|
|
|
PDF
|
|
Type:
|
Journal Article |
|
Author:
|
Crona, Beatrice; Bodin, Örjan |
|
Journal:
|
Ecology and Society |
|
Volume:
|
15 |
|
Page(s):
|
|
|
Date:
|
2010 |
|
URI:
|
https://hdl.handle.net/10535/7431
|
|
Sector:
|
Fisheries
Social Organization |
|
Region:
|
Africa |
|
Subject(s):
|
co-management
governance and politics
ecology
local knowledge
natural resources
social organization
|
|
Abstract:
|
"Both global and local environmental problems call for the transformation of many
contemporary and unsustainable governance approaches. Therefore, recent interest has sprung up around
factors that facilitate and hinder societies from transforming governance of natural resources. Using a
social-network approach, we study links between informal power structures and knowledge sharing and
consensus building. We examine how this interaction may have affected the (in)ability of a community to
move from open-access to some form of collective action for resource management. Individuals occupying
central positions in a knowledge network can be instrumental in determining which knowledge and
interpretation of ecological signals is most dominant. If the same individuals are also influential in other
areas, they are highly likely to become opinion leaders. We use this notion of opinion leaders to frame our
study. The study is set in a rural fishing community in East Africa where access to fishing equipment is of
utmost importance for generating household income, but such gear ownership is not evenly distributed in
the village. Hence, we use gear-exchange networks to explore power. Our results show a clear and strong
relationship between centrality in the knowledge network and in-degree centrality (reflecting gear-lending
capacity) in the gear-exchange network, supporting the idea that opinion leaders exist. We also indicate
that a majority of these potential opinion leaders demonstrate little recognition of declining fisheries. We
relate our findings to existing theories of influence and governance transformability at the community level,
and explore ideas about how social networks can help identify potential change agents in communities
experiencing inertia with respect to collective action for improved resource management."
|