TY - JOUR
T1 - Helping to self-help? External interventions to stimulate local collective action in Joint Forest Mangement, Maharashtra, India
AU - Barnes, C.A.
AU - van Laerhoven, F.S.J.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - The governance of community forests requires that resource appropriators overcome collective action dilemmas. Often, forest communities appear unable to do this. External actors then present themselves to help. Inducing the organization of communities through external actors is common practice in development efforts in general, and in community forestry programs, in particular. Does external-agent involvement affect the likelihood of durable collective action at the local level? We apply criteria associated with durable collective action to six communities in Maharashtra, India, with varying levels of external-actor involvement in the organization of Joint Forest Management committees. Our results show that although there is a (weak) correlation between external-agent involvement and expected durability of local collective action, such interventions do not appear to straightforwardly lead to the emergence of durable forms of collective action in communities where it didn't previously exist.
AB - The governance of community forests requires that resource appropriators overcome collective action dilemmas. Often, forest communities appear unable to do this. External actors then present themselves to help. Inducing the organization of communities through external actors is common practice in development efforts in general, and in community forestry programs, in particular. Does external-agent involvement affect the likelihood of durable collective action at the local level? We apply criteria associated with durable collective action to six communities in Maharashtra, India, with varying levels of external-actor involvement in the organization of Joint Forest Management committees. Our results show that although there is a (weak) correlation between external-agent involvement and expected durability of local collective action, such interventions do not appear to straightforwardly lead to the emergence of durable forms of collective action in communities where it didn't previously exist.
U2 - 10.1505/146554813805927246
DO - 10.1505/146554813805927246
M3 - Article
SN - 1465-5489
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - The international forestry review
JF - The international forestry review
IS - 1
ER -