1st Edition

Democratic Decentralisation through a Natural Resource Lens Cases from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Edited By Jesse Ribot, Anne Larson Copyright 2005
    268 Pages
    by Routledge

    268 Pages
    by Routledge

    This volume queries the state and effect of the global decentralization movement through the study of natural resource decentralizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The case studies presented here use a comparative framework to characterize the degree to which natural resource decentralizations can be said to be taking place and, where possible, to measure their social and environmental consequences. In general, the cases show that threats to national-level interests are producing resistance that is fettering the struggle for reform.

    This book was published as a special issue of the European Journal of Development Research.

    1. Democratic Decentralization through a Natural Resource Lens: Countering central resistance, fostering local demand Jesse C. Ribot and Anne M. Larson  2. Between Micro-Politics and Administrative Imperatives: Decentralization and the watershed mission in Madhya Pradesh, India Amita Baviskar  3. Decentralisation When Land and Resource Rights are Deeply Contested: A case-study of the Mkambati eco-tourism project on the wild coast of South Africa Ben Cousins and Tembele Kepe  4. Formal Decentralization and the Imperative of Decentralization 'From Below': A case-study of natural resource management in Nicaragua Anne M. Larson  5. Democratic Decentralization and Traditional Authority: Dilemmas of land administration in rural South Africa Lungisile Ntsebeza  6. What Lies Behind Decentralization?: Forest, powers and actors in lowland Bolivia Pablo Pacheco  7. Closer to People and Trees: Will decentralization work for the people and the forests of Indonesia? Ida Aju Pradnja Resosudarmo  8. Decentralization, Rural Livelihoods, and Pasture-land Management in Post-Socialist Mongolia Robin Mearns  9. Decentralization and Accountability in Forest Management: Case from Yunnan, southwest China Jianchu Xu and Jesse M. Ribot  10. Social and Organizational Roots of Ecological Uncertainties in Cameroon's Forest Management Decentralization Model Phil RenĂ© Oyono  11. User Committees: A potentially damaging second wave of decentralization? James Manor  12. Decentralising Water Resource Management in Brazil Christian Brannstrom  13. Decentralizing Natural Resource Management: A recipe for sustainability and equity? Wicky Meynen and Martin Doornbos

    Biography

    Jesse C. Ribot is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Illinois. He currently directs the Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy (SDEP) Initiative of the Department of Geography, School of Earth Society and Environment, and Beckman Institute. While conducting the research in this volume, he was a Senior Associate in the Institutions and Governance Program of the World Resources Institute (WRI). Ribot has conducted research on environmental justice, social vulnerability in the face of climate change, the social structure of resource access, and the effects of rural-urban resource markets on local livelihoods. Ribot has also worked on local environmental governance issues with the World Bank, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the Dutch Government, and USAID.

    Anne M Larson is a Senior Associate with the Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia, based in Nicaragua. Her research has focused on decentralization and local governance, community forestry, forest tenure, indigenous rights and conservation and development. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. from Stanford University.