Collective identity and resilience in the management of common pool resources

Abstract

Effective management of common pool resources through collective action is dependent upon the efforts of the resources users to establish an identity that is held collectively. It is widely accepted that the term common pool resources implies a resource that is common to a 'pool' of people, the resource users. Their interests in the resource connect users and potential users, and we propose that the more strongly they identify with the resources and commit to act collectively, the stronger the collective action. Achieving sustainable use of common pool resources is thus determined by the interplay between collective identity and collective action. But collective identity as defined by the resource and its users is dynamic, making the identity vulnerable in directing the behaviour of users. In this paper, we draw on collective identity and resilience theories to develop a framework for exploring the role of collective identity in understanding collective action in the management of common pool resources. We suggest that two key attributes of collective identity -identification and affective commitment, provide the premise for interpreting, tracking and directing change in collective identity. We interpret how the interactions between the two attributes contribute to resilience of common pool resources as complex social-ecological systems.

Gazing at the Crystal Ball: Predicting the Future of Marine Protected Areas Through Voluntary Commitments

“…Resilience is understood as a key organizing and framing concept that shapes a systems ability to respond to external stresses, and it is a concept widely deployed in adaptation science, ecological science, and common pool resource management theory (e.g., Holling, 1973;Tompkins and Adger, 2004;Mosimane et al, 2012). But what kinds of resilience are being discussed in voluntary commitments?…”

Paradigms for water allocation in river basins: a society-science-practice perspective from Southern Africa

“…While complexity arising from interacting variables and processes within the ecosystem component has received significant scholarly attention in water resource management literature (Holling, 1986;Solé & Bascompte, 2006;Walker & Salt, 2012), translation into basin management has not been significant (Cote & Nightingale, 2012). We assert that this can be partly attributed to inadequate attention given to complexity arising from variables in the social system component, such as trust and commitment, that result in dynamic change of social relationships (Nkhata et al, 2008;Mosimane et al, 2012;Chaffin et al, 2014;van-Wyk et al, 2014). As actors interact with each other to express, negotiate and agree on water allocation trade-offs, these interactions over a period of time result in the development of relationships that are mediated by variables such as trust, commitment and collective identity among others (Nkhata et al, 2008;Mosimane et al, 2012;van-Wyk et al, 2014).…”

Collective action and symbolic capital in the artisanal fisheries: An analysis of the Local Food Systems of Reloncaví Estuary (Los Lagos), Chile

“…More recently, attention has started to focus on the importance of collective identity in the sustainability of forms of action and long term governance relating to common materials (Araral Jr, 2009;Meinzen-Dick et al, 2004). These works offer dynamic understanding of how communities organise themselves, and how their collective identities are transformed according to the changing realities of common material resources (Mosimane et al, 2012). Nevertheless, an important conclusion is that the different forms of organisation and production of material goods are based on common local immaterial knowledge which is hard to replicate: implicit, informal practical knowledge, artisanal know-how, networks of contacts, information, cooperation, exchange of favours, etc.…”