|
Abstract:
|
"For over a century, social theory--anthropology and economic theory, in particular--has been confronted with the resilience of economic and social systems of organization that do not fit the dominant paradigms of our times. The disappearance of these systems was anticipated as a natural evolution toward higher forms of modernity by powerful and influential paradigms (in the sense of Kuhn, 1972). A huge amount of theoretical activity has been devolved, since, to explaining why they have not disappeared as predicted and to finding the raison d'etre behind their very existence. It is argued here that most of this ex-post theorizing has been centered around models of social and economic behavior that could not provide the keys to the answers sought. This, in turn, has been detrimental to the field-grounded discovery of the distinct principles of rationality, which do explain how they exist, in themselves and for themselves. In a context marked out by the resurgence of theoretical interests for 'indigenous systems' and by significant endeavors to integrate institutional theories into practical devolution schemes, a revisiting of the ambiguous relationship between social theory and non-conventional socioeconomic systems may have considerable policy implications. As various schemes of community-based management are now being experimented around the world, countries of the Congo Basin--a forest are second only, in size, to the Amazon--are also getting together to define and implement decentralization and forestry reforms. In that process, the forms and extent of the devolution of forest management functions to the local bodies of the civil and rural societies have become a burning issue. The willingness to decentralize is met by an equal hesitation to do so, under the fear of granting too much space to customary tenure institutions and undermining State authority on the 'national' forest estate. Several recent contributions have highlighted the serious implementation problems faced by Cameroon's 1994 'community forests' reform--a pioneering initiative in Central Africa--and the risks of adverse selection and free riding related to its limited recognition of customary tenure institutions.
"This attitude toward indigenous systems has striking parallels in other resource management areas, particularly in agriculture and coastal fisheries. One aim of this paper is to see how, in recent history, social theories have fueled such a pattern. Faced with the resilience of 'non conventional systems', influential scientific paradigms have, indeed, 'rehabilitated' them, but only after an initial phase of negation or exclusion. In many cases, this 'rehabilitation' amounted to a normalization process through which these systems were in fact annexed to models which could not express their logic and practical efficiency (Diaw, 1994). This last moment of estrangement and theoretical annexation is critical, as it results in the alteration of the very principles that explain their resilience and, hence, their interest for the issue of sustainability. This contribution has, therefore, an anthropological content, an epistomological connotation and a policy reach. Drawing on years of field research in West African coastal fisheries and in the Cameroon-Gabon forest continuum in Central Africa, it strives to show the distinct principles of rationality, which animate non-conventional systems, with a particular focus on customary tenure institutions. By highlighting the nature of their dynamic coherence, it hopes to show their relevance to contemporary issues in natural resource management and sustainable development."
|