Community‐Based Resource Management in Turkey: ‘Je Participe,Tu Participes,Il Participe… Ils Profitent’1

The current discourse and practice of natural resource management rest on the assumption that participatory decision‐making mechanisms offer efficient and equitable policy solutions. There is increasing recognition, however, that such mechanisms might fail in ensuring effective participation of all stakeholders and, consequently, be prone to (re)producing inequalities and remaining ineffective in environmental protection. Taking this observation as a backdrop, this study addresses the under‐investigated implications of state–society relationships on the operation of participatory processes. By employing a unique combination of data provided by focus groups, in‐depth interviews, and a survey administered to 377 individuals, it analyses the ‘failure’ of participatory decision making within the context of an internationally‐funded environmental conservation project in Sultan Sazl???, Turkey. The article argues that the specific manifestations of state–society relationships and the political economy dynamics at the local level account for this failure. It shows that local materializations of state behaviour, interacting with local inequalities and perceptions of the decision‐making process, impinge on effective participation. In emphasizing that the capability of different groups to participate is shaped by the state in important ways, this article calls for more research on the political economy of state–society relationships and community‐based resource management.     

Four Perspectives on Public Participation Process in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making: Combined Results from 10 Case Studies

Knowing how people think about public participation processes and knowing what people want from these processes is essential to crafting a legitimate and effective process and delivering a program that is widely viewed as meaningful and successful. This article reports on research to investigate the nature of diversity among participants' perceptions of what is the most appropriate public participation process for environmental assessment and decision making in 10 different cases. Results show that there are clearly distinct perspectives on what an appropriate public participation process should be. We identified four perspectives: Science‐Centered Stakeholder Consultation, Egalitarian Deliberation, Efficient Cooperation, and Informed Collaboration. The literature on public participation tends to presume that there are clear and universal criteria on how to “do” public participation correctly or that context is the critical factor. This study has revealed that even within a specific assessment or decision‐making effort, there may be different perspectives about what is viewed as appropriate, which poses a challenge for both theorists and practitioners. Among the active participants in these 10 case studies, we found limited agreement and strong differences of opinions for what is a good process. Points of consensus across these cases are that good processes reach out to all stakeholders, share information openly and readily, engage people in meaningful interaction, and attempt to satisfy multiple interest positions. Differences appeared about how strongly to emphasize science and information, how much leadership and direction the process needs, what is the proper behavior of participants, how to tackle issues of power and trust, and what are the outcome‐related goals of the process. These results challenge researchers and practitioners to consider the diversity of participant needs in addition to the broad context when conceptualizing or carrying out participatory processes.     

Agricultural Adaptation to Real Regulation on the Urban Fringe: The Chicken Meat Industry's Response to Land‐use Conflict in the Western Port Region of Victoria,Australia

Research theorising the rural‐urban fringe has not focussed in detail on the regulatory system managing land‐use conflict, including disputes arising between agricultural enterprises and residential property owners. To explore local forms of regulation the need to identify relevant actors, their interrelationships and the way that they compete to influence decision‐makers is widely recognised in the literature. Moran et al.'s (1996) conceptualisation of ‘real regulation’, with its emphasis on lobbying by social actors and the (re)formulation of legislation, is identified as a theoretical perspective that can help to explain local forms of regulation. The understanding of patterns of regulation on the urban fringe requires a more detailed conceptualisation of non‐legislative forms of policy, and a greater appreciation of the different strategies adopted by farmers to influence government. This paper investigates how urban fringe agricultural industries have attempted to influence decision‐making within the development approval process. Evidence is presented from the Western Port region in the urban fringe of Melbourne, Victoria, where refusal for the construction of broiler sheds by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has resulted in the chicken meat industry adopting a more scientific siting strategy. It is concluded that, whilst this provides an example of agricultural adaptation and reinforces the importance of adopting a temporal dimension to investigate the land development process, the possibility that government will assess environmental harm differently in the future leaves urban fringe broiler farming in a precarious position.     

Indigenous sovereignties: relational ontologies and environmental management

Indigenous nations have always and continue to assert their sovereignties to resist colonialism. This paper makes explicit the ways in which environmental management has been and continues to act as a tool of colonialism, particularly by privileging Western science, institutions, and administrative procedures. We argue that to decolonise environmental management, it is crucial to understand and challenge the power relations that underlie it—asking who makes decisions and on what worldview those decisions are based. Indigenous ways of being deeply challenge the foundations of environmental management and the colonising power structures that underlie it, and invite further thought about posthuman and relational ontologies. We provide a range of case studies that showcase the role of Indigenous nations in redefining and reimagining environmental management based on Indigenous sovereignties, knowledges, and ways of being. The case studies emphasise the crucial connection between Indigenous decision‐making authority and self‐governance for the enhanced protection and health of the environment. We argue that Indigenous agency, grounded in Indigenous governance and sovereignties, is driving innovation and decolonising environmental management by making space for new ways of thinking and being “in place”.     

The Impact of Microfinance on Decision‐Making Agency: Evidence from South India

Evaluations of the effects of microfinance programmes on women's empowerment generate mixed results. While some are supportive of microfinance's ability to induce a process of economic, social and political empowerment, others are more sceptical and even point to a deterioration of women's overall well‐being. Against this background, development scholars and practitioners have sought to distil some of the ingredients that might increase the likelihood of empowerment or at least reduce adverse effects. This article formally tests the impact of some of the suggested changes in programme features on one particular dimension of empowerment: decision‐making agency. Using household survey data from South India, the author explores the importance of the borrower's gender and the lending technology for intra‐household decision‐making processes. It is shown that direct bank–borrower credit delivery does not challenge the existing decision‐making patterns, regardless of whether men or women receive the credit. These findings change when credit is combined with financial and social group intermediation. Women's group membership seriously shifts overall decision‐making patterns from norm‐guided behaviour and male decision‐making to more joint and female decision‐making. Longer‐term group membership and more intensive training and group meetings strengthen these patterns.     

“Why would they care?”: Youth,resource extraction,and climate change in northern British Columbia,Canada

Discussion about local decision making tends to overlook rural and remote youth engagement. Resource extractive industries are, however, fixtures in many rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities in settler colonial British Columbia, Canada. These industries shape youths' perceived options for social and economic ventures when they are looking towards their futures. By engaging literature on climate change, settler colonialism, and critical Indigenous studies, and drawing on empirics from workshops conducted with youth from northern British Columbia, this paper explores how rural and remote northern and Indigenous youth engagement and perspectives can transform discussions on climate change and resource extraction. The paper documents how rural and northern youth have been engaged in environmental decision making, particularly in light of resource extraction. The paper also suggests that environmental decision making has at times been extractive itself. The paper concludes that when engaged meaningfully, youth desire to work collectively against social and environmental injustices.     

Zionist identity and the British Mandate: Palestine's internment camps and the making of the Western native

This paper examines the relationship between British police officers, Jewish guards, and German internees in Palestine's internment camps during World War II. Using the reports of the Jewish guards, the paper investigates the role of Western‐identified actors in the Zionist identity‐making project. The reports evince a surprising rapport between the British and their German prisoners and the mistreatment of the Jewish guards by their British superiors. The paper analyses these Jewish accounts in the context of identity‐ and ethnic boundary‐making and argues that they illustrate Zionism's intent to construct itself as a Western but noncolonial movement and Zionists in Palestine as natives but not “Orientals.” The reports also reveal a breach between the formal hierarchy—British officers, Jewish guards, German internees—and the ethnic order, which situated British and Germans at the apex and the Jews at the bottom. The paper highlights the utility of researching group‐making interactions in different contexts to develop a more nuanced understanding of identity‐making processes.     

Understanding ethnic differences in perceptions,attitudes, and behaviours: a study of domestic water use in Sydney

There is growing realisation among environmental and social studies researchers that people's decision‐making about water use conforms to their internal norms and beliefs, which are developed in social and cultural contexts. Little research, however, has addressed the possible impacts that ethnic and cultural diversity may have on domestic water use and management. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in Sydney, with specific reference to questionnaire findings. Among respondents from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, significant differences were observed in terms of perceptions, specific knowledge, attitudes, and self‐reported behaviours in relation to water use and conservation. The disparities identified were not masking socio‐demographic and economic characteristics but were the result of a series of constructs closely tied to ethnicity, including cultural value, environmental experience, language preference, and information access. As a factor explaining variation in the engagement of pro‐conservation behaviour, ethnic status was found to be more useful than some socio‐economic factors. The study highlights the importance of including ethnicity and cultural sensitivity issues in the decision‐making process of environmental management.     

The Environmental Performance of Participatory and Collaborative Governance: A Framework of Causal Mechanisms

Many have advocated for collaborative governance and the participation of citizens and stakeholders on the basis that it can improve the environmental outcomes of public decision making, as compared to traditional, top‐down decision making. Others, however, point to the potential negative effects of participation and collaboration on environmental outcomes. This article draws on several literatures to identify five clusters of causal mechanisms describing the relationship between participation and environmental outcomes. We distinguish (i) mechanisms that describe how participation impacts on the environmental standard of outputs, from (ii) mechanisms relating to the implementation of outputs. Three mechanism clusters focus on the role of representation of environmental concerns, participants' environmental knowledge, and dialogical interaction in decision making. Two further clusters elaborate on the role of acceptance, conflict resolution, and collaborative networks for the implementation of decisions. In addition to the mechanisms, linking independent with dependent variables, we identify the conditions under which participation may lead to better (or worse) environmental outcomes. This helps to resolve apparent contradictions in the literature. We conclude by outlining avenues for research that builds on this framework for analysis.     

ENERGY,ENVIRONMENT AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: THE EBRD'S ACTIVITIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

This article examines the relationship between the EBRD's project portfolio in the Western Balkan energy sector, and the region's main energy and environment problems. It argues in favour of geographically centred appraisals of the environmental sustainability of multilateral energy investment. Empirical analyses have been placed within the context of this bank's broader policy mandate to support the reconstruction and development of, among other aspects, energy operations in the post‐socialist states of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, while promoting environmental sustainability. The article categorizes the Western Balkans' energy and environment problems into two main groups: the failure to shift away from carbon‐emitting sources of energy, and the inability to introduce efficient technologies in the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy. It investigates the level to which these issues have been represented in the Bank's energy investment activities in the region. The EBRD's ability to fund energy and environment projects has been affected by, among other factors, the decision‐making process within the relevant governments and the Bank itself. These processes are related to the structural legacies of central planning and the organizational cultures embedded within the EBRD at its inception.     

Punctuated Equilibria in the Private Sector and the Stability of Market Systems

The article examines longitudinal trends in expenditures by over 1,200 private firms, finding evidence of punctuated equilibrium—a pattern of change widely interpreted as evidence of stick‐slip dynamics in decision‐making processes. Levels of punctuation in the private sector closely resemble those observed in studies on public budgeting, suggesting that the private sector is not on average any less resistant to change than government. Both private‐ and public‐sector decision making is a function of deliberative processes, which the article compares to market systems. Deliberative decision making takes place when a group comes to a consensus about the allocation of resources. Market processes aggregate the actions of many independent decision makers to arrive at an outcome, such as the value of a commodity. The article considers the relative informational efficiency of these two processes and concludes that market systems should be more adaptive to incoming information. Three case studies provide natural experiments to investigate the stability of outputs during periods of deliberative and market control. A key finding is that when outputs are determined by market systems it greatly reduces the magnitude of punctuation.     

Preservation of old‐growth forests: a case study of Big Timber Park,Whistler, BC

This paper explores the concepts of old‐growth forests, preservation and natural disturbance and demonstrates how contemporary biogeographic theory contributes to successful preservation of old‐growth forests. The case study analyzes the composition, structure, age and growth histories of trees in Big Timber Park, Whistler, British Columbia. Composition. The structure of the forest was diverse and tree ages ranged from 122 to 305 years. The densities of large old Douglas‐fir, shade‐tolerant trees and all snags are indicative of old‐growth forests; however, maximum tree diameters and densities of large snags and logs do not meet quantitative criteria for old‐growth forests. The abundance of tree regeneration and understory vegetation are relatively low. We conclude that some aspects of Big Timber Park are transitional between the mature and old‐growth stages of forest development. In the future, fine‐scale canopy gaps caused by tree senescence and interactions among insects, pathogens and wind are expected to dominate stand dynamics. Forest structure will become increasingly complex, exemplifying the dynamic nature of old‐growth forests. To successfully preserve Big Timber Park and La préservation des forêts other old‐growth forests in Canada requires understanding of natural disturbances. Preservation and the criteria and indicators used to measure successful preservation must explicitly include elements of natural change.     

Testing Alternative Theories of Agenda Setting: Forest Policy Change in British Columbia, Canada

In an effort to add to our understanding of why government chooses to take actions in certain situations and not others, this article applies competing theories of agenda building to a specific environmental issue, forest policymaking in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Clearly, how well BC and the rest of Canadian provinces manage their forests and other natural resources will contribute to the ability of Canada as a whole to become a sustainable society. In the 1990s the BC government enacted the Forest Practices Code, a comprehensive approach to managing the province's forests. This study relies on several different theoretical approaches to explain how such an ambitious program was developed and implemented. How difficult and complex environmental issues manage to reach the political agenda is crucial to our understanding of policy change and is addressed in this study.     

‘IT'S ALL A QUESTION OF BUSINESS’: INVESTMENT IDENTITIES,NETWORKS AND DECISION‐MAKING IN THE CLEANTECH ECONOMY

Cleantech has emerged in the last decade as a major new investment sector at the forefront of the green economy. It responds to the need for innovative technologies to combat the impact of global environmental, climate and resource trends. Focusing on the cleantech sector, this article explores the central importance of relationality within the financial domain of the green economy. The central aim of this article is to deepen understandings of the operation of cleantech investment by examining the decision‐making processes of cleantech actors, how these are influenced by (and influence) cleantech investment networks, and the relationships between these factors and the macro‐level drivers and discourses focused on the cleantech sector. A relational economic geography approach is used in conjunction with other frameworks (spanning the cultural, structural and actor‐network dimensions of cleantech investment) to investigate: how cleantech investors define the sector; the macro‐ and micro‐level drivers of cleantech investment; and how cleantech networks form and operate to create and disseminate cleantech discourses and to generate the mutual trust and information sharing needed to secure cleantech investments. In so doing, the article seeks to shed greater light on the micro‐level processes contributing to the creation and growth of cleantech investment markets as an essential catalyst and component of the green economy.     

Justice in River Management: Community Perceptions from the Hunter Valley,New South Wales,Australia

Dealing with differing and sometimes conflicting criteria for priority‐setting is an essential part of sustainable natural resource management. However, all too often, these ethical and political considerations are neglected within a planning regime based upon apparently ‘objective’ biophysical assessment techniques. Input into associated decision‐making processes is also frequently restricted to a narrow range of ‘stakes’ based upon historical and geographic circumstances. This paper reports on the findings of interviews and discussion groups in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, which aimed to canvass the diversity of perceptions of distributive and procedural justice in river rehabilitation. A range of biophysical and social criteria for setting priorities in rehabilitation work was identified. Participants also had differing ideas on the composition of decision‐making bodies and on decision‐making processes. The key implications of these findings are that sustainable river management policy needs to openly address differing conceptions of justice and that rehabilitation practice should be holistic, transdisciplinary and concerned with both outcome and process.     

The architecture of power: François Mitterrand’s Grands Travaux revisited 1

Building on earlier research, this paper proposes a more refined analysis of how the main decision‐making processes pertaining to the grands travaux were established in the very early stages. Informed by consultation of official archival sources to which access was obtained by special permission (dérogation), it shows the manner and extent of the personal intervention by François Mitterrand, and offers new insights into his attachment to the Grand Louvre project, which drove the wider programme of architectural and cultural projects. It shows how and why a set of disparate projects were packaged into a flagship policy, and sheds light on the conflicts of power within the machinery of government under the Fifth Republic, especially relating to cultural policy during the Lang years. It shows how the highly politicised context motivated Mitterrand’s drive to circumvent normal administrative processes in order to mark his presidency with a cultural stamp.     

State Discourses of Indigenous “Inclusion”: Identity and Representation in the Arctic

Arctic decision‐making processes are often praised for including Indigenous peoples. Yet, state practices of “inclusion” may also inadvertently delimit what can be meaningfully said from a stage already set for a highly specific role as “Arctic voices”. This paper draws on reflections offered by Norwegian and Icelandic state personnel on the meanings of Arctic statehood and identity, showing how often well‐meaning attempts to “include” may serve the includer more than the included—indeed, may serve to uphold the same power structures they seemingly seek to improve. In so doing, the paper contributes both to understandings of Arctic statecraft and to work seeking the “peopling” of geopolitical concepts such as the state. By focusing on the operation of dominant discourses, the paper argues that current prescribed performances of “inclusion” are not enough in a region marked by histories of dispossession, assimilation, and colonisation.     

Sovereignty,Risk and Biotechnology: Zambia's 2002 GM Controversy in Retrospect

The southern African food crisis of 2002 led to one of the most significant controversies over the use of genetically modified (GM) crops in the developing world to date. Zambia's staunch opposition to GM food aid during the crisis is still frequently used as a reference point in debates over GM seed technology in agricultural development, and the morality of advanced biotechnology. This article re‐examines the controversy and its contemporary relevance using oral history interviews with key scientists, policy makers and development practitioners engaged in debates and decision‐making processes in Zambia in 2002, alongside a review of discourses in the Zambian press. The author argues that, rather than different perceptions of health and environmental risks derived from GM crops, it was questions of sovereign regulatory control of technology in a context of diminished state capacity — and the decline in the Zambian state's capacity for agricultural science research in particular — that played a central role in shaping anti‐GM attitudes. In addition, trust in the arguments of GM advocates was diminished by communication efforts which treated Zambian scientists and policy elites as a lay rather than an expert audience.     

Unequal Knowledges in Jharkhand,India: De‐Romanticizing Women’s Agroecological Expertise

Taking the Jharkhand region of India as a case study, this article uses empirical data to intervene in ‘women, environment and development’ and ecofeminist debates regarding women’s environmental knowledge. The article first outlines the adoption of gender/environmental issues into development planning and considers the dangers of overestimating women’s agroecological knowledges and assuming that they can easily participate in development projects. It then highlights the local complexities of environmental knowledge possession and control with reference to gender and other variations in agricultural participation, decision‐making and knowledge transfers between villagers’ natal and marital places. Particular emphasis is placed on the economic, socio‐cultural and ‘actor’ related factors that supplement gender as an influence on task allocation, decision‐making, knowledge distribution and knowledge articulation. The article concludes that given the socio‐cultural constraints women face in accumulating and vocalizing environmental knowledge, simplistic participatory approaches are unlikely to empower them. Instead, more flexible, site‐specific development initiatives (coupled with wider structural change) are required if opportunities are to be created for women to develop and use their agroecological knowledges.     

Of Winds,Worms and Mana: the Traditional Calendar of the Torres Islands,Vanuatu

This paper explores how the expression of ‘capacity’ (mena, more commonly known as mana in other Oceanic settings) and the evocation of abundance are played out in relation to seasonal change and human‐environmental relations, as observed in the Torres Islands, Vanuatu. It considers the importance for communities of North and Central Vanuatu of the appearance of a ubiquitous sea worm known as the Palolo, in combination with the regular motions of the sun and the moon, the prevaling winds and various other ecological patterns. While human‐environmental relations are often mediated by the idea of mena, this also constitutes a basic social value that informs local senses of place and belonging. The study of temporality and environmental knowledge can help to de‐centre territorial notions of ‘place’ by situating this concept within the broader context in which people experience it. Finally, because these data bear on macro comparisons that span the Western Pacific, this article is aimed in part at putting the interpretation of time and calendrics within the Indo‐Pacific frame of reference that they should begin to take.