Social Science and Conservation in Madagascar

Abstract

"Social science research in Madagascar is like that anywhere on this planet. It involves scholars asking questions about society in all its complexity, and through some structured mode of rational enquiry (be it theoretical, quantitative, experiential, descriptive, or other). Scholars from within and outside Madagascar have over the past century contributed to a solid body of research investigating Malagasy society, including its interactions with the plants, animals, soils, and waters around it. Since the late 1980s, the environment, and in particular nature conservation, have been an important (at times even dominant) focus for foreign - funded projects and institutions. Unsurprisingly, as a result, a sizeable portion of recent social science research has focused on protected areas, forests, and their peripheries."