International Research Fellowship Program: Communication and the Politics of Participation in Pastoral Societies: An Ethno-Geographical Analysis in East Africa

0602034戈德曼国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9至24个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持玛拉·戈德曼博士与肯尼亚内罗毕国际牲畜研究所的罗宾·里德博士合作的为期18个月的研究奖学金。该项目的目标是1)阐明牧区社区中非正式和正式交流网络/过程的特殊社会、文化和地理元素；它们是如何组织、维护、管理和变化的；以及它们如何在不同的规模和环境中促进和/或限制信息流动；以及2)调查跨地区社会网络、不断变化的社会规范和牧民使用的特定沟通策略如何与不平衡的权力关系相互作用，以限制或促进由不同团体，包括牧民组织(PNGO)提出的参与式保护发展项目中的沟通。PI假设，牧民社会常见的复杂、跨地区的社会网络对内部交流和参与性保护/发展项目的互动/参与既有有利的影响，也有制约的影响。了解牧区地理位置如何影响牧区通信系统--在内部、与牧区非政府组织以及与非牧区相关群体、在多个尺度上--是改善牧场养护/发展项目中的通信的关键。她将通过一项比较分析来验证这一假设，该比较分析产生了在相当受控的环境中(横跨肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚的四个马赛地点)牧区沟通过程的地理、人种学和访谈数据。数据将说明1)协调日常和更正式的(会议)交流的内部沟通动态；2)可促进区域共同管理保护的(正式和非正式)网络的地理和社会组织；3)文化规范、沟通机制、社会网络和权力关系在“参与性”保护/发展项目中与外部机构互动的方式(便利和制约方式)。肯尼亚拥有大量的牧民，日益成为土地利用/保护研究的重点。国际牧民研究所处于牧场相关研究的前沿，拥有完善的研究人员网络，与社区领袖建立了关系，并在该项目的四个比较研究地点进行着研究。研究结果将扩大我们对参与式保护/发展过程中不同地理范围和政治背景下的沟通动态和权力关系的了解。

0602034GoldmanThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support an eighteen-month research fellowship by Dr. Mara Goldman to work with Dr. Robin Reid at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.The objective of this project is 1) to illuminate the particular social, cultural and geographical elements which characterize informal and formal communication networks/processes in pastoral communities; how they are organized, maintained, governed, and changing; and how they facilitate and/or constrain information flow in different scales and circumstances; and 2) to investigate the ways in which translocal social networks, changing social norms, and particular communication strategies used by pastoralists interact with uneven power relations to constrain or facilitate communication in participatory conservation development projects, as introduced by different groups, including Pastoralist Organizations (PNGOs). The PI hypothesizes that the complex, trans-local social networks common to pastoralist societies have both beneficial and constraining influences on internal communication and on interactions/ involvement in participatory conservation/development projects. Understanding how pastoral geographies affect pastoral communication systems - internally, with pastoral NGOs, and with non-pastoral related groups, at multiple scales - is key to improving communication in rangeland conservation/development projects. She will test the hypothesis through a comparative analysis producing geographic, ethnographic and interview data on pastoral communication processes within a fairly controlled setting (across four Maasai sites spanning Kenya and Tanzania). Data will illustrate 1) internal communication dynamics mediating everyday and more formal (meeting) exchanges; 2) the geographic, and social organization of (formal and informal) networks which could facilitate regional co-management conservation; and 3) the ways in which cultural norms, communication mechanisms, social networks, and power relations interact with external agencies in'participatory' conservation/development projects (in both faciliatory and constraining ways). Kenya is home to a large pastoral population, increasingly the growing focus of land-use/conservation-based research. ILRI is at the forefront of pastoral-related research with a well-established network of researchers, relationships with community leaders, and ongoing research in the four comparison study sites for the project. The research findings will expand our knowledge of communication dynamics and power-relations across different geographic scales and political contexts in participatory conservation/development processes.