Doctoral Dissertation Research: Collaborative Institutional Ethnography of the WWF Arctic Network Initiative

本研究探讨了社会和文化对北极跨国保护实践的影响。具体而言，本研究的目的是了解世界自然基金会北极网络倡议（NI）的背景下，影响北极保护的社会和文化进程。作为保护工作的重点，北极尤为重要，因为该地区面临的许多保护威胁都不是来自北极：全球气候变化，污染积累，航运增加的风险，过度捕捞和资源开采，仅举几例。因此，世界自然基金会的政策工作的影响远远超出了北方纬度。组织文化在世界自然基金会北极国家机构的决策过程中扮演什么角色？在世界自然基金会北极国家机构内，什么制度安排对个人最重要？社交网络（北极圈内外）如何影响北极圈内的进程？通过研究北极国家研究所的政策制定和实地实践，研究者希望获得对北极保护和跨国保护非政府组织社会动态的重要见解。北极研究将在美国（阿拉斯加），挪威，加拿大以及世界自然基金会集中精力的国际会议和会议上进行，以及与世界自然基金会密切合作的团体和个人。 研究问题将通过民族志研究解决，包括访谈，参与者观察，文本分析和档案研究。 研究方法借鉴了机构民族志，网络分析和合作策略。 网络效应和多个可能分离的机构的影响尤其突出，因为WWF已经转向了明确的网络化治理形式。与此同时，世界自然基金会对自己的机构文化的兴趣与组织研究人员相似？ 研究组织内的整合和分散。 跨国保护组织已成为制定保护政策和治理的关键场所。了解保护作为一个复杂的跨国网络的产品，涉及跨多个尺度的政治问题是很重要的了解保护的结果，以及保护计划的无意影响。以前对保护组织的人类学研究经常被外界视为批评，关闭了可能的合作和未来参与的大门。本研究旨在从一个主要的保护组织内部进行研究，以促进正在进行的辩论，同时保持社会科学家和保护实践者之间的建设性接触。更广泛地说，这项研究将传统的人类学结构和代理研究带入组织研究。因此，这项研究在人类学和组织研究中都具有重要意义。特别是国际项目和全球保护的多地点研究。

This research examines social and cultural influences on transnational conservation practice in the Arctic. Specifically, the objective of this research is to understand the social and cultural processes that influence Arctic conservation in the context of the WWF Arctic Network Initiative (NI). As a focus for conservation efforts, the Arctic is especially important because so many conservation threats to the region are non-Arctic in origin: global climate change, accumulation of pollution, risks from increased shipping, overfishing, and resource extraction, to name a few. WWF's policy work thus has effects far beyond the northern latitudes. What is the role of organizational culture in decision making processes within the WWF Arctic NI? What institutional arrangements are most important for individuals within the WWF Arctic NI? How do social networks (both within and outside the Arctic NI) influence processes within the NI? By researching both policy development and field practice within the Arctic NI, the investigator hopes to gain important insights into both Arctic conservation and the social dynamics of a multinational conservation NGO.Circumpolar research will be carried out in the US (Alaska), Norway, Canada, and in international meetings and conferences where WWF concentrates its efforts, as well as with groups and individuals working in close association with WWF. Research questions will be addressed through ethnographic study including interviews, participant observation, text analysis, and archival research. The research methodology draws on institutional ethnography, network analysis, and collaborative strategies. Network effects and the influence of multiple, possibly disjunct institutions are especially salient given that WWF has shifted toward an explicitly networked form of governance. At the same time, WWF's interest in their own institutional culture parallels organizational researchers? studies of integration and fragmentation within organizations. Transnational conservation organizations have emerged as key sites for the development of conservation policy and governance. Understanding conservation as a product of complex transnational networks involving political concerns across multiple scales is important for understanding conservation outcomes as well as the unintentional effects of conservation programs. Previous anthropological studies of conservation organizations have often been seen as criticism by outsiders, closing doors to possible collaborations and future engagement. This research aims to study from within a major conservation organization in a way that will contribute to ongoing debates while maintaining constructive engagement between social scientists and conservation practitioners. More broadly, this research brings traditional anthropological studies of structure and agency into organizational research. As such, this research is significant within both anthropology and organizational studies?particularly multi-sited studies of international programs and global conservation.