Studying collective action and commons, Part 2: From Ryan T. Conway: At the Workshop, were often warned that there are no panaceas, which is to say that theres no one size fits all solution for problematic situations and no one, final model for the social world, since behaviors and circumstances are constantly changing. Our job, as researchers, is to continually update our models of the social world so that we can explain it more accurately and, hopefully, offer helpful insights to anyone faced with tough choices in a complex, social world. This is important, not just as a practice, but as a way of thinking. Specifically, a way of thinking about how everyday people bring some order to their ever-changing activities. For example: to devise and apply strategies of how best to use the resources around us is to practice economy with the least ideological baggage in-tow. Every kind of economy[3] - whether its an international capitalist market, a centrally planned national system of production and exchange, or a neighborhood bartering community - comes with its own understanding of the world and notion of whats best. Hence, when a group of people settles on some common assumptions about the world, like how an economy should operate, things become more orderly. Even better, once they have such a common model of the world, they then can try to clarify specific items, attributes, and relationships that exist, adding even more layers of order. But whats a model of the world without the people in it?[4] Adding ourselves into the equation requires an act of self-reflection in which we must acknowledge that our rational, intentional, and meaning-making abilities all conspire to help us - and our future generations - to survive. Here, though, is where problems can arise: when everyone in a situation seeks to use available resources individually, the benefits dont always add-up for the group as a whole and can, instead, hurt everyone. This happens when people cant agree on a story about whats going on, or on ideas of what should be done about it. When we have a problem coordinating our ideas, we often have a problem cooperating. We call this kind of situation a social dilemma. One of the nastier social dilemmas is the tragedy of the commons. The commons could be any type of resource that has uncertain property rights, but much of Lins work has revolved around resources such as land, water, etc. that communities use to sustain their livelihood. These kinds of resources - like fisheries or irrigation systems - are often common pool resources (CPRs), which means that they are limited resources that are hard to manage with property rights. The tragedy occurs when a community shares such a resource but has not come to a common understanding about self-restraint or collective management; sadly, then, the resource can be over-used and possibly destroyed. The classic example is an open field shared by all the folk in some pastoralist town. Their flocks are their survival, so, individually, it makes sense to graze them as much as possible. Its unfortunate that this damages the field, each shepherd might suppose, but this would happen anyway. If I dont overgraze, someone else will, making me a sucker and threatening my livelihood. For a long time, many researchers and policymakers believed that the only way to avoid tragedy was to privatize the commons or place them under government control. But Lin wasnt convinced: she saw something else was going on. In fact, she had a fairly radical idea that broke with conventional wisdom: the survival of communities resources does not depend upon the state to make laws and impose punishments, nor does it depend on assigning a dollar value to every fish, chunk of grass, or drop of water. Rather, people, when they come together, can share understandings and manage their resources by enforcing norms and rules of their own design! The unconventional idea in many quarters was that people could cooperate beyond markets and states.[5] geo.coop/node/650
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 08:36:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015