Kent Mathewson – författare

The global drug trade and its associated violence, corruption, and human suffering create global problems that include political and military conflicts, ethnic minority human rights violations, and stresses on economic development. Drug production and eradication affects the stability of many states, shaping and sometimes distorting their foreign policies. External demand for drugs has transformed many indigenous cultures from using local agricultural activity to being enmeshed in complex global problems.Dangerous Harvest presents a global overview of indigenous peoples' relations with drugs. It presents case studies from various cultural landscapes that are involved in drug plant production, trade, and use, and examines historical uses of illicit plant substances. It continues with coverage of eradication efforts, and the environmental impact of drug plant production. In its final chapter, it synthesizes the major points made and forecasts future directions of crop substitution programs, international eradication efforts, and changes in indigenous landscapes. The book helps unveil the farmer, not to glamorize those who grow drug plants but to show the deep historical, cultural, and economic ties between farmer and crop.

The geography of culture has held a sustained attraction for some of the most distinguished and promising geographers of the twentieth century. These notable voices have now been brought together to explore the cultural landscape in this fresh, encompassing survey of one of geography's most vital research areas.In Re-reading Cultural Geography, a worthy successor to the original and now classic Readings in Cultural Geography (1962), the editors have gathered articles, essays, and new commentaries, as well as extensive annotated reading lists and a comprehensive bibliography, into a book that will be ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses of all levels.Assessing an intellectual world far different from the one defined in the earlier volume, Re-reading Cultural Geography uncovers the common themes of a vibrant, often clamorous discipline. Broadly defined, these include "how the world looks"-the patternings of cultural traits and material artifacts; "how the world works"-the dynamics of human organizations in interaction with the environment; and "what the world means"-the systems of shared values and beliefs that shape communities.

New evidence that the ancient Mayas practiced intensive, often irrigated, agriculture on a massive scale has forced revision in current thinking about that civilization. Yet, little study has focused on the heirs of this agricultural tradition; in areas of highland Guatemala, Mayan farmers today carry on forms of intensive, irrigated horticulture t

This book examines the tablon system, a type of irrigated, raised-bed horticulture found in the present-day village of Panajachel in Guatemala. It demonstrates how individual Mayan farmers use the tablon system as a strategy for adapting to the demands of a local economy.

This book will be of interest to a range of scholars in geography, anthropology, archaeology, history, and ecology, as well as to environmental managers and practitioners, especially those working for non-profit organizations and government organizations tasked with finding ways to adapt to global environmental change.