply rooted in these concerns as it aims to put a stop to endemic corruption within society and government, quell public unrest caused by environmental degradation and its effects on the standard of living of a rapidly growing middle class, and reinforce national security by tightening the links between the different components of the Chinese nation by appealing to a sense of a shared Chinese civilization. One of the cornerstones of this project is “green” urbanization. This means that almost all of China’s population will be herded into minutely planned mid-sized urban areas and encouraged to lead a life highly dependent on green technology. It is yet unclear whether or not this constitutes an adequate response to the vicious urban cycle of which Sciubba speaks, in which solving urban problems implies raising the standard of living in cities, which gives incentive to rural populations to move to the cities, which leads to the depopulation of the countryside, which leads to more problems in the cities, and so on.

One thing visibly missing in ecological civilization as a project is the enhancement of women’s rights, women’s security and the enunciation of projects that target women’s environmental security in a country that, since the maoist period, has considered itself post-feminist. Although Sciubba points out that a large population of disenfranchised youth can be a positive force for democracy or a negative force through its use of violence, she does not differentiate between disenfranchised young women and disenfranchised young men. It would even seem that the neutral term “youth” refers almost only to men in his paper, as women are referred to as one of the resources this youth is lacking (p.206). However, Sciubba does mention the correlation between violence against women (notably feminicide) and intra-societal violence. Therefore the security of women is state security. However, it would appear from this reading, as well as from Parenti, that men are the sole perpetrators of violence. Furthermore, whereas Sciubba explains that measures to improve population quality to counter population decrease include tapping the female population as a source of labour. This suggests that democracy is the political regime best adapted to population pressure. Therefore China’s silence on women’s security may be an attempt to avoid a seemingly vital component of the struggle against climate change so as to retain authoritarian control. I do not see this as a sustainable stance to adopt, particularly as education appears to be an important variable in both economic and national security. The fact that education and health factor in so heavily at least partially explains the internal pressure placed on the central government by the general public to improve living standards – especially as concerns China’s shocking pollution levels’ toll on public health. That said, “ecological civilization” resounds as one of the first governmental attempts to avoid the problems associated with a widespread tendency to “view the environment and the economy as separate areas of concentration; if a state focuses on one, it must necessarily neglect the other” (p.214).

Upreti further develops this idea by pointing out the challenges faced particularly by developing countries whose main focus is economic development. This is the main reason for China’s environmental problems and it is precisely this gulf between conservation and natural restoration efforts and economic development. Both the central government and public society are realizing (too late?) that quality of living does not solely depend on high wages and the accessibility of amenities (such as electricity, cars, etc.), but also on such necessities as clean air and water. As until now the extreme decentralization of economic policy making was combined with economic development as the sole criterion in the career assessment of officials, environmental degradation proceeded virtually unchecked at a rapid pace. Although this is doubtful to cease in the near future, the inclusion of “green” performance as a criterion in assessment is a big step towards prioritizing environmental conservation and strengthening what has become very weak governance in a once overly centralized state. This is to be accompanied by efforts to educate the public about sustainable development, to instill a system of green socialist values with Chinese characteristics, and measures that accord a certain degree of freedom to local communities to figure out how to manage and protect their resources. This last point could correspond to the “social learning” that Upreti advocates for. It could, however, signify social learning within the limits of government censorship. Censorship as a possible barrier to sustainable development based on social learning and traditional knowledge is a particularly prevalent concern in regions with a non-Han majority, especially those like Tibet and Xinjiang province that have been foyers of resistance to Han nationalism. For instance, Upreti’s suggestion of implementing legal pluralism – beyond adapting national law to international laws and regulations – is not something that China seems ready to do in any conceivable future.

Posted in Demography and Development -- Week 6 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Populations, Conflict, Security

Posted on October 24, 2016 by mkirsch@smith.edu

Demographics impact overall security and political stability in each nation. Population is a primary factor for conflict. High population density, income inequality and poverty are the driving factors for conflict according to Hague and Ellingsen (Floyd and Matthew, 207). Changes in the power structure lead to conflict (Floyd and Matthew, 203). I do want to point out that there are many factors that go into conflict. In Chapter 11, Floyd and Matthew give the example of how demography and insecurity are connected and help to contribute to the violence in Haiti. However, this disregards other factors such as the lack of government, which also is a cause of the violence (Floyd and Matthew, 211). Another conflict causing factor revolves around population and fossil fuel use. Populations globally have a dependence on fossil fuels. I am wondering how can countries come together to support growth, without supporting fossil fuels? It was touched upon in a section, but population and their connection to fossil fuel interests me.

Population, a factor of security driven by fertility, mortality, and migration, is an interesting factor all across the globe. Specifically in India, it is rather mesmerizing. This is a country with the second highest populations in the world. There are vast inequalities that I want to explore more into. There are many inequalities between men and women. From sex-selection abortions to violence between men and women, there are many population related problems (Floyd and Matthew, 212). There have also been huge breakthroughs since the 1970s with more women in rural areas getting jobs. Due to the exportation of jobs from other countries, such as America, there has been a more equal in the capital systems allowing for more human security. Sexism and caste/classism are two ideologies and factors behind the human conflicts in India.

Societal and environmental securities as human security were two sections in Chapter 11, which both deserve to have more light. The linkages are vast and they are often forgotten. Humans too often forget that if there is a lack of security with the environment and society, then the state is insecure. We often think of the military as being able to deliver human security, however while that happens, they fail with providing environmental security. There are cases where there is protection of external threat, but really the threats are internal and environmental.

Posted in Demography and Development -- Week 6 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chapter 11 and 12: the relevance of demography and global governance in the understanding of sustainable development and environmental security.

Posted on October 22, 2016 by mgrelot@smith.edu

Through both of these chapters two main aspects have been highlighted:

First the fact the demography is a crucial element to take into account when talking about environmental security. Indeed the way the population of a country or national entity is formed had great consequences to the (in)security and (un)sustainability. Human being has to be seen as the central issue and solution for all types of events. This is why an anthropocentric vision and approach of environment security has to be made. There is an important co-dependence between nature and human beings. They both shape one another. Mother Earth also seen as “spaceship Earth” encounters ecological limits mostly based on consumption and population growth. Population has a direct effect on power, because they are the soldiers and the laborers. So vital to any functioning state. The bigger the population, the more power a state will have BUT this population also has to be productive (and benefits from a good political capacity). Quality matters as much as quantity.

It is important to try and control demography, some countries stimulate fertility by offering money/aids for each child a couple has. Regarding conflict and war, on the demographic aspect, it seems to usually be due to a youthful or youth bulge age structure. When youth makes up more than 35% of the adult population, which happens in many developing countries, the risk of armed conflict is 150% higher. SO aging is bad for the military security aspect but the reverse (youth bulge) is also dangerous since it can lead to more violence within the state. However, the authors often explain the relativity of all these facts, so one case isn’t always comparable to another case. For example youth bulge depends on the size of the country, the youth cohort etc. But it remains a fact that youth are more often the rebellious entity.

Population trends can be positive and also negative. So again really relative. If you want to analyze this environmental security phenomenon, it is important to study each case separately and then compare it to one another so that a more global idea can come out of it. But to my point of view, it is really difficult to draw any specific conclusion on this subject since it really depends and relies on a lot of aspects (gvt, wealth, politics, culture, climate etc.) BUT we now know that the segments of population that are to be watched closely are young and old people.

Second, in order to reach and maintain a stable point between environmental security and sustainable development, an intelligent (global) governance has to be set. A first step into a kind of global governance has been done through the MDG’s. In order to achieve these 8 goals there is to be an understanding of the interconnection between development and environment. For this, a trans-disciplinary approach is required but also a common platform in order to enhance mutual understanding and collective action through innovative approaches.

 

Posted in Demography and Development -- Week 6 | Leave a comment

Disequilibrium

Posted on October 4, 2016 by brave22s

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.

Posted in Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security - Week 3 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We May Never Achieve Peace and Order: How Traditional Security Frameworks Fail Individuals

Posted on October 4, 2016 by dklein@smith.edu

This week, I was particularly struck by a quote from Jawaharlal Nehru in Part III of Parenti’s Tropic of Chaos: “The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order.” (Parenti, 133) This summarizes the answer to the question “Why hasn’t anyone put real effort into solving environmental security on any scale?” We have spoken at length about security between states, but this week’s readings reflect on alternative perspectives: how this crisis operates on both a societal and individual scale.

Pirages asserts in his article that ecological security is dependent on the careful balance of four relationships in ecosystems: humans vs. natural resources and services, humans vs. pathogenic microorganisms, humans vs. other animals, and humans vs. humans. Further, ecological insecurity results from changes in either human activities or in nature. In order to properly address the challenges of ecological security today, Pirages suggests that the concept of security extend beyond state vs. state or military vs. violent conflict. Instead, he argues that the narrative should focus instead on broader research incorporating the increasing threats from changing technologies such as pesticides and from growing populations in the Global South.

Parenti seems to concur – he writes with great personal and historical detail about the different examples of environmental insecurity in both Africa and in Central Asia. For both regions, he describes the extreme droughts and floods that have ravaged the physical and economic environment for so many different types of people, already disenfranchised due to the lasting effects of colonialism, extreme nationalism, and the small arms industry. Like Pirages, Parenti also cites the negative impacts of growing populations on the increasingly unstable environments. Using interviews with real individuals affected by changing weather patterns and broken systems of government, he paints a picture of how choices by some leaders have devastated – and ended – the lives of so many hard working people.

Detraz takes a different approach to the framework by defending the position that the environmental security narrative should be re-conceptualized to include a feminist lens. In contrast to Pirages and Parenti, she criticizes the Malthusian attitude toward population growth, which places the blame of environmental insecurity on mothers. She further asserts that the focus on military security is hypocritical and excludes female concerns. However, like Parenti, she also emphasizes the need for more reflection on the cost that environmental security has on individuals, not just on inter-state conflicts.

Nehru’s quote serves as a synthesis to all the angles addressed by this weeks authors: world leaders and corporations have not gotten what they want yet. In other words, environmental security has not been solved because the leaders who still want to achieve resource control or nationalistic triumph continue to use the technology and military-based frames of security to justify their actions. These interpretations of security perpetuate the cycles of climate change, violence, and economic failure. If we suppose that Nehru’s words contain at least some truth, it seems that the tragic effects of environmental security can never be stopped, as those in power will always crave more, especially in the tense regions facing the hardest environmental struggles: Africa and Central Asia.

Posted in Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security - Week 3 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The interdisciplinary aspect of environmental security

Posted on October 4, 2016 by mgrelot@smith.edu

Reading the chapter 7 and 8 really made me realize the multiplicity of subjects and areas that environmental security can deal with.
It is a whole complex topic that needs to be treated through a variety of disciplines, each of them needing to analyze the subject through its own specific lens.
Regarding ecological security, it was interesting to see the questioning of which threats or problems could be related to that particular aspect.
Indeed we now need to think bigger and understand that security is no more a conceptualized military term, this is why ecological threats to human being is a matter of security.
The point made in this chapter is that in the future, the biggest threats will be ecological, regarding our relationship with nature, and not really about aggression or military attacks.
The four human security characteristics are to be reminded :
concern for the well fare of all people
multidimensional concept
easily secured through early prevention
well being of people rather than well being of states

To that extent, changes and the evolution of the population are to be analyzed and watched closely: demography, youth bulges, population growth in Africa but also urbanization and migration. Here again, we can see the mise en abyme of disciplines that only the field of « population » can lead us to.

Therefore, searchers, people, need to develop a better understanding of the environment impact on every single topic. As mentioned : « There is too much money spent on military actions in the Middle East and not enough spent in the preparation for the future ecological challenges ». Which is to say that more means and efforts should be gathered in order to cover the huge spread that environmental security went through and especially within ecological matters.

Regarding the Gender and environmental security, it is also another aspect of this multidisciplinary eye that environmental security needs to acquire.
Indeed what has been seen is that most discussions on the subject mainly high lit the vulnerability of women. Therefore environmental security has to cover different areas of studies but also to cover them through different points of view in order to make it even more accurate.
The point that I did not quite understand about feminist environmental security is : if women/feminists do not want to be « gender categorized » as acting or feeling differently in this specific field, why are they not satisfied with the ESS studies treating human-being as a whole (regardless of gender) ?

Apparently “gendering” environmental security tends into assessing the processes of vulnerability and processes of environmental degradation through gender lenses. The point being to avoid automatically viewing women as victims in the face of environmental change.
I actually find this chapter really paradoxical since the author tries to describe how men and women have unique relationships with the environment due to “socially constructed roles ». To me this claims sounds anti-feminist. This article might lack some deeper explanations on the way gender and environmental security are to be treated, instead of paraphrasing the same point many times. Really redundant.

Posted in Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security - Week 3 | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ecological Security and Gender

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Misha Ritoch

Our first class period focused greatly around the definition of security, and over the past few weeks the authors we’ve explored have offered their meaning of environmental security and the cause for its state, ranging from the lack of resources, the resource curse, and the Malthusian theory that our population will one day outgrow our resources. This week, the authors from the Floyd and Matthew text offered ways of thinking we have yet to see, and I think they were vital pieces as we continued through Christian Parenti’s Tropic of Chaos.

Dennis Pirages continues on the same path as previous authors to try and offer his definition of ecological security, moving one step further to define human security as well.  The United Nations argues that human security is the safety from threat such as disease, hunger, and repression, and this safety encompasses the well-being of all people rather than just states. Pirages emphasizes we, as humans, need to look at ecological security as one of many species, recognizing that we share an ever-changing Earth with limited resources. Our ecological security approach needs a paradigm shift that considers the Homo sapiens relationship with the Earth, its resources, pathogenic microorganisms, and other animal species.

Nicole Detraz takes the theory of Dennis Pirages one step further by explaining the significance of recognizing that ecological security is gendered. She understands that women and men have completely different experiences with nature and thus conflict and violence that arises from environmental insecurity. “If a key goal is to understand the human security aspects of security-environmental connections, then gender offers an important piece of the story. As the study of environmental politics has progressed, there has been increased attention paid to connections between environmental damage and race, class, and gender. It is often claimed that men and women have unique relationships with the environment due to socially constructed gender roles. It is essential that ESS proceed with a full understanding of the ways in which socially constructed roles in society influence environmental security,” (F&M, 166). Despite her claim that ecological security is gendered, which I still personally agree with, Detraz did not offer any implementation plan to solve the problem. At the end of her chapter, I found myself wanting more from her argument, backed with examples of environmental socially constructed gender roles and a solution for the future.

Christian Parenti’s chapters on environmental security in African and Asian regions exemplified from some of the theories we’ve explored, especially in the way social and political aspects affected a state’s environmental security. In Kenya, drought has pushed people to migrate towards water. Specifically in his book, the Turkana were forced to migrate dangerously close to their enemies, the Pokot, where drought and barren lands had forced the Pokot into raiding other’s livestock, especially the Turkana, in order to replenish their own resources to survive. Cultural differences had driven these two specific people apart and drought and famine only brought violent conflict. Parenti takes us further with examples of violence and political warfare in failed states such as Somalia and Afghanistan, where resource scarcity and climate change have led to governmental withholding of resources, increase in commodity prices, and organized crime.

Posted in Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security - Week 3 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Security discourse through the ecological, environmental and gendered lenses

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Joo Eun

Pirages, throughout his research, argues that in order to deal efficiently with more catastrophic future challenges, such as global warming, water shortages and need for new energy sources, major transformation of outdated security paradigms is essential because he believes that “social lag” is a main hindrance to manage ecological security threats. Personally, I agree with this statement because I believe that this social lag obstruct people from better understanding the ever-changing environmental threats, rethinking of security research and developing better policies aimed at preventing environmental challenges.     Additionally, criticizing the case of the Middle East where hundreds of dollars are being used on military activities while only a small part of this amount is being spent in dealing with future ecological security threats, he emphasizes a change in security spending priorities. Like what other writers of this book mention, he also highlights the necessity of more different and logical way of developing a thought of security and a comprehensive research.

Among the three readings, Detraz’s approach to environmental security was the most engaging. She affirms that environmental security in terms of human security increases the incorporation of gender into security-environment debates. Her gender/feminist approach to environmental security studies allowed me to understand the connections between security and the environment in different perspectives and think of the gender as a central component in discussion of security and environment linkages. Until I read the part where she stresses that women and men experience differently in the face of environmental damages and that women’s experiences are more severe than men, I have not thought of the presence of of gender in the field of environmental security. Throughout reading, I could observe the current crucial place of gender in security and environment connections, such as environmental policymaking, and felt the importance of gender study to expand environmental security studies.

Parenti’s reading helped me to visualize the destructive effects of climate change in real life through the vivid illustrations and descriptions of the conditions in Africa and Asia. He mainly believes that climate change and regional political history, such as colonialism, create and increase violences and conflicts which are demonstrated in cattle and water wars. Particularly, when Parenti mentions the actual survey conducted to measure the social impacts of small-arms proliferation in sudan-kenya border, which resulted that sixty percent of respondents had witnessed a cattle raid, and more than 60 percent said that disarmament would decrease security, my preconceived understanding of climate change’s impact on increased violence and further its key role in socioeconomic activity again reinforced.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Climate Change, Gender and Ecology

Posted on October 4, 2016 by rpark28@smith.edu

When I looked at the syllabus, this week’s topic, Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security, drew my attention. I wondered how these two could be absorbed into the environmental security field, particularly the relation between feminism and security.

Pirages analyzes ecological security that is driven by disequilibrium from transformation in human society and changes in nature. His argument of ecosystem change that says humans are not capable of preventing the natural disasters but are able to lessen the damage from potential destruction seems interesting to me since my research topic will cover this concept. I will be focusing on a research about how Japan responses to the nuclear energy release from earthquake occurred in Fukushima in 2011 and their future energy conservation plan. Pirages states that it is best to predict and avoid further damages but sometimes it is impossible for human to know ahead, and the possible way to resolve the disastrous situation is to find the remedy. I will incorporate the idea of remedy with the action that Japanese government and civil organization are taking after the incident. In the article, Pirages affirms that the rapid demographic change in modern era indeed affects politics and socioeconomics. That is, higher needs for resources cause lower stability in markets resulted by unequal distribution. Developed technology facilitates quick spread of pathogens. The migration influences instability and insecurity by increasing both violent and non-violent conflicts. I believe that his argument is convincing with great explanation based on historical context and specific data.

Another interesting argument that Detraz made in the reading is how gender is related to the environment and security. She presents the feminist approach to the environmental conflict, environmental security, and ecological security. Detraz proposes that militarization increases the resource conflict that makes a false perception of women as victims of wars and insecurity. Social status of women affects the resource scarcity. She then asserts that human vulnerabilities must be considered as a priority over other social structures. I understand that the correlation between gender and the environmental and ecological conflict exists and still needs further research. It would have been a stronger argument if she combined the security and environment parts and focus more on non-military and non-violent conflicts.

Personally, I prefer Parenti’s reading as it explains different situations of each region vividly. Part II shows the economic dependency on climate change in Africa, war over cattle caused by frequent droughts. This tendency links to the interstate and intrastate wars and lack of political institution to protect human rights and serious corruption bring the states to chaos. I found it interesting when the author sums up part II by referring the downfall of the African states as “a cycle of modernization and industrialization imagined by the West’s postwar planners—but in violent reverse”. I believe that the westernization, now we call modernization, not necessarily improves cultural, political, and socioeconomic system in every part of the world. It rather leaves confusion and defects in some states.

In part III, serious desertification of Pakistan and its water shocks link to the political instability as in some African countries in previous chapters. According to the reading, governmental indifference worsened the situation, which is driven by lack of rapid response presented by Pirages.

I was able to connect the conceptual thoughts from readings to the real world actions. I found Pirages’ reading helpful to develop my research paper and will integrate his ecological security theory with the situation in Japan.

Posted in Ecological Security and Feminist Environmental Security - Week 3 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment