Leif Tore Trædal

The purpose of the article, which is a comparative study, is to explore climate change discourses in South African and Norwegian geography textbooks by addressing the following questions: What policy discourses of climate change can be identified in the textbooks? How is the climate change content of geography textbooks influenced by predominant discourses in society? The authors assert that problems and solutions to climate change in textbooks are influenced by dominant discourses of climate change in society. Despite expecting to find a strong emphasis on ecological modernization and a win-win discourse in the Norwegian context, and perhaps a stronger focus on civic environmentalism and global injustice in the South African context, their findings reflected that for both countries, textbooks predominantly leaned towards belief in international agreements and green governmentality. Some emphasis was placed on ecological modernization, particularly in South Africa, while civic environmentalism and global injustice perspectives were marginal and lacked context. The overlapping nature of perspectives identified in the textbooks also demonstrated the complexity of identifying problems and solutions connected to climate change. The authors conclude that political ecology can offer a consistent didactical framework to examine the diversity of interests, perspectives and ‘stories’ about climate change at different scales.

Vietnam has seemingly been able to shortcut the forest transition (FT) by quickly moving to the reforestation phase. Provincial-level forest cover and socio-economic trends are, however, not necessarily compatible with a standard FT framework. This article compares forest cover change and associated policy reforms in two provinces. Bac Kan is one of the poorest provinces in Vietnam, and has, after years of deforestation and forest degradation, expanded its forest cover during the past two decades. In contrast, Lam Dong province has higher GDP and population density, but has had high deforestation linked to expansion of perennial crops. This is contrary to what could be expected from a conventional FT hypothesis. Land use dynamics in Vietnam is heavily driven by its historical heritage related to the independence from French rule and heavy state-control and collectivization, and its more recent shift to “market-led socialism” (doi moi), involving export promotion, decentralization and land tenure reforms. The Vietnam experience shows that policies can trump the typical FT patterns linked to general development trends and structural changes, and that the typical FT-trajectory is not unavoidable. Yet, these policies have not primarily been guided by forest concerns, but should be viewed as a side effect of the doi moi policies pursuing economic growth and of the devolution of rights and decision-making.