|
Abstract:
|
"Community-based management is increasingly viewed as the most appropriate arrangement for promoting sustainable development of natural resources. A common assumption is that the values of community members, often assumed to be homogeneous, foster successful outcomes. However, analysts often treat these values and their homogeneity as exogenous factors, ignoring the community's potential role in managing members' values. This study of community-based forest management in two southern Indiana sites examines how the members of the two communities created institutions to screen, maintain, and defend their values. Analysis reveals that different institutions shaped members' preferences and led to different levels of community stability, conflict management, and natural resource condition. We argue that understanding community-based management processes and outcomes requires careful attention to how institutions facilitate or hamper the construction of community members' values."
|