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PDF
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Type:
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Conference Paper |
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Author:
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Epstein, Graham; Bennett, Abigail; Gruby, Rebecca; Acton, Leslie; Nenadovic, Mateja |
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Conference:
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Workshop on the Ostrom Workshop 5 |
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Location:
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Indiana University, Bloomington |
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Conf. Date:
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June 18-21, 2014 |
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Date:
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2014 |
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URI:
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https://hdl.handle.net/10535/9401
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Sector:
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General & Multiple Resources |
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Region:
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Subject(s):
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social-ecological systems
institutional analysis
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Abstract:
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"A long-standing divide exists among social scientists regarding power and its effects on the
sustainability of social-ecological systems (SESs). In some disciplines, such as political ecology,
power is given a place of prominence and seen as having a significant impact on socialecological
processes and outcomes. In contrast commons theory, a new institutionalist strand of
environmental research, deliberately sidelines power to focus on the relationship between
institutions and sustainability. Historically, there has been little constructive interaction between
these power-centered and institution-centered approaches. Therefore we apply the SES
framework, a tool explicitly designed to confront interdisciplinary puzzles, to ask whether it can
be used to bridge the gap between these two traditions of social-ecological research. The chapter
outlines a systematic approach to integrate diverse conceptualizations of power with the SES
framework and then applies this to study the relationship between power and social-ecological
outcomes. The analysis suggests that the SES framework is a promising tool for social science
integration, but also that important questions remain concerning the validity of classifications,
measurement, and statistical tests. We conclude with a call for greater interdisciplinary attention
to questions of power with the SES framework to better understand its normative and positive
implications for sustainable and equitable governance of SESs."
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