Approaching facilitated self-‐governance of the forest commons? PDF
Preview Approaching facilitated self-‐governance of the forest commons?
Approaching facilitated self-‐governance of the forest commons? On the roles of external actors in community forest management in India Clare Barnes Cover design by Wayne Robson Printed by Gildeprint ISBN 978-‐94-‐6233-‐692-‐6 Approaching facilitated self-‐governance of the forest commons? On the roles of external actors in community forest management in India Gefaciliteerd zelf-‐beheer van de 'commons'? De rol van externe actoren bij gemeenschappelijk bosbeheer in India (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. G.J. van der Zwaan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 18 september 2017 des middags te 12.45 uur door Clare Alexandra Barnes geboren op 2 oktober 1980 te Halifax, Verenigd Koningrijk Promotor: Prof. dr. P.P.J. Driessen Copromotor: Dr. F.S.J. van Laerhoven TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgements 9 List of Abbreviations 13 1. Introduction 15 1.1 Background 15 1.2 Problem statement and dissertation objective 18 1.3 Community Forest Management 19 1.4 External actor involvement in Community Forest Management 21 1.5 Analysing CFM and external actor involvement through a CPR lens 22 1.6 International Development (ID) literature 28 1.7 Critical Institutionalism (CI) literature 30 1.8 Approach to answering the central research question 31 1.9 Research Strategy 36 1.10 Data Collection 37 1.11 Dissertation structure 39 2. Helping to self-‐help? External interventions to stimulate local collective 49 action in Joint Forest Management, Maharashtra, India 2.1 Introduction 50 2.2 Studying the commons 51 2.3 Supporting collective action in the commons 53 2.4 A framework for the assessment of collective action 54 2.5 Methodology 56 2.6 JFM background 63 2.7 Results 64 2.8 Discussion and Conclusion 77 3. Making it last? Analysing the role of NGO interventions in the 85 development of institutions for durable collective action in Indian Community Forestry 3.1 Introduction 86 3.2 Literature Review 88 3.3 Methodology 95 3.4 Results 98 3.5 Conclusion and discussion 105 4. Uniting forest and livelihood outcomes? Analysing external actor 111 interventions in sustainable livelihoods in a community forest management context 4.1 Introduction 112 4.2 Literature Review 114 4.3 Ascertaining the applicability of the analytical framework 125 4.4 Results 128 4.5 Discussion 136 4.6 Conclusion 140 5. Advocating for change? How a civil society-‐led coalition influences the 149 implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India 5.1 Introduction 150 5.2 Background to Indian forest governance and FRA 152 5.3 Analytical Framework 153 5.4 Research Design 160 5.5 Results 164 5.6 Conclusions and Discussion 175 6. Conclusions and Reflections 187 6.1 Introduction 187 6.2 Analysis at the local level 189 6.3 Analysis at the policy level 196 6.4 Cross level findings 198 6.5 Addressing the CPR literature shortcomings 199 6.6 Contributions to the Critical Institutionalism and International 200 Development bodies of literature 6.7 Facilitated self-‐governance as a distinct mode of governance 201 6.8 Future research along the dimensions of facilitated self-‐governance 204 6.9 Reflections on the research design 206 6.10 Recommendations for external actors 208 Appendices 213 Appendix 1: Critical enabling conditions for sustainability on the 214 commons and their hypothetical manipulability by NGOs Appendix 2: List of NGOs interviewed and general characteristics 216 Appendix 3: Overview of questionnaire 217 Appendix 4: Case selection: Village Profiles 219 Appendix 5: Operationalization of the outcome variable and data 220 collection methods Appendix 6: Focus group data collection 231 Appendix 7: Livelihood strategies 232 Summary 233 Samenvatting 241 Curriculum Vitae 249 Preface PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The path to this dissertation on community forestry in India starts not so obviously back in 2006 on a dusty roadside in rural Pursat, Cambodia. Watching locals carrying bundles of firewood whilst trucks overloaded with logs rumbled by, chatting with kids about how you just can’t have a party without BBQ jungle rat (like chicken apparently), gaining a small glimpse into the daily struggles of villagers living off just one rice harvest per year, chatting with volunteers and staff of various international and local organisations working in development, mine clearance, land rights and wildlife protection…was all very confusing. The complexity of both the local situations and the organisations involved in supporting local communities was overwhelming. How did these organisations approach their work with communities and how on earth did they know whether they were having any – positive -‐ impact? Fast-‐forward through my masters, teaching and, most importantly, coffee conversations in Utrecht and these questions found their way into this dissertation. So the word Approaching in the dissertation title, “Approaching facilitated self-‐ governance?” refers to how such organisations, and also state actors, approach their work when aiming to support, or facilitate, community forestry. When communities attempt to manage their forest themselves – known as community forest management – these outside organisations and individuals – called external actors here -‐ often present themselves to support the community. Which approaches, strategies or activities do they engage in when intervening in community forest management and when influencing relevant policies? What informs these approaches, strategies and activities? And can we say anything about the effects they are having? There is also a second, conceptual, meaning implied in the term approaching in the title. It refers to how researchers can make sense of complex situations in which external actors present themselves to work with communities in a community forest management setting. How can we identify and analyse the approaches taken by external actors? Which theoretical lenses and frameworks can we use to inform our analyses? So taken together, the dissertation is interested in the approaches taken by external actors, and the approaches taken by researchers to analyse this external actor involvement in community forestry. So why India? Enter Frank, stage right. After approaching Frank with an unsuitably vague idea of writing my masters dissertation on ‘something to do with rural development and 9 NGOs’ he linked me up with Rucha in Nagpur, Maharashtra who could host me for a few months. So my first trip to India was a happy accident…and a sequence of happy accidents led me to chance encounters with many inspiring and generous people in different parts of India. I’m sure most of these people won’t have realised at the time how helpful our discussions would be for figuring out a tiny piece of the puzzle. They also made clear to me how much more there was to try to understand and how many more voices there were to be heard. Some of the people who have helped me greatly include all the forest community members I have spoken with in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, who gave so much of their time to answer my many questions, share aspects of their lives with me, and expertly guide me through their forest. I am also indebted to all the people who advised me on logistics and contacts, were concerned about my comfort or safety, showed curiosity in my work, translated for me, shared opinions, ignored my social faux pas, fed me and fed me some more. And to Nida in Nagpur a special thanks for teaching me ‘bas’ (enough) for when I really couldn’t eat any more. To all the ‘external actors’ I spoke to over the years, I owe you a great deal for your frankness, generosity of time and patience in explaining your work and perspectives to me. Community forestry in India is a contentious topic and I appreciate all the insights into the different points of view I was lucky enough to gain. Special thanks to Tushar bhai for his many introductions, in depth discussions and support with the reflection workshop in Bhubaneswar, Manohar bhai for his passionate discussion of wider development issues, Shankar ji for the most memorable afternoon of political insights whilst dodging traffic racing round Delhi, Subhani Sir and family for their wonderful hospitality and explanations of Hindi soaps and Ravi ji and Banu ji for letting me stay to ‘recharge’. I am also extremely grateful to all those on the academic side who have been influential in developing my thinking on approaches to rural issues in India, and have been so generous in sharing their contacts with me. Rucha Ghate and everyone at SHODH really took me under their wing and gave me my first introduction to state officials and NGOs in Maharashtra. Dropping Forrest Fleischman’s name opened many doors from Dehradun to Hyderabad (thanks Forrest!), Gopinath Reddy was always ready to offer expert words of advice, and talks with Nitin Rai were extremely encouraging. In the field I have been so lucky to meet amazing people prepared to support me in data collection, translations, logistics and navigating social, cultural and organizational norms. We’ve shared many intense discussions and laughs along the way too. I’m so grateful that my path brought me to Pranay, Parinita, Doreen, Priyanka, Lakshman and Baskar. I was 10
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