A Drone Photo-Elicitation Approach to Researching Legal Pluralism in Natural Resource Access

Abstract

Legal pluralism has lived implications for access to natural resources for different people and identities in society. Current methods for researching the implications of legal pluralism and natural resource access have largely relied on conventional qualitative approaches including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and ethnographic immersion. While conventional qualitative methods may reveal structures, processes, and motives, they are ineffective in spatializing and visualizing how access plays out in space and time. This paper proposes drone photo-elicitation as a method that combines the strengths of conventional qualitative methods with drone-based aerial imagery. We argue that a drone photo-elicitation approach advances the methodological toolbox in natural resource research while provoking deeper conversations about access differentiation and how these are spatially reflected.