The article “From frontier governance to governance frontier: The political geography of Brazil’s Amazon transition” published in 2019 in World Development was awarded the 2022 Virginie Mamadouh Outstanding Research Award from the Political Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers. Gregory Thaler, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, and his co-authors Cecilia Viana and Fabiano Toni won the award given to journal articles or book chapters that make an innovative contribution to the field of political geography.
The article focuses on the role of governance in frontier development in the Brazilian Amazon, revealing the role of politics in constructing and transforming frontier spaces. Using evidence from municipal forest governance policies in Pará and Mato Grosso, the authors argue for the integration of frontier theory and governance theory in a place-based, political geography approach to regional political-economic transformation. Dr. Thaler co-directs the Brazil Natural Resource Governance Initiative (BNRGI). The article is based on extensive fieldwork carried out by the authors in the Brazilian Amazon.
Reference:
Thaler, Gregory M., Cecilia Viana, and Fabiano Toni. “From Frontier Governance to Governance Frontier: The Political Geography of Brazil’s Amazon Transition.” World Development 114 (2019): 59–72.