A Q-Method Analysis of Environmental Governance in Brazil's Northeastern Soy Belt

由于预计到2050年全球谷物产量将翻一番，用于现代农业的土地预计将在全球增加，特别是在发展中国家。巴西塞拉多是一个覆盖巴西近四分之一的热带草原生态区，预计将成为帮助满足这一增长需求的关键地区。国家官员、私人实体和非政府组织正在参与复杂的管理任务，减少或稳定因耕地扩大而产生的负面环境后果。这一研究项目将从经验上确定巴西大豆产区参与环境治理的关键行为者的共同和不同信念。对巴伊亚州西部地区研究区域的初步研究定性地确定了农民与环保主义者之间的环境辩论的性质和范围。此外，还对遥感卫星图像进行了初步研究，以量化1980年至2005年期间土地覆盖和土地利用的变化。研究人员将使用Q方法，这是一种密集和定量的技术，受访者(m个人)将陈述(n个测试)排序为从“最不同意”到“最同意”的准正态分布。声明将侧重于组织、政策、环境和环境变化的根本原因。答复者将包括政府(联邦、州和市政各级)和民间社会组织(环境和农业)的代表。相关分析和因子分析将对受访者的回答或“分类”进行。这一分析有望揭示理想的话语或信仰类型。在后续访谈中，研究人员将要求受访者解释和解释因子分析得出的理想类型。该项目将为全球重要农业生产国巴西的现代农业部门的环境治理性质以及更广泛的环境治理提供新的见解。可能会出现意想不到的一致和冲突领域，这可能有助于推进研究区域的环境治理。这项研究还将探索Q方法在理解国家和非国家行为者在环境治理中的作用方面的有用性。

Land devoted to modern agriculture is expected to increase globally, especially in developing countries, as a result of the predicted doubling of global cereal production by 2050. The Brazilian Cerrado, a savanna ecoregion covering nearly one-fourth of Brazil, is expected to be a key region helping to meet this increased demand. State officials, private entities, and non-governmental organizations are participating in the complex management tasks of reducing or stabilizing the negative environmental consequences that will result from cropland expansion. This research project will determine empirically the shared and divergent beliefs of key actors engaged in environmental governance in a region of Brazil's soy belt. Preliminary research in the study region in the western region of Bahia state has determined qualitatively the nature and scope of an environmental debate pitting farmers against environmentalists. In addition, preliminary studies have been conducted on remotely sensed satellite imagery to quantify land-cover and land-use changes from 1980 to 2005. The investigator will use the Q-method, which is an intensive and quantitative technique in which respondents (m individuals) sort statements (n tests) into a quasi-normal distribution ranging from "most disagree" to "most agree." Statements will focus on organizations, policies, the environment, and underlying causes of environmental change. Respondents will include representatives of government (federal, state, and municipal levels) and civil society organizations (environment and agriculture). Correlation and factor analysis will be performed on the responses or "sorts" of respondents. This analysis is expected to reveal ideal types of discourses or beliefs. In follow-up interviews, the researcher will ask respondents to explain and interpret the ideal types resulting from factor analysis.This project will provide new insights into the nature of environmental governance in the modern agricultural sector of a globally important agricultural producer, Brazil, and into environmental governance more broadly. Unexpected areas of agreement and conflict may be revealed, which may help advance environmental governance in the study region. The research will also explore the usefulness of the Q-method in understanding the role of state and non-state actors in environmental governance.