Balancing the Commons in Switzerland outlines continuity and change in the management of common-pool resources such as pastures and forests in Switzerland. The book focuses on the differences and similarities between local institutions (rules and regulations) and forms of commoners' organisations (corporations of citizens and corporations) which have managed common property for several centuries and have shaped the cultural landscapes of Switzerland. At the core of the book are five case studies from the German, French and Italian speaking regions of Switzerland. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages and focusing on the transformative periods in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it traces the internal and external political, economic and societal changes and examines what impact these changes had on commoners. It goes beyond the work of Robert Netting and Elinor Ostrom, who discussed Swiss commons as a unique case of robustness, by analysing how local commoners reacted to, but also shaped, changes by adapting and transforming common property institutions. Thus, the volume highlights how institutional changes in the management of the commons at the local level are embedded in the public policies of the respective cantons, and the state, which generates a high heterogeneity and an actual laboratory situation. It shows the power relations and very different routes that local collective organisations and their members have followed in order to cope with the loss of value of the commons and the increased workload for maintaining common property management. Providing insightful case studies of commons management, this volume delivers theoretical contributions and lessons to be learned for the commons worldwide. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the commons, natural resource management and agricultural development.

deals with contemporary challenges and new developments in the dryland regions of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia interlinked topics and dimensions are explored in this book, following an introduction and an historical chapter that focuses on pre-colonial contexts and colonial legacies The experiences and agency of dryland people in the face of change will also be explored in unexpected spaces of contestation and innovation that have hitherto remained understudied This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of natural resource management, land and resource grabbing, natural resource conflicts, political ecology and sustainable development.

Balancing the Commons in Switzerland outlines continuity and change in the management of common-pool resources such as pastures and forests in Switzerland. The book focuses on the differences and similarities between local institutions (rules and regulations) and forms of commoners' organisations (corporations of citizens and corporations) which have managed common property for several centuries and have shaped the cultural landscapes of Switzerland. At the core of the book are five case studies from the German, French and Italian speaking regions of Switzerland. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages and focusing on the transformative periods in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it traces the internal and external political, economic and societal changes and examines what impact these changes had on commoners. It goes beyond the work of Robert Netting and Elinor Ostrom, who discussed Swiss commons as a unique case of robustness, by analysing how local commoners reacted to, but also shaped, changes by adapting and transforming common property institutions. Thus, the volume highlights how institutional changes in the management of the commons at the local level are embedded in the public policies of the respective cantons, and the state, which generates a high heterogeneity and an actual laboratory situation. It shows the power relations and very different routes that local collective organisations and their members have followed in order to cope with the loss of value of the commons and the increased workload for maintaining common property management. Providing insightful case studies of commons management, this volume delivers theoretical contributions and lessons to be learned for the commons worldwide. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the commons, natural resource management and agricultural development.

This volume focuses on how, in Europe, the debate on the commons is discussed in regard to historical and contemporary dimensions, critically referencing the work of Elinor Ostrom. It also explores from the perspective of new institutional political ecology (NIPE) how Europe directly and indirectly affected and affects the commons globally. Most of the research on the management of commons pool resources is limited to dealing with one of two topics: either the interaction between local participatory governance and development of institutions for commons management, or a political- economy approach that focuses on global change as it is related to the increasingly globalised expansion of capitalist modes of production, consumption and societal reproduction. This volume bridges the two, addressing how global players affect the commons worldwide and how they relate to responses emerging from within the commons in a global- local (glocal) world. Authors from a range of academic disciplines present research findings on recent developments on the commons, including: historical insights; new innovations for participatory institutions building in Europe or several types of commons grabbing, especially in Africa related to European investments; and restrictions on the management of commons at the international level. European case studies are included, providing interesting examples of local participation in commons resource management, while simultaneously showing Europe as a centre for globalized capitalism and its norms and values, affecting the rest of the world, particularly developing countries. This book will be of interest to students and researchers from a wide range of disciplines including natural resource management, environmental governance, political geography and environmental history.

This book is a result of the Defragmenting African Resources Management (DARMA) Project. Lake Kariba - located along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe - and its environs are a complex transboundary ecosystem with multiple, competing, and often contested resource uses. The book describes the current sectoral approach to natural resource management, the interconnections, and the need to adopt an ecosystem approach. It will be essential reading for students, researchers, academics, and managers in the environmental and natural resources sectors interested in advancing the ecosystems approach to the management of commons in general, and Southern Africa in particular. (Series: Defragmenting African Resource Management (DARMA) - Vol. 2)

Intercultural, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research interfaces confront researchers with considerable challenges. Towards Shared Research portrays how scholars from different disciplinary and geographical origins and at various academic career stages strive for a more inclusive and better understanding of knowledge about African environments. The book is addressed to researchers, facilitators, and policy-makers to make a case for participatory and integrative approaches resulting in systemic and co-created analyses.

Bachelorarbeit aus dem Jahr 2013 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Thema: Globalisierung, pol. Okonomie, Note: 3,0, Freie Universitat Berlin (Otto-Suhr-Institut), Veranstaltung: Theorien der Internationalen Politischen Okonomie (Hauptseminar), Sprache: Deutsch, Anmerkungen: Meine Bachelorarbeit bezieht sich auf eine Seminarsitzung aus einem Hauptseminar fur Masterstudenten mit dem Titel: Theorien der Internationalen Politischen Okonomie (Hauptseminar). Benotung: - Erstgutachter: 3.3 - Zweitgutachter: 2.7, Abstract: Regulation findet in unserem Sprachgebrauch mehrere Bedeutungen: Einstellen, Normierung, Nachstellen und viele mehr. Die Verwendungen fur den Begriff sind vieldeutig und bezeichnen Regulation als Schnitt- und Schaltzentrale bestehender Verhaltnisse, die aufgrund von unterschiedlichen Krafteverhaltnissen einer standigen Transformation unterzogen sind. Lassen wir uns dies anhand eines einfachen Beispiels erklaren: In einem Spiel treten zwei Mannschaften gegeneinander an. Beide Mannschaften sind an Regeln gebunden, damit das Spiel nicht durch beliebige Entscheidungen der jeweiligen Mannschaft in ein ungleiches Verhaltnis treten kann. Ein Schiedsrichter hat die Aufgabe sicherzustellen, dass beide Mannschaften diese Regeln befolgen und kann unrechtmassiges Verhalten sanktionieren. Mittels seiner Entscheidungen tragt ein Schiedsrichter zu einem nahezu reibungslosen Ablauf des Spiels bei. Unterschiedliche Krafteverhaltnisse kann ein Schiedsrichter nicht beeinflussen, aber zugunsten beider Mannschaften beurteilen und durch Entscheidungen nachstellen, einstellen und normieren. Dabei treten im Laufe eines Spiels beide Mannschaften in ein Abhangigkeitsverhaltnis, das durch einen Schiedsrichter beobachtet und notfalls, bedingt durch aussere Einflusse, abgebrochen wird. Institutionen tragen dazu bei, dass solche Spiele ausgetragen werden und beteiligen sich in Form von Eingliederung in hohere Bundnisse daran, dass der Transfer- und Wissensaustaus

The Contested Floodplain tells the story of institutional changes in the management of common pool resources (pasture, wildlife, and fisheries) among Ila and Balundwe agro-pastoralists and Batwa fishermen in the Kafue Flats, in southern Zambia. It explains how and why a once rich floodplain area, managed under local common property regimes, becomes a poor man's place and a degraded resource area. Based on social anthropological field research, the book explains how well working institutions in the past, regulating communal access to resources, have turned into state property and open access or privatization. As a basis for analysis, the author uses Elinor Ostrom's design principles for well working institutions and the approach of the New Institutionalism by Jean Ensminger. The latter approach focuses on external factors and change in relative prices. It explains how local actors face changing bargaining power and use different ideologies to legitimize and shape resource use regulations. The study focuses on the historic developments taking place since pre-colonial and colonial times up to today. Haller shows how the commons had been well regulated by local institutions in the past, often embedded in religious belief systems. He then explains the transformation from common property to state property since colonial times. When the state is unable to provide well functioning institutions due to a lack in financial income, it contributes to de facto open access and degradation of the commons. The Zambian copper-based economy has faced crisis since 1975, and many Zambians have to look for economic alternatives and find ways to profit from the lack of state control (a paradox of the present-absent state). And while the state is absent, external actors use the ideology of citizenship to justify free use of resources during conflicts with local people. Also within Zambian communities, floodplain resources are highly contested, which is illustrated through conflicts over a proposed irrigation scheme in the area. The different actors and interest groups use ideologies such as citizenship vs. being indigenous, ethnic identity vs. class conflict, and modernity vs traditional way of life to legitimize land claims.