The Politics of Localness: Scale-Bridging Ties and Legitimacy in Regional Resource Management Partnerships

Author: Lee Caroline  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1521-0723

Source: Society and Natural Resources, Vol.24, Iss.5, 2011-05, pp. : 439-454

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Abstract

Building on research on identity and representation in collaborative resource management (CRM), this article compares individual stakeholders' uses of multiple affiliations representing different scales and ways of knowing in regional CRM partnerships. Researchers have critiqued regional resource management partnerships for being “too regional” and “too organizational” to engage communities effectively. Using intensive interviews and document analysis in two partnerships facing resistance to regional-scale resource management, I find that stakeholders in each partnership use multiple affiliations to construct hybrid professional and volunteer identities. Active advertisement of these scale-bridging ties, or individual affiliations with organizations of different scales, enhances the legitimacy of regional-scale partnerships by demonstrating their grounding in place-based social networks and collaborative action. This finding should enhance researcher understandings of mechanisms of “localization” in regional partnerships for resource management.