Politics of Forests: Northern Forest-industrial Regimes in the Age of Globalization [Hardcover]

Bringing together case studies from Canada, the Nordic countries and Russia, this book is the first to provide a comparative examination of the current transformations in the forest industry regimes and the challenges they make for the communities dependent on this industry. Questioning how globalization has influenced forest regimes, the book focuses on individual forest companies and argues that they are the main motors of the industry's internationalization, often without taking due consideration of the complex interrelations between society, the environment and forest trade. During the current phase of globalization, the sphere of material production within the forest industry has increasingly been modified by more speculative signals from the market. Both the growing role of investor interests, as well as the broader societal demands for 'greening' the production chain, have forced managers to be more sensitive to the performance profile and image of their companies. In conclusion, the book highlights instances of processes working towards homogenization and diversity, and suggests that while Anglo-American management practice is increasingly important across the northern forest regions, it is also meeting with resistance due to historical and political conditions.Contents: Part I: Circuits of Wood and Power: Timber Frontiers and Paper Landscapes of the North: Introduction: northern forest regimes and the challenge of internationalization, Ari Aukusti Lehtinen, Jakob Donner-Amnell and Bj??rnar S??ther. Part II: Canada: Freeing from the Colonial Heritage?: Requiem for a 'local' champion: globalization, British Columbia's forest economy and MacMillan Bloedel, Roger Hayter; Beyond L'Erreur bor?ale: the forest industry, environmentalism and image production in Qu?bec, Canada, L. Anders Sandberg, Nicolas Houde and Patrick Lavoie. Part III: Russian Forest Industry: Eroding the Patrimonial Hegemony: Russian Taiga: regional fabrication of the Federal Forest Regime, AlsŠ