Doctoral Dissertation Research: Networks, Institutions, and Claims in a Complex Commons: The Long Island Sound

博士论文研究：复杂公域中的网络、机构和主张：长岛海峡

• 批准号: 0202159
• 负责人: Dianne Rocheleau
• 金额: $ 0.49万
• 依托单位: Clark University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-04-15 至 2004-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0202159&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Networks; Institutions

In a complex commons there are diverse stakeholders engaged in multiple, concurrent, and sometimes conflicting, uses of the same geographical arena. Governance of common pool resources often entails a complex, even messy, interplay of formal legal rules and informal de facto arrangements, creating institutional complexity. This doctoral dissertation research will examine how social actors secure rights to a common pool resource, and therefore, their livelihood, in the complex commons of the Long Island Sound estuary (LIS). The LIS is situated between the states of New York and Connecticut in the eastern United States. The lobster fishery of the LIS is the entry point for this inquiry due to its economic significance and current problems. The American lobster industry is one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States, and New York ranked third in domestic landings during the late 1990s. This fishery is subject to rising ecological uncertainty as evidenced by episodes of hypoxia, shell disease, and recently, environmental surprise in the form of acute, extensive mortality of lobster in portions of the LIS. The study will examine how social actors in the lobster fishery navigate the complex institutional environment of the Long Island Sound to secure entitlements to resources, expressed as the legitimate effective command of environmental goods and services. Social networks and institutions in de facto (informal and local) and de jure (formal and legal) arenas will be the focus of this investigation. The objectives of this project are (1) to determine the opportunities and constraints on resource access that emerge within a complex institutional landscape and (2) to ascertain the role of social networks with respect to entitlements within a complex commons. The environmental entitlements approach, a form of institutional analysis that examines the linkages among livelihood, environment, and institutions, provides the conceptual framework for this case study. Multiple types and sources of evidence will be engaged such as existing data including newspapers, landings data, environmental quality indicator maps, and event timelines; direct observation through fishers' and lobstermen's forums, and community visits; and key informant interviews with actors familiar with marine resource issues in the LIS. These will include lobstermen, cooperative extension agents, dealers, and representatives of state and federal regulatory agencies. In-depth interviews with lobstermen in three communities identified as important by key informants will follow. Convergence of multiple sources of evidence will provide the basis for a broader integrated analysis incorporating environmental analysis, livelihood analysis, and institutional analysis. Networks in communities will be mapped and incorporated into the livelihood analysis as a form of social capital. Analysis across the three community cases will be undertaken. The research will clarify the role of social networks and institutional complexity in enabling and constraining access to common pool resources. This study will examine social and institutional aspects of an economically valued common pool resource in a complex setting. The research process will facilitate the identification of elements and relationships considered necessary for pursing a livelihood in a complex commons. The project will contribute to current developments in common property resource research in three ways. First, complex commons occur at various scales (e.g., urban ports, regional water bodies, and the high seas) and the notion of a complex commons acknowledges this complexity in institutions and places common pool resource use within its broader social and ecological context. Second, there is an emerging focus on community heterogeneity, social interdependencies, communication, and daily practice in shaping use in the commons so institutions are also sites of social interaction, contest, and negotiation. This study will engage these concepts by examining social networks and inter-institutional relationships. Finally, the study will contribute to the further development of the environmental entitlements framework, applied initially in with community-based sustainability initiatives, by employing it as an integrated analysis in a developed North American setting. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.

在一个复杂的公地中，有不同的利益相关者参与同一地理竞技场的多个、并行的、有时甚至是相互冲突的使用。对共有资源的治理往往涉及正式法律规则和非正式事实安排的复杂、甚至杂乱无章的相互作用，造成体制复杂性。这篇博士论文研究将考察社会行为者如何在长岛海湾河口(LIS)的复杂公地上确保公共池塘资源的权利，从而确保他们的生计。LIS位于美国东部的纽约州和康涅狄格州之间。由于其经济意义和当前存在的问题，LIS的龙虾渔业是本次调查的切入点。美国龙虾产业是美国最有价值的渔业之一，在20世纪90年代末，纽约在国内上岸数量上排名第三。这一渔业受到越来越多的生态不确定性的影响，这一点从低氧、贝类疾病和最近的环境意外事件中可见一斑，在LIS的部分地区，龙虾以急性、广泛死亡的形式出现。该研究将审查龙虾渔业中的社会行为者如何驾驭长岛海峡复杂的体制环境，以确保对资源的应得权利，即对环境商品和服务的合法有效指挥。事实上(非正式和地方)和法律(正式和法律)领域的社会网络和机构将是本次调查的重点。该项目的目标是(1)确定在复杂的体制环境中出现的获取资源的机会和限制，以及(2)确定社会网络在复杂公地中的权利方面的作用。环境权利办法是一种制度分析形式，它审查生计、环境和体制之间的联系，为本案例研究提供了概念框架。将利用多种类型和来源的证据，如现有数据，包括报纸、上岸数据、环境质量指标图和事件时间表；通过渔民和捕龙虾人论坛进行直接观察和社区访问；以及与熟悉LIS海洋资源问题的行为者进行关键线人访谈。这些人将包括捕龙虾的人、合作推广代理商、经销商以及州和联邦监管机构的代表。随后将对被关键线人确定为重要的三个社区的捕龙虾渔民进行深入采访。多种证据来源的融合将为更广泛的综合分析提供基础，其中包括环境分析、生计分析和体制分析。将绘制社区网络地图，并将其作为社会资本的一种形式纳入生计分析。将对三个社区案例进行分析。这项研究将阐明社交网络和机构复杂性在促进和限制公共池资源的获取方面的作用。这项研究将考察复杂环境下具有经济价值的共用资源的社会和体制方面。研究过程将有助于确定被认为是在复杂的公地中谋生所必需的要素和关系。该项目将从三个方面促进目前共同财产资源研究的发展。首先，复杂公地以不同的规模出现(例如，城市港口、区域水体和公海)，复杂公地的概念承认机构的这种复杂性，并将公共池资源的使用置于其更广泛的社会和生态背景中。其次，社区异质性、社会相互依存性、沟通和日常实践在塑造公地的使用方面出现了新的关注，因此机构也是社交、竞争和谈判的场所。这项研究将通过考察社会网络和机构间关系来运用这些概念。最后，这项研究将有助于进一步发展最初应用于社区的环境权利框架，将其作为北美发达环境下的综合分析，以社区为基础的可持续性举措。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。