This paper uses a continuing dispute over the management of Białowieża Forest, Poland to raise concerns over the power of representation and myth to sideline minority interests or to prioritise one social perspective over another. It is felt that this inquiry is particularly relevant in the context of European unification. It poses the question: to what extent does state power adequately protect its people against the specious but powerfully presented claims of local actors (in this case biological scientists) who employ potent representational practices and Internet networking to pressurise the state in an attempt to impair inclusive democratic processes?
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArendtH, 1951The Origins of Totalitarianism (Harcourt Brace, New York)
2.
BarnesTDuncanJ, 1992Writing Worlds: Discourse, Text and Metaphor in the Representation of Landscape (Routledge, London)
3.
BarthesR, 1977Image Music Text (Fontana Press, London)
4.
BarthesR, 1980La Chambre claire: notes sur la photographie [The Light Room: notes on photography] (Les Cahiers du Cinema – Gallimard – Le Seuil, Paris)
5.
BarthesR, 1993Mythologies (Vintage Books, London)
6.
BaudrillardJ, 1981Simulacres et simulations [Simulacra and simulations] (Galilée, Paris)
7.
BaudrillardJ, 1996The System of Objects (Verso, London)
8.
BentonT, 1993Natural Relations: Ecology, Animal Rights and Social Justice (Verso, London)
9.
BergerPLuckmannT, 1966The Social Construction of Reality (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
10.
BhaskarR, 1978A Realist Theory of Science (Harvester Press, Hassocks, Sussex)
11.
BieńkowskaK, 1999Węedrówki Archeologiczne z grodu do miasta [The archaeological journeys: from the ancient settlement to the town] exhibition catalogue (Archaeological Museum, Białystok)
12.
BirchT, 1990, “The incarceration of wilderness: wilderness areas as prisons”Environmental Ethics12(2) 3–26
13.
BlaikieP M, 1985The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries (Longman, New York)
14.
BlaikieP M, 1999, “A review of political ecology”Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie43 (3 – 4) 131–147
15.
BlaikieP MBrookfieldH, 1987Land Degradation and Society (Methuen, London)
16.
CallonMLatourB, 1981, “Unscrewing the Big Leviathans: how do actors macrostructure reality?”, in Advances in Society Theory and Methodology Eds KnorrKCicourelARoutledge, London) pp 277–303
17.
CastellsM, 1997The Power of Identity (Blackwell, Oxford)
18.
CollinD, 2001, “L'imaginaire et le souvenir” [The imaginary and memory], in La Représentation Eds BourdinDGuislainGJacopinP (Bréal Éditions, Paris) pp 28–31
19.
CosgroveD, 1984Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape (Croom Helm, London)
20.
CrononW, 1983Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (Hill and Wang, New York)
21.
CrononW, 1991, “The trouble with wilderness: or, getting back to the wrong nature”, in Uncommon Ground Ed. CrononWW W Norton, New York) pp 69–90
22.
CzykwinE, 2000, “Białoruska Dusza w Polsce: Lonek z Walił” [The Belorussian soul in Poland: Lonek from Walily]Polytica48 (2273) 72–73
23.
DaszkiewiczP, 1995, “Puszcza Białowieska nie może zginać” [Białowieża Forest cannot die]Kultura579(12) 71–72
24.
DebrayR, 1992Vie et mort de l'image: Une histoire du regard en Occident [The life and death of the image: a history of the Western gaze] (Gallimard, Paris)
25.
de SaussureF, 1983Course in General Linguistics (Duckworth, London)
26.
DescartesR, 1998Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings translated by ClarkeD, originally published 1641 (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
27.
DudleyNGilmourDJeanrenaudJ-P, 1996Forests for Life: The WWF/IUCN Policy BookWorldwide Fund for Nature UK, Panda House, Weyside Park, Catteshall Lane, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1XR
28.
EkiertG, 1998, “Legacies of struggle and defeat”, in Transition to Democracy in Poland Ed. StaarRMacmillan, London) pp 15–46
29.
FairheadJLeachM, 1997, “Culturing trees: socialized knowledge in the political ecology of Kissia and Kuranko forest islands of Guinea”, in Nature is Culture: Indigenous Knowledge and Socio-cultural Aspects of Trees and Forests in Non-European Cultures Ed. SeelandKIntermediate Technology Publications, London) pp 7–18
30.
FalińskiJ, 1986Vegetation Dynamics in Temperate Lowland Primeval Forests: Ecological Studies in Białowieża Forest (Dr W Junk, Dordrecht)
31.
FergusonN, 2001The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World 1700 – 2000 (Allen Lane, London)
32.
FishkinJ S, 1991Democracy and Deliberation (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT)
33.
FoucaultM, 1966Les mots et les choses [Words and objects] (Gallimard, Paris)
34.
FoucaultM, 1971Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason (Routledge, London)
35.
FoucaultM, 1976The Will to Knowledge: The History of Sexuality (Volume 1) (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
36.
FoucaultM, 1979Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison translated by SheridanA (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
37.
GeertzC, 1963, “The integrative revolution”, in Old Societies and New States Ed. GeertzCThe Free Press of Glencoe, London) pp 105–157
38.
GlackenC J, 1967Traces on the Rhodian Shore: Nature and Culture in Western Thought from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
39.
GórskaI, 1976, “Badania archeologiczne w Puszczy Białowieskiej” [Archaeological investigations in Białowieża Forest]Archeologia Polski21(1)
40.
GramsciA, 1991Prison Notebooks—Volume 2 translated by ButtigiegJ (Columbia University Press, New York)
41.
GriesmanH, 1977, “Society, nature and critical theory”Cultural Hermeneutics4123–138
42.
GromadzkiMWielochM, 2000, “Poland”, in Important Bird Areas of Europe: Priority Sites for Conservation Eds HeathMEvansMBirdlife International, Cambridge) pp 543–579
43.
GuhaR, 1990The Unquiet Woods (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
44.
GuhaR, 1998, “Deep ecology revisted”, in The Great New Wilderness Debate Eds Baird CallicotJNelsonM PUniversity of Georgia Press, Athens, GA)
45.
GuhaRMartinez-AlierJ, 1998Varieties of Environmentalism: Essays North and South (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
46.
GuibernauM, 1997, “Nations without states: Catalonia, a case study”, in The Ethnicity Reader Eds GuibernauMRexJPolity Press, Cambridge) pp 133–154
47.
GutowskiJJędrzejewskiWBobiecAFalińskiJCzesławOPopielJJędrejewskiBBrzezieckiBKorczakA, 2000Zasady funkcjonowania Biłowieskiego Parku Narodowego powiększonego na cały obszar polskiej części Puszczy Białowieskiej—propozycja [Management plan for Białowieża National Park for the areas on the Polish side of Białowieża Forest—proposal] Report prepared by the Scientific Council of Białowieża Forest, Forest Research Institute Park Dyrekcyjny 5, 17–230 Białowieża, Poland
48.
HagemeijerWBlairM, 1997The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds: Their Distribution and Abundance (T and A D Poyser, London)
49.
HallS, 1997Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (Sage, London)
50.
HarawayD, 1991Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (Free Associations Books, London)
51.
HarréR, 1972The Philosophies of Science: An Introductory Survey (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
52.
HarveyD, 2000Spaces of Hope (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
53.
HechtSCockburnA, 1990The Fate of the Forest: Developer, Destroyer and Defenders of the Amazon (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx)
54.
HedemannO, 1939Dzieje Puszczy Białowieskiej w Polsce przedrozbiorowej [The history of Białowieża Forest in Poland from the time before Partitions] (Instytut Badawczy Lasów Państwowych, Rosprawy i Sprawozdania)
55.
HeldD, 1999, “The transformation of political community: rethinking democracy in the context of globalization”, in Democracy's Edges Eds ShapiroIHacker-CordónCCambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 84–111
56.
HurstP, 1990Rainforest Politics: Ecological Destruction in South-East Asia (Zed Books, London)
57.
IUCN, 1994Guidelines for Protected Area Management CategoriesInternational Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland
58.
JakobWSchroderH-DRudolphMKrasińskiZ AKrasińskaMWolfOLangeACooperJ EFrölichK, 1999Necrobacillosis in Free-living Male European Bison in Poland (Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, Berlin)
59.
JamesonF, 1998, “The antinomies of postmodernity”, in The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern, 1983 – 1998 (Verso, London)
60.
JaroszL, 1996, “Defining deforestation in Madagascar”, in Liberation Ecologies Eds PeetRWattsMRoutledge, London) pp 148–164
61.
JędrzejewskiWJędrzejewskaB, 1995, “Projekt utorzenia Parku Narodowego Puszczy Białowieskiej” [The project of creating the National Park of Białowieża Forest]Chrońmy przyrodę ojczysta. 51(3) 16–36
62.
JędrzejewskiWJędrzejewskaBOkarmaHSchmidtKBunevichA NMiłkowskiL, 1996, “Population dynamics (1869 – 1994), demography, and home ranges of the lynx in Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland and Belarus)”Ecography19122–138
63.
JonesK, 1998, “Scale as epistemology”Political Geography1725–28
64.
KarcovG, 1903Belovezhskaya Pushcha [Białowieża Forest] (A F Marks, St Petersberg)
65.
KazaneckiP, 1998Mniejszość białoruska [The Belorussian minority], in Mniejszości narodowe w Polsce [Minority groups in Poland] Ed. BerdychowskaB (Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, Warsaw)
66.
KlankL, 1999, “Problemy społeczne i ekonomiczne Kontraktu dla Puszczy Białowieskiej [Social and economical problems with the ‘Contract for Białowieża Forest’]Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa PAN, Warsaw
67.
KossakS, 1992, “Śmierć puszczy” [Death of the forest]Gazeta Wyborcza 10 June, page 12
68.
KossakS, 1997, “Gospodarka łowiecka i ochrona zwierzyny w Puszczy Białowieskiej w latach 1991 – 1997 (część 2)” [Wildlife management and game protection in Białowieża Primeval Forest in 1991 – 1997 (Part 2)]Sylvan141(11) 55–61
69.
KvitzauB, 2000Study of the Wood-processing Industry in the Nine Communities of the Białowieża ForestDanish Forestry Extension Service, Skovenes Hus, Amalievej 20, DK-1875 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
70.
KymlickaW, 1999, “Citizenship in an era of globalization: commentary on Held”, in Democracy's Edges Eds ShapiroIHacker-CordónCCambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 112–126
71.
LavaudL, 1999L'Image [The image] (G F Flammarion, Paris)
72.
LefebvreH, 1974The Production of Space (Blackwell, Oxford)
73.
LipietzA, 1995Green Hopes: The Future of Political Ecology (Polity Press, Cambridge)
74.
ŁodzińskiŚ, 1999, “The protection of national minorities in Poland”, report Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Warsaw, http://www.hfhrpol.waw.pl
75.
PolskiŁowiec, 1937, “Sukcesy myśliwskie Gen. Goeringa w Polsce” [Hunting success of General Goering in Poland]Łowiec Polskinumber 7
76.
MannM, 1986The Sources of Social Power—Volume 1: A History of Power from the Beginning to A.D. 1760 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
77.
MarinL, 1981Le Portrait du Roi [The portrait of the King] (Éditions de Minuit, Paris)
MickiewiczA, 1990Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania translated by MackenzieK, originally published 1834 (The Polish Cultural Foundation, London)
83.
MillJ S, 1998, “Nature”, in Three Essays on Religion (Prometheus Books, New York) pp 3–68
84.
MiłkowskiL, 1995Przyszła i przeszła gospodarka łowiecka Puszczy Białowieskiej w ujeciu przestrzennym [The future and former hunting economy of Białowieża Forest] unpublished report, for Polish State Faculty
85.
MitchellF J GColeE, 1998, “Reconstruction of long-term successional dynamics of temperate woodland in Bialowieza Forest, Poland”Journal of Ecology861042–1059
86.
MonkR, 1991Ludwig Wittgenstein; The Duty of Genius (Vintage Books, New York)
87.
MooreD, 1996, “Marxism, culture and political ecology”, in Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements Eds PeetRWattsMRoutledge, London) pp 125–147
88.
MumfordL, 1961The City in History (Harcourt, New York)
89.
NashR, 1982Wilderness and the American Mind3rd edition (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT)
90.
NeumannR P, 1992, “Political ecology of wildlife conservation in the Mt. Meru area of northeast Tanzania”Land Degradation and Rehabilitation385–98
91.
NeumannR, 1996, “Dukes, earls, and ersatz Edens: aristocratic nature preservationists in colonial Africa”Environment and Planning D: Society and Space1479–98
92.
NeumannR, 1998Imposing Wilderness: Struggles over Livelihood and Nature Preservation in Africa (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
93.
OkolówC, 1994Nature and Forestry Museum of Białowieża National Park (Białowieża National Park, Białowieża)
94.
PAP, 1994, “Bizon w obronieżubra” [Bison defends the [Polish] Bison]Kurier Poranny Polska Agencja Prasowa (Polish News Agency) 7 December, page 6
PelusoN L, 1993Rich Forests, Poor People (University of California Press, CA)
97.
PelusoN L, 1995, “Whose woods are these? Counter-mapping forest territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia”Antipode27383–406
98.
PeterkenG F, 1996Natural Woodland: Ecology and Conservation in Northern Temperate Regions (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
99.
PhiloC, 2000, “Foucault's geography”, in Thinking Space Eds CrangMThriftNRoutledge, London) pp 205–236
100.
Polish State Forestry, 1999Leśnictwo 1999 [Forestry 1999) (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warsaw)
101.
PollanM, 1996Second Nature: A Gardener's Education (Bloomsbury Press, London)
102.
PrincenTFingerM, 1994Environmental NGOs in World Politics: Linking the Local and the Global (Routledge, London)
103.
ProctorJ OPincetlS, 1996, “Nature and the reproduction of endangered space: the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest and southern California”Environment and Planning D: Society and Space14683–708
104.
RadziukiewiczA, 2000Orthodox Christianity in Poland (Arka, Białystok)
105.
RenanE, 1990, “What is a nation?”, in Nation and Narration Ed. BhabhaHRoutledge, London)
106.
RepettoRGillisM, 1988Public Policies and the Misuse of Forest Resources (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
RyanJ, 1997Picturing Empire: Photography and the Visualization of the British Empire (Reaktion Books, London)
109.
SayerA, 1979, “Epistemology and conceptions of people and nature in geography”Geoforum1019–43
110.
SayerA, 1992Method in Social Science: A Realist Approach (Routledge, London)
111.
SayerA, 2000Realism and Social Science (Sage, London)
112.
SchamaS, 1996Landscape and Memory (Fontana Press, London)
113.
ScoonesI, 1996, “Politics, polemics and pasture in Southern Africa”, in The Lie of the Land: Challenging Received Wisdom on the African Environment Eds LeachMMearnsRHeinemann, London) pp 34–53
114.
ShivaV, 1995, “Biotechnological development and the conservation of biodiversity”, in Biopolitics: A Feminist and Ecological Reader on Biotechnology Eds ShivaVMoserIZed Books, London) pp 193–213
115.
SimmelG, 1978The Philosophy of Money translated by BottomoreTFrisbeyD, originally published 1907 (Routledge, London)
116.
SmithN, 1984Uneven Development: Nature, Capital and the Production of Space (Blackwell, Oxford)
117.
SokołowskiA, 1999, “Analysis of results of changes in management practices in the Promotional Forest Complex of Białowieża, with a view to conservation and enhancement of biological diversity”, in Evaluation of the Impact of Forest Management Practices on Biological Diversity in Central Europe Eds RykowskiKMatuszewskiGLenartEForest Research Institute, Warsaw)
SpenceM D, 1999Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
121.
StrawsonP F, 1966The Bounds of Sense: An Essay on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Routledge, London)
122.
SzaferW, 1920, “Plan utworzenia rezerwatu leśnego w Puszczy Białowieskiej” [Plan of establishing a forest reserve in Białowieża Forest]Sylwan (Lwów)38 (October – December) pp 1–24
123.
ThompsonE P1988William Morris originally published 1955 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA)
124.
Tsouvalis-GerberJ, 1998, “Making the invisible visible: ancient woodlands, British forest policy and the social construction of reality”, in European Woods and Forests: Studies in Cultural History Ed. WatkinsCCAB International, Wallingford, Oxon) pp 215–230
125.
VeraF W M, 2000Grazing Ecology and Forest History (CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon)
126.
WagstylS, 2000, “Greening moves proves a drain on resources”Financial Times Special report—Poland, 17 April, page 6
127.
WattsM, 1983Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA)
128.
WilsonE O, 1984Biophilia (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
129.
WeinerD, 1988Models of Nature: Ecology, Conservation, and Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN)
130.
WeinerD, 1992, “Demythologising environmentalism”Journal of the History of Biology25385–411
131.
WolfOJakobWLangeARudolphMBorchersKGlatzelP SHabedankBBrackmannJKrasińskiZKrasińskaMHartmannLThiedeSFrölichK, 2000Balanoposthis in European Bison (Bison bonasus) (Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, Berlin)
132.
WróblewskiT, 1994, “BIZON wyrzucony z konsulatu RP w Kanadzie” [BISON ejected from Polish Consulate in Canada]Życie Warszawy 7 December
133.
YoungI M, 1990Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
134.
YoungI M, 1997, “Difference as a resource for democratic communication”, in Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics Eds BohmanJRehgWMIT Press, Cambridge, MA) pp 384–405
135.
YoungI M, 2000Inclusion and Democracy (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
136.
ZimmererK, 1993, “Soil erosion and social discourses: perceiving the nature of environmental degradation”Economic Geography69312–327
137.
ZimmererK, 2000, “The reworking of conservation geographies: nonequilibrium landscapes and nature – society hybrids”Annals of the Association of American Geographers90356–369
