Research and Scholarship
SCHOLARLY INTEREST
The study of sustainable economic and human development whereby communities flourish without undermining the ecological foundations on which all flourishing must depend. In practice my teaching, research and leadership are devoted to the development and advancement of:
- A theory of commoditization that:
- explains economic selection pressures that privilege things over relationships at the expense of human welfare and ecological integrity and;
- informs alternative economic policies that restore balance and right relationship between human economies and the ecosystems on which we depend
- The interpretation and application of governance principles for sustainability that are:
- derived from analyzing the implications of “resilience,” “ecological integrity,” “ecological economics,” and other concepts derived from the concepts of western scientific ecology;
- consistent with and respectful of the knowledge, traditions, values and resource management principles of Indigenous Peoples, in particular the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy);
- promoted and translated into the language of international diplomacy by non-governmental organizations operating in the realm of global environmental politics;
- Strategies for developing alliances with Indigenous leadership to promote and advance the inclusion of Indigenous values in decision-making.
Current Research Program
Biophysical and Ecological Economics and Sustainability Theory: I continue my interest in commoditization theory, sustainable development and human well-being. I recently completed editing a special issue on commoditization for the journal, Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society which will appear in January 2012. Future work will model the effects of commoditization on patterns of development and illustrate how commoditization drives economies toward unsustainability. My most recent publication on this topic is Manno, J. 2010. "Commoditization and Oppression: A Systems Approach to Understanding the Economic Dynamics of Modes of Oppression." Ecological Economics Reviews. Annals of the New York Academy of Science.(118) 164–178.
Indigenous Values and Environmental Decisions: After years of having my ideas about the relationship between people and the natural world influenced by friends and colleagues at the Onondaga Nation, I have begun to explore a set of questions about how best to draw upon the rich philosophy and values of Indigenous peoples in order to make better environmental decisions and achieve what the Onondaga refer to as a healing between humans and nature. (see in particular the opening paragraph of the Onondaga Land Rights Action.) What might environmental governance look like if it were modeled after the Great Law of Peace? This is a question raised in a chapter in a Global Ecological Intergrity book. Chief Irving Powless, Jr. (Chawhdayguywhawdoes) and I wrote "Brightening the Covenant Chain: The Onondaga Land Rights Action and Our Common Future," in a book of case studies on Governance for Sustainability, published by the IUCN in 2008.
In the coming period I will be working with the Onondaga Nation and the Neighbors of Onondaga Nation to organize a statewide educational campaign to commemorate the signing of what is known as the Two-Row Wampum Treaty between Dutch traders and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in 1613. The four-hundredth anniversary willhighlight what an environmentally responsible and just relationship between our peoples could and should be. I will also be undertaking a participant observation project about the educational campaign that will be my major research project during 2012 -2013.
Great Lakes Science and Policy
Selected Publications
Biophysical and Ecological Economics and Sustainability Theory
Manno, Jack P. 2012 (In Press) “Introduction to the Special Issue on Commoditization: Theory and Exemplary Cases,” Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society
Smith, R. M., & Manno, J. P. 2012 (In Press). “Critical Perspectives on Disability Studies and Social Constructions of Environments” In Eco-Ability: The Liberation of Disability, Nature, and Animals, (Eds.) A. Nocella, J.K.C. Bentley, & J. M. Duncan. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Manno, Jack. 2011. “Looking for a silver lining: the possible positives of declining EROI.” Sustainability. Open Access. www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability. Special issue on Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI).
Manno, Jack P, 2010., “Commoditization and Oppression: A Systems Approach to Understanding the Economic Dynamics of Modes of Oppression.” Ecological Economics Reviews, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 1185.
Manno, Jack. 2010. “Sustainability and Consumption,” World Environment, China Academic Journal, (in Mandarin).
Smith, Robin, and Manno, Jack P. 2008. “Disability Studies and Social Construction of Environments,” Social Advocacy and Systems Change, Vol. 1, #1, Spring 2008. Available: www.cortland.edu/ids/sasc/content/earth_smith_manno.pdf
Manno, Jack P. 2008. “Ecological Integrity and the Inspiration of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement”. Preface In Reconciling Human Existence with Ecological Integrity: Science, Ethics, Economics and Law, eds. L. Westra, K. Bosselman, and R. Westra, pp. xv-xxi, London: Earthscan.
Crabbé, Phillippe, and Jack P. Manno. 2008. “Integrity as an Emergent Public Good,” In Reconciling Human Existence with Ecological Integrity: Science, Ethics, Economics and Law, eds. L. Westra, K. Bosselman and R. Westra, pp. 73-86. London: Earthscan.
Manno, Jack P., and Thanh Dinh Vo. 2007. ”Globalization and the Degradation of Rural Livelihoods: A Comparative Study of Mexico and Vietnam under Trade Liberalization.” Chapter 25 in: Sustaining Life on Earth: Environmental and Human Health Through Global Governance, eds., C. Soskolne, L. Westra, L. Kotze, B. Mackey and W. Rees, pp. 355-368. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/ Rowman & Littlefield
Manno, Jack P. 2000. Privileged Goods: Commoditization and its Implications for Environment and Society, Boca Raton: Lewis Publishers, Ecological Economics Series, Robert Costanza, Editor.
Indigenous Values and Environmental Decisions
Vo, Thanh and Manno. J. (2011). “Local knowledge and technology innovation in a changing world: The traditional fishing community in Tam Giang Cau Hai lagoon, Vietnam,’ in Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge and Threatened Communities, eds. D. Brokensha, A. P. Castro and D. Taylor. London: Practical Action Publishing.
Manno, J. 2010. “Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace: A Model for Global Environmental Governance?, Ch. 9 in Democracy, Ecological Integrity and International Law, eds. J. R. Engel, L. Westra and K. Bosselman. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Manno, J., and I. Powless, Jr. 2008 “Brightening the Covenant Chain: The Onondaga Land Rights Action and Neighbors of Onondaga Nation.” pp. 149-158 in Governance for Sustainability - Issues, Challenges, Successes, eds. K. Bosselman, R. Engel, and P. Taylor. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
Great Lakes Science and Policy
Krantzberg, Gail and Jack P. Manno. 2010. “Renovation and innovation; it’s time for the Great Lakes regime to respond.” Water Resources Management Vol 24 (15) pp. 4273 - 4285.
Manno, Jack P., Richard Smardon, Joseph V. DePinto, Emily T. Cloyd, and Susana Del Granado. 2008 The Use of Models in Great Lakes Decision Making Randall G. Pack Institute, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Occasional Paper 16, April 2008.
Manno, J., and G. Krantzberg. 2008 “Rediscovering the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement". Pp. 159-170 in Governance for Sustainability - Issues, Challenges, Successes, eds. K. Bosselman, R. Engel, and P. Taylor. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
