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

本研究考察了社会和文化对北极跨国保护实践的影响。具体来说，本研究的目的是了解在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，北极地区尤为重要，因为该地区面临的许多保护威胁都来自北极以外的地区：全球气候变化、污染积累、航运增加带来的风险、过度捕捞和资源开采，等等。因此，世界自然基金会的政策工作的影响远远超出了北纬地区。组织文化在世界自然基金会北极分会的决策过程中扮演什么角色？对于世界自然基金会北极地区的个人来说，哪些制度安排是最重要的？社会网络（包括北极NI内部和外部）如何影响NI内部的进程？通过研究北极国家研究所的政策制定和实地实践，研究者希望获得关于北极保护和跨国保护非政府组织社会动态的重要见解。环极研究将在美国（阿拉斯加）、挪威、加拿大、世界自然基金会集中力量的国际会议以及与世界自然基金会密切合作的团体和个人进行。研究问题将通过人种学研究解决，包括访谈、参与观察、文本分析和档案研究。研究方法借鉴了制度人种学、网络分析和合作策略。鉴于世界自然基金会已转向明确的网络化治理形式，网络效应和多个可能脱节的机构的影响尤为突出。与此同时，世界自然基金会对自身机构文化的兴趣与组织研究人员的兴趣是一致的。组织内部整合和分裂的研究。跨国保护组织已成为保护政策和治理发展的关键场所。将保护理解为涉及多个尺度的政治问题的复杂跨国网络的产物，对于理解保护结果以及保护计划的无意影响非常重要。以前对保护组织的人类学研究经常被外人视为批评，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，以一种有助于持续辩论的方式，同时保持社会科学家和保护实践者之间的建设性参与。更广泛地说，这一研究将传统的人类学结构和代理研究带入了组织研究。因此，这项研究在人类学和组织研究中都很重要。特别是对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.