DDIG: Fluid Boundaries: Property, Conservation, and the Global in Andros Island, the Bahamas

研究生莎拉·怀斯（Sarah Wise）将研究人们如何在一个从区域管理的公地转变为国际管理的保护区的地区谈判有争议空间的所有权。2006年，大自然保护协会与其他保护组织合作，提议在巴哈马群岛的安德罗斯岛建立西区国家公园，将机构管理的规模从地方控制改为国家和国际管理。本研究将以语言为分析透镜，探讨当地居民如何理解、实践和谈论海洋资源的所有权和使用权。有三个中心目标：1）研究机构的出现，包括行为和法律的治理体系，2）记录人们如何参与和谈论根据不断变化的法律的和社会条件注定要保护的领域，以及3）调查人们如何使用语言来谈判所有权的想法。在为期12个月的实地研究中，研究人员将采用混合方法人种学方法，通过档案研究，参与者观察，访谈和参与性绘图来记录现有和新兴的海洋权属系统。以科学家、安德罗斯居民、环保主义者和政府官员为重点，研究人员将创建一个95人的抽样框架。半结构化访谈将被用来记录资源的使用，访问和所有权模式，决策过程，以及对WSNP的看法。该项目将扩大关于保护区保护的社会科学奖学金，并促进正在进行的关于环境决策对依赖这些资源的人的社会影响的辩论。这项研究的结果将适用于全球沿海社区，并将促进对话和更好地了解有关重要海洋资源的社会和环境系统之间的关系。

Graduate student Sarah Wise, supervised by Dr. Bonnie McCay, will examine how people negotiate ownership of contested space in a region undergoing change from a regionally-managed commons to an internationally-governed protected area. In 2006, The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with other conservation organizations, proposed the West Side National Park (WSNP) on Andros Island, The Bahamas, changing the scale of institutional management from local control to national and international governance. Using language as an analytical lens, this research will explore how residents understand, practice, and talk about ownership of and access to sea resources. There are three central objectives: 1) to examine the emergence of institutions, including behavioral and legal systems of governance, 2) to document how people engage with and talk about the area destined for protection in light of changing legal and social conditions, and 3) to investigate how people use language to negotiate ideas of ownership. During 12 months of field research, the researcher will employ a mixed-methods ethnographic approach to document existing and emerging marine tenure systems through archival research, participant observation, interviews, and participatory mapping. Focusing on scientists, Androsian residents, conservationists, and government officials, the researcher will create a sampling frame of 95 individuals. Semi-structured interviews will be used to document resource use, access and ownership patterns, decision-making processes, and the perceptions of the WSNP. This project will extend social science scholarship on protected area conservation and contribute to ongoing debates about the social effects of environmental decision-making on the very people relying on these resources. Results of this research will be applicable to coastal communities globally, and will facilitate dialogue and greater understanding of the relationships between social and environmental systems concerning important marine resources.