Economic Globalization, Telecoupling and Land Change

Dear Colleagues,

Scholars are now studying land systems in a global context using such concepts as “telecoupling.” Research to date has recognized that local land systems may be undermined, and local people displaced, by economic globalization, or the increasing integration of production over space. The land-change community emphasizes the ways in which local people make decisions about natural resources given the opportunities and constraints that globalization presents. To date, we have paid comparatively less attention to exactly how global trade, financial institutions and agribusiness come together to create these new conditions.

Specific topics of current concern to land-system scientists include the role of new types of actors, such as firms and non-governmental organizations, the complexity of global production and land use, and how remittances shape land change. The ultimate ability of the land-change community to speak to key policy initiatives like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) will depend on our ability to address these new spatially nimble actors and processes.

For this Special Issue, we are seeking papers that examine how economic globalization has promoted or undermined the social-environmental sustainability of land systems.

Papers can be one of three types:

(1)  Empirical pieces. Case studies illustrating the role of global trade, investment or transnational corporations in significant land change in one or more contexts;

(2)  Conceptual or theoretical contributions. Papers that seek to advance the conceptual frameworks used by land-change scientists to address these problems.

(3)  Normative studies. Contributions that focus on the winners and losers of recent land changes.

We will seek to be geographically representative, including works from major world regions (North America, Latin America, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania).

If you wish to be included in this Issue, please submit a title, abstract (250 words) and 3-5 key words to munroe.9@osu.edu. Please indicate the nature of your contribution (empirical, conceptual, normative) in your abstract.

Dr. Darla K. Munroe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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