In Common

In this episode, Michael spoke with Daniel Decaro, associate professor at the University of Louisville with a joint appointment in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Daniel has conducted experimental research on the effects of participation and enforcement on collective-action. Based on this work, he has developed the concept of participatory fit. This represents the idea that there is cultural variation in how people perceive their basic needs of autonomy and procedural justice being met through a participatory process, and therefore mechanisms of participatory governance must adapt to fit with this variation. What is authentically participatory for one person may not be for another. Daniel and Michael also talked about the relationship that participation has to collective-action and enforcement, based on a finding from DeCaro et al. (2015) that the effects of participating and enforcement are synergistic, producing increased cooperation when combined with each other.   Daniel’s website: https://louisville.edu/psychology/d-decaro References: DeCaro, D., and M. Stokes. 2008. “Social‐psychological Principles of Community‐based Conservation and Conservancy Motivation: Attaining Goals within an Autonomy‐supportive Environment.” Conservation Biology: The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. DeCaro, Daniel A., and Michael K. Stokes. 2013. “Public Participation and Institutional Fit: A Social-Psychological Perspective.” Ecology and Society 18 (4). DeCaro, D. A., M. A. Janssen, and A. Lee. 2015. “Synergistic Effects of Voting and Enforcement on Internalized Motivation to Cooperate in a Resource Dilemma.” Judgment and Decision Making. DeCaro, Daniel A., Marco A. Janssen, and Allen Lee. 2021. “Motivational Foundations of Communication, Voluntary Cooperation, and Self-Governance in a Common-Pool Resource Dilemma.” Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, no. 100016 (July): 100016.

In this end-of-the-year episode, Courtney, Mike, Michael and Stefan sat down to recap the year, talking about their favorite reads and favorite listens, fieldwork done and not done, and interesting work done on non-traditional commons. References: Chambers, J. M., et al. (2021). Six modes of co-production for sustainability. Nature Sustainability, 4(11), 983–996. Christakis, N. A. (2019). Blueprint: The evolutionary origins of a good society. Hachette UK. Epstein, D. (2019). Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Penguin Random House. Freeth, R., and Caniglia, G. (2020). Learning to collaborate while collaborating: advancing interdisciplinary sustainability research. Sustainability Science, 15(1), 247–261. Gorski, P. S. (2013). “What is Critical Realism? And Why Should You Care?” Contemporary Sociology, 42(5), 658–670. Gottlieb, L. (2019). Maybe you should talk to someone. Manjul Publishing. Kearns, F. (2021). Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Effective Engagement. Island Press. Mott, J. (2021). Hell of a Book: A Novel. Penguin. York, A. M., et al. (2021). Integrating institutional approaches and decision science to address climate change: a multi-level collective action research agenda. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 52, 19–26. Podcasts: Sam Harris: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/270-what-have-we-learned-from-the-pandemic https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/269-deep-time Esther Perel: https://www.estherperel.com/podcast Wall Street Journal about uBiome: https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/what-went-wrong-at-ubiome-part-1/8b0717aa-1c66-4524-b47f-0cd3a399fcae

In this episode, Divya spoke with Aparajita Datta, a senior scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation, a non-governmental research organization based in Bangalore, India. Aparajita is known for her work on community-based hornbill conservation in the northeastern part of India. Her main research interests include plant-animal interactions in rainforests, understanding anthropogenic effects on wildlife, and engaging with the tribal communities in conservation. In this episode, she shares her experience of trying to carry out inclusive conservation and the roles that partnerships with multiple stakeholders play in the process. Aparajita’s work is a bit unusual; she is one of those rare scholars who have been striving to translate her research on the ground. But conducting action-oriented research comes at a cost, and it is evident from Aparajita’s narrative as she shares her experience of getting emotionally attached to the tribal community she has been working with, while facing skepticism from some, and yet having the grit to keep persevering as she goes back and forth through the complex emotions of feeling both disheartened and inspired in her work. She now believes after 20 years, that doing research is more satisfying and easy than on-ground conservation, and that reconciliation between wildlife and people is not always possible.    Aparajita’s bio:  https://www.ncf-india.org/author/646436/aparajita-datta https://www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/aparajita-datta   Selected References: Borawake, N., Datta, A., & Naniwadekar, R. (2021). Tropical Forest Restoration in the Eastern Himalaya: Evaluating Early Survival and Growth of Native Tree Species. Ecological Restoration, 39(3), 52-63. Sheth, C., Datta, A., and Parashuram, D. (2020). Persistent loss of biologically-rich tropical forests in the Indian Eastern Himalaya. Silva Fennica 54(3). https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10373 Naniwadekar, R., Mishra, C., Isvaran, K., & Datta, A. (2021). Gardeners of the forest: hornbills govern the spatial distribution of large seeds. Journal of Avian Biology. Datta, A., Naniwadekar, R., Rao, M., Sreenivasan, R., & Hiresavi, V. (2018). Hornbill Watch: A citizen science initiative for Indian hornbills. Indian Birds, 14(3), 65-70. Teegalapalli, K., & Datta, A. (2016). Field to a forest: Patterns of forest recovery following shifting cultivation in the Eastern Himalaya. Forest Ecology and Management, 364, 173-182. Rane, A., & Datta, A. (2015). Protecting a hornbill haven: a community-based conservation initiative in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. Malayan Nature Journal, 67(2), 203-218. Datta, A. (2007). Protecting with people in Namdapha: threatened forests, forgotten people. In: Shahabuddin, G., Rangarajan, M. (Eds.), Making Conservation Work: securing biodiversity in this new century. Permanent Black, New Delhi. pp. 165 – 209.  

In this episode, Michael spoke with Nejem Raheem. Nejem is an associate professor of economics at Emerson College. They talked about Nejem’s work on ecosystem services and how he applied this framework to the traditional acequia irrigation systems of New Mexico. They discussed several important challenges that this approach faces, such as the incommensurability of different values and the downplaying of reciprocal relationships that many humans have with the environment. Nejem’s website: https://www.emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/nejem-raheem   References: Raheem, N., S. Archambault, E. Arellano, M. Gonzales, D. Kopp, J. Rivera, S. Guldan, et al. 2015. “A Framework for Assessing Ecosystem Services in Acequia Irrigation Communities of the Upper Río Grande Watershed.” WIREs. Water 2 (5): 559–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1091. Raheem, Nejem, and Danielle Schwarzmann. 2021. “Making Ecosystem Services Flexible: Why a Whole New Framework Is a Bad Idea for Practitioners.” WIREs. Water 8 (6). https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1553. Paper that Michael mentions on the “tribe of the Econ”: Leijonhufvud, Axel. 1973. “Life among the Econ.” Economic Inquiry 11 (3): 327–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1973.tb01065.x. Book by James Ferguson that Michael mentions Ferguson, James. 1990. The Anti-Politics Machine:’development’, Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. University of Minnesota Press.

In this episode, Hita and Nusrat Molla, were joined by Ramya Ravi, Ph.D scholar at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru.  We reflected on the previous episodes of this series through the perspective of early career scholars, and spoke a bit about reading across disciplines, challenging established ecological or social principles in interdisciplinary research, as well as finding our tribes. We ended the episode with a small discussion on the emotional burden of caregiving coupled with the precarity of academia and how informal collaborations and mentoring can help one to deal with difficult circumstances.  Ramya’s website: https://www.atree.org/users/ramya-ravi

In this episode, Michael and Stefan spoke with Arun Agrawal, the Samuel Trask Dana Professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Arun has played an important role in the development of the Commons field and the study of the related subjects of conservation and development. They talked about Arun's path to an academic career, his thoughts about the history and current developments of the study of the Commons, and his thoughts on the categories and dichotomies that structure so much of our thinking in this field. They also talked about Arun's professional roles, including being editor-in-chief of World Development and the director of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) program. Arun's website: http://www.arunagrawal.org/ References: Agrawal, Arun. 2005. Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Ferraro, Paul J., and Arun Agrawal. 2021. “Synthesizing Evidence in Sustainability Science through Harmonized Experiments: Community Monitoring in Common Pool Resources.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118 (29). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106489118.

In this episode, Michael spoke with Courtney Carothers, a professor in the college of Fisheries and Oceans at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. They discussed Courtney’s work on "catch share", or individual transferable quota policies in fisheries, indigenous fisheries management systems, and the negative impacts that catch shares have often had on indigenous fishers. Catch shares are a dominant panacea being employed by the U.S. government to manage our shared fisheries resources, and a important critique of them discussed during the interview is the ways in which they prioritize efficiency and profit, lead to rights consolidation, and alienate local users from their traditional livelihoods. Courtney framed this process as being a symptomatic component of the broader processes of forced integration and colonization that has occurred in the U.S. and Canada. They also talked about how collaborative relationships can be built for transdisciplinary work. References: Carothers, Courtney, and Catherine Chambers. 2012. “Fisheries Privatization and the Remaking of Fishery Systems.” Environment and Society 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2012.030104. Donkersloot, Rachel, and Courtney Carothers. 2017. “Chapter 12 - Beyond Privatization: Rethinking Fisheries Stewardship and Conservation in the North Pacific.” In Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean, edited by Phillip S. Levin and Melissa R. Poe, 253–70. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805375-1.00012-X. Voo, Lee van der. 2016. The Fish Market: Inside the Big-Money Battle for the Ocean and Your Dinner Plate. St. Martin’s Publishing Group.   Media: Talk by Dr. Leroy Little Bear on Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJSJ28eEUjI   Talks and videos posted by Dr. Seth Macinko: http://sethmacinko.com/videos Talk by Courtney that provides more depth on some of her ITQ research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_2qlfDngO4   Talk by Jessica Black, Courtney Carothers, and Janessa Esquible on Indigenizing Fisheries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=448tr90KUWQ Planet Money episode that Michael mentions: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/04/454698093/episode-661-the-less-deadly-catch Other links: Survival denied report that Courtney mentions: http://allianceforajustsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Survival-Denied2.pdf https://www.tamamta.org/ https://www.uaf.edu/ankn/publications/collective-works-of-angay/ https://oceans.ubc.ca/centre-for-indigenous-fisheries/ https://www.waysofknowingforum.ca/

In this episode, Stefan interviews Guido Caniglia. Guido is the Scientific Director of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Austria. Guido’s work aims to shape epistemological and theoretical frameworks that contribute to ongoing scientific developments. Guido has worked in different scientific fields, from evolutionary-developmental biology to sustainability science and higher education for sustainable development. In his research, Guido studies how experimental and theoretical practices contribute to produce evidence and knowledge about complex phenomena of transformation, from evolutionary transitions in the history of life (e.g. the evolution of social behaviors) to purposeful transformations towards sustainability in our contemporary world (e.g. socio-ecological and socio-technical innovations). Guido previously held a Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellowship in the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. He earned a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Florence (Italy) in 2010 while working in different academic communities mostly in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States. In January 2016 Guido obtained a second PhD, this time in Biology, from the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University (USA). From 2011 to January 2016 he also worked as Post-Doctoral researcher and project manager for the Global Classroom Project, a transnational partnership between Arizona State University and Leuphana University engaging in curriculum reform for higher education for sustainable development. We talk about how to improve collaborative processes in science, and how to learn to collaborate while collaborating. We also discuss his perspectives on the types of knowledge needed to foster sustainability transformations, and how that knowledge would be best produced, also his perspectives on radical pluralism. Guido’s Institute page https://www.kli.ac.at/en/people/kli_team/view/244   KLI homepage https://www.kli.ac.at/en   Guido’s Google Scholar profile https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=NQUM-sMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao   Freeth and Caniglia (2020) - Learning to collaborate while collaborating https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00701-z   Caniglia, G., C. Luederitz, T. von Wirth, I. Fazey, B. Martín-López, K. Hondrila, A. König, H. von Wehrden, N. A. Schäpke, M. Laubichler, D. Lang, and D. J. Abson. 2020. A pluralistic and integrated approach to action-oriented knowledge for sustainability. Nature Sustainability.   Guido’s Twitter https://twitter.com/guidocaniglia?lang=en

In this episode, Michael spoke with Derek Kauneckis, an associate professor at the Desert Research institute in Nevada. Derek spoke with Michael about his work on the waste commons as well as technological innovation, particularly with respect to water management. Throughout the program, Derek discussed the relevance of the commons literature in studying the complex, hyper-managed systems that he studies. Derek's website: https://www.dri.edu/directory/derek-kauneckis/

In this episode, Hita, Maria and Dane were joined by Malini Ranganathan, the Faculty Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center and an Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. We talked about her journey towards interdisciplinary research, and then discussed how aspects of positionality--like gender and race--influences interdisciplinary research. We ended by hearing about her epic fails.   Malini’s website: https://www.maliniranga.com/    References Caldeira TP. Peripheral urbanization: Autoconstruction, transversal logics, and politics in cities of the global south. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 2017;35(1):3-20. doi:10.1177/0263775816658479 Said, Edward W. Culture and imperialism. Vintage, 2012. Fraser, Nancy. "What's critical about critical theory? The case of Habermas and gender." New German critique 35 (1985): 97-131.