scholarly journals Emergent sustainability in open property regimes

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (51) ◽  
pp. 12859-12867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Moritz ◽  
Roy Behnke ◽  
Christine M. Beitl ◽  
Rebecca Bliege Bird ◽  
Rafael Morais Chiaravalloti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Common Pool ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Sustainable Resource Use ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Property Regimes

Current theoretical models of the commons assert that common-pool resources can only be managed sustainably with clearly defined boundaries around both communities and the resources that they use. In these theoretical models, open access inevitably leads to a tragedy of the commons. However, in many open-access systems, use of common-pool resources seems to be sustainable over the long term (i.e., current resource use does not threaten use of common-pool resources for future generations). Here, we outline the conditions that support sustainable resource use in open property regimes. We use the conceptual framework of complex adaptive systems to explain how processes within and couplings between human and natural systems can lead to the emergence of efficient, equitable, and sustainable resource use. We illustrate these dynamics in eight case studies of different social–ecological systems, including mobile pastoralism, marine and freshwater fisheries, swidden agriculture, and desert foraging. Our theoretical framework identifies eight conditions that are critical for the emergence of sustainable use of common-pool resources in open property regimes. In addition, we explain how changes in boundary conditions may push open property regimes to either common property regimes or a tragedy of the commons. Our theoretical model of emergent sustainability helps us to understand the diversity and dynamics of property regimes across a wide range of social–ecological systems and explains the enigma of open access without a tragedy. We recommend that policy interventions in such self-organizing systems should focus on managing the conditions that are critical for the emergence and persistence of sustainability.

scholarly journals The Different Meanings of Land in the Age of Neoliberalism: Theoretical Reflections on Commons and Resilience Grabbing from a Social Anthropological Perspective

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haller
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
The State ◽  
Common Pool ◽  
Land Acquisitions ◽  
The Commons

Recent debates in social anthropology on land acquisitions highlight the need to go further back in history in order to analyse their impacts on local livelihoods. The debate over the commons in economic and ecological anthropology helps us understand some of today’s dynamics by looking at precolonial common property institutions and the way they were transformed by Western colonization to state property and then, later in the age of neoliberalism, to privatization and open access. This paper focuses on Africa and refers to the work of critical scholars who show that traditional land tenure was misinterpreted as customary tenure without full property rights, while a broader literature on the commons shows that common-pool resources (pasture, fisheries, wildlife, forestry etc.) have been effectively managed by locally-developed common property institutions. This misinterpretation continues to function as a legacy in both juridical and popular senses. Moreover, the transformation of political systems and the notion of customary land tenure produced effects of central importance for today’s investment context. During colonial times a policy of indirect rule based on new elites was created to manage customary lands of so-called native groups who could use the land as long as it was of no value to the state. However, this land formally remained in the hands of the state, which also claimed to manage common-pool resources through state institutions. The neoliberal policies that are now demanded by donor agencies have had two consequences for land and land-related common-pool resources. On the one hand, states often lack the financial means to enforce their own natural resource legislation and this has led to de facto open access. On the other hand, land legally fragmented from its common-pool resources has been transformed from state to private property. This has enabled new elites and foreign investors to claim private property on formerly commonly-held land, which also leads to the loss of access to land related common-pool resources for more marginal local actors. Thus, the paper argues that this process does not just lead to land grabbing but to commons grabbing as well. This has furthermore undermined the resilience and adaptive capacity of local populations because access to common-pool resources is vital for the livelihoods of more marginal groups, especially in times of crisis. Comparative studies undertaken on floodplains in Botswana, Cameroon, Mali, Tanzania and Zambia based on a New Institutional Political Ecology (NIPE) approach illustrate this process and its impacts and show how institutional transformations are key to understanding the impacts of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA) and investments in Africa.

Systems theories

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc J. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Real World ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Effective Governance ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Real World Problem

This chapter covers systems theories relevant to understanding and working to enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems. Social-ecological systems contain natural resources, users of those resources, and the interactions between each. The theories in the chapter share lessons about how to build effective governance structures for common pool resources, how to facilitate the spread of worthwhile ideas across social networks, and how to promote collaboration for greater collective impacts than any one organization alone could achieve. Each theory is summarized succinctly and followed by guidance on how to apply it to real world problem solving.

Social-Ecological Systems in Local Fisheries Communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 304-314
Author(s):  
George O. Tsobanoglou ◽  
Eirini Ioanna Vlachopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Local Conservation ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Systems Framework

Even though the study of the commons has been expanding rapidly in the past years, and there have been multiple cases of successful local conservation initiatives, still, significant gaps in knowledge remain. The Social-Ecological Systems framework attempts to analyse the linkages between the “human system” (society) and the “natural system” (ecosystems). In every conservation attempt, the interactions and feedback between the two systems become evident. By examining thoroughly this relationship through the SES lens, we can develop a deep and holistic understanding of the processes that should be taken into consideration before the implementation of conservation actions. This study, through the exploration of the fisheries management procedures in Japan, attempts to develop an understanding of how the adoption of the Social-Ecological Systems approach could promote local development in the insular periphery of the developed world, in countries like Greece, where public participation in the decision-making processes is limited.

scholarly journals Open Access, Open Systems: Pastoral Management of Common-Pool Resources in the Chad Basin

Human Ecology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Moritz ◽  
Paul Scholte ◽  
Ian M. Hamilton ◽  
Saïdou Kari
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Common Pool ◽  
Pastoral Management

Social-Ecological Systems in Local Fisheries Communities

2017 ◽  
pp. 306-316
Author(s):  
George O. Tsobanoglou ◽  
Eirini Ioanna Vlachopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Local Conservation ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Systems Framework

Even though the study of the commons has been expanding rapidly in the past years, and there have been multiple cases of successful local conservation initiatives, still, significant gaps in knowledge remain. The Social-Ecological Systems framework attempts to analyse the linkages between the “human system” (society) and the “natural system” (ecosystems). In every conservation attempt, the interactions and feedback between the two systems become evident. By examining thoroughly this relationship through the SES lens, we can develop a deep and holistic understanding of the processes that should be taken into consideration before the implementation of conservation actions. This study, through the exploration of the fisheries management procedures in Japan, attempts to develop an understanding of how the adoption of the Social-Ecological Systems approach could promote local development in the insular periphery of the developed world, in countries like Greece, where public participation in the decision-making processes is limited.

scholarly journals Digging deeper into Hardin's pasture: the complex institutional structure of ‘the tragedy of the commons’

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL H. COLE ◽  
GRAHAM EPSTEIN ◽  
MICHAEL D. MCGINNIS
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Tragedy Of The Commons ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Contract Enforcement ◽  
Market Exchange ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Privately Owned

AbstractA revised application of Ostrom's (Ostrom, 2007) Social-Ecological System (SES) framework to Hardin's ‘tragedy of the commons’ (Hardin, G. (1968), Science, 162(3859): 1243–1248) demonstrates that its institutional structure is more complex than either Hardin or Ostrom had imagined. The ‘tragedy’ arises from several interacting resources and institutions. If the grass on the pasture was not subject to appropriation, the cattle were not privately owned, or property- and contract-enforcement institutions supporting market exchange were absent, then the ‘tragedy of the commons’ would not have arisen regardless of the open-access pasture. This paper highlights the utility of the SES framework and the care required to apply it precisely to specific social-ecological situations.

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