Multi-scalar Governance Research Articles

The governance of diverse, multi-scale fisheries in which there is a lot to learn

Recent research indicates that fish populations once considered panmictic are in fact meta populations characterized by spatial complexity and comprised of demographically isolated subpopulations adapted to local environmental conditions. A synthesis of the relevance of population structure for fisheries management is provided, using New England's ground fisheries as an example. Federal fisheries management has been ineffective in conserving or restoring ground fish stocks in the region. Implemented in 1977 and based on the understanding of population structure at the time, management has focused on broad-scale restrictions on fishing that fail to protect subpopulations. But even very rigorous broad-scale management in a system with fine-scale ecological structure does little to protect local populations. As local stocks are fished down, fishermen develop strong incentives to locate and efficiently harvest remaining aggregations of fish, resulting in the serial extirpation of local populations. Because both fishing and monitoring occur at a broad-scale, scientific and management feedback regarding the effect of harvesting on fish stocks is ambiguous. Learning about the multi-scale complexity of the ocean is a substantial problem. The problem is not unique to fisheries. The need for cost effective and appropriately scaled knowledge is a problem faced by all forms of social organization. The principles of cost effective, adaptive solutions, drawn from the literature on collective action, are identified. The restoration of ground fish stocks in New England will require reform of fisheries governance towards a multi-scale governance structure, including fine-scale scientific and management institutions that are able to obtain timely and accurate feedback about the effects of fishing at several ecological scales. The failure to address fine-scale population structure in fisheries governance may result in persistent depletion of New England's groundfish stocks.

Multi-scalar globalization and political governance: Lessons from negotiations over Colombia’s Poverty and Inequality Reduction Strategy, 2006–2015

Drawing on an analysis of negotiations between the Colombian government and international donors over Colombia’s Poverty and Inequality Reduction Strategy, this article describes the normative, institutional and technical patterns that configure a political governance structure within the international cooperation and development system. The article argues that this structure works as an interface that integrates global governance processes aimed at the regulation of global risks (e.g. poverty and inequality) into national political systems in aid-receiving countries. This case study suggests that the shape of this governance structure leads to a form of ‘agreed violation’ of sovereignty that can be defined and analysed as an instance of the ‘emergent formations of multi-scalar globalization’, to which the sociology of globalization refers. However, this interpretation necessitates a fine-tuning of the sociology of globalization’s understanding of governance, which is discussed in this article.

Community Forest Management and the Emergence of Multi-Scale Governance Institutions: Lessons for REDD+ Development from Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia

At their most local, initiatives to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) will depend on rural people to manage forest resources. Although the design of frameworks, mechanisms and arrangements, to implement REDD programs have received significant attention, it is not yet clear how REDD+ will function on the ground or how the participation of local populations will be assured. Community forest management (CFM) could be an option under REDD+ depending on how it is negotiated, largely because of the expectation that CFM could reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. Examining institutional factors in the emergence of successful CFM systems and local forest enterprises could provide valuable lessons for REDD planners. We examine cases of CFM development in Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia, to assess the role of multi-scaled governance institutions in their development. Comparing and contrasting advanced CFM systems to regions where it is still emerging, we will show how the establishment of a local organizational base for communal resource management is crucial.

The Rise of Voluntary Carbon Offset Standards: Self-Regulation, Legitimacy and Multi-Scalar Governance

Although there is growing recognition in the academic literature of the role of non-nation state actors such as cities and large corporate emitters in climate governance, little attention has been paid to ‘carbon offset organisations’, a new set of largely private sector actors who develop carbon reduction projects and sell the resulting credits. In this paper we investigate the emerging self-regulation of the voluntary carbon market as companies set quality standards in order to respond to criticisms and to anticipate and steer government rules. These standards aim to provide a legitimacy that can support both innovation and credible carbon reductions driven by the private sector, rather than imposed by regulatory policy. We critically assess the evolution of these standards through in-depth case studies and explore the attempted state regulation of the voluntary market in the UK. These raise important issues about authority and legitimacy, and rescaling of environmental governance that is devolved to non-nation state actors over multiple scales. We discuss these movements within the broader literature on neoliberal natures, environmental standards and the critical geographies of the carbon economy.

Disintegrated Rural Development? Neo-endogenous Rural Development, Planning and Place-Shaping in Diffused Power Contexts

What is the role of the state in promoting sustainable rural communities? Only a few years ago any discussion of this question would have alluded to the concept of integrated rural development. Today the concept of governance is internationally used to address such questions, reflecting a recognition of the changing role of the state (at all levels) and the greater propensity for public, private and voluntary sectors to interact at multiple scales in diffused power contexts together with attempts to mobilise local actors. This article asks whether the concept, integrated rural development, still has any meaning in the context of the new rural governance and begins to link this to re-theorisations of concepts of spatial planning, place-shaping, capacity-building and neo-endogenous development, and offers illustrations from the north of Scotland. The article concludes by suggesting that initiatives such as the EU's LEADER programme might be recast explicitly as a transnational experiment in doing ‘disintegrated rural development’, addressing the challenges of neo-endogenous rural development, multi-scalar governance, an enabling, generative state and the transformation of mainstream policies.

Balanced Development in Globalizing Regional Development? Unpacking the New Regional Policy of South Korea

Lee Y.-S. Balanced development in globalizing regional development? Unpacking the new regional policy of South Korea, Regional Studies. This paper critically examines South Korea's adoption of ‘new regionalism’ as a basis for its regional policy initiatives. It is argued that this new regional policy poses dualism between endogenism and exogenism, and as such fails to reformulate and re-articulate theoretical and policy views on the globalization of regional development. Instead of dualism, a concept of ‘multi-scalar governance’ has been developed as an analytical lens through which regional development in the era of globalization can be analysed. Based on this viewpoint, the drawbacks of the new regional policy – the problems of triangular inter-scalar coordination – are specifically reviewed. For this analysis, archival re-examination and in-depth interviews with policy-makers have been employed. Lee Y.-S. Le développement équilibré dans la mondialisation de l'aménagement du territoire? Déballer la nouvelle politique régionale de la Corée du Sud, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à examiner d'un oeil critique l'adoption par la Corée du Sud de la ‘nouvelle régionalisation’ comme cadre des actions de sa nouvelle politique régionale. Dans cet article, on affirme que cette nouvelle politique régionale présente le dualisme entre des approches endogène et exogène et, par la suite, ne réussit ni à reformuler, ni à réarticuler des perspectives théoriques et de politique sur la mondialisation de l'aménagement du territoire. A la place du dualisme, on développe la notion de ‘gouvernance à échelles multiples’ comme une lentille analytique par laquelle on pourrait analyser l'aménagement du territoire à l'époque de la mondialisation. Dans cette optique, on fait la critique en particulier des inconvénients de la nouvelle politique régionale – à savoir, les problèmes de la coordination triangulaire à échelles multiples. Dans cette analyse, on réexamine des archives et interviewe dans le détail les décideurs. Gouvernance à échelles multiples Politique régionale Aménagement du territoire Coordination à échelles mutiples Réseaux de production mondiaux Nouvelle régionalisation Lee Y.-S. Ausgeglichene Entwicklung bei der Globalisierung der Regionalentwicklung? Eine Untersuchung der neuen Regionalpolitik in Südkorea, Regional Studies. In diesem Artikel wird die Übernahme des ‘neuen Regionalismus’ in Südkorea als Grundlage für regionalpolitische Initiativen kritisch untersucht. Ich argumentiere in meinem Beitrag, dass diese neue Regionalpolitik einen Dualismus zwischen Endogenismus und Exogenismus verursacht und somit nicht in der Lage ist, die theoretischen und politischen Perspektiven der Globalisierung der Regionalentwicklung neu zu formulieren und zu artikulieren. Anstelle eines Dualismus habe ich ein Konzept der ‘multiskalaren Regierungsführung’ als analytisches Objektiv entwickelt, durch das sich die Regionalentwicklung im Zeitalter der Globalisierung analysieren lässt. Ausgehend von dieser Perspektive werden die Nachteile der neuen Regionalpolitik – die Probleme der triangulären, interskalaren Koordination – spezifisch überprüft. Für diese Analyse haben ich Archive neu untersucht und Tiefeninterviews mit politischen Entscheidungsträgern geführt. Multiskalare Regierungsführung Regionalpolitik Regionalentwicklung Interskalare Koordination Globale Produktionsnetze Neuer Regionalismus Lee Y.-S. ¿Desarrollo equilibrado en la globalización del desarrollo regional? Análisis de la nueva política regional en Corea del Sur, Regional Studies. En este artículo analizo desde un punto de vista crítico la adopción del ‘nuevo regionalismo’ por parte de Corea del Sur como base para las iniciativas políticas a nivel regional. Sostengo que esta nueva política regional plantea un dualismo entre endogenismo y exogenismo y, por tanto, no puede reformular y rearticular perspectivas teóricas y políticas sobre la globalización del desarrollo regional. En vez de dualismo, he desarrollado un concepto de ‘gobernanza multiescalar’ como objetivo analítico a través del cual puede analizarse el desarrollo regional en la era de la globalización. Desde este punto de vista, reviso en concreto los inconvenientes de la nueva política regional: los problemas de la coordinación interescalar. Para este análisis he llevado a cabo una nueva investigación de archivo y entrevistas exhaustivas con responsables políticos. Gobernanza multiescalar Política regional Desarrollo regional Coordinación interescalar Redes de producción global Nuevo regionalismo

The Politics and Policy of Economic Restructuring in Australia: Understanding Government Responses to the Closure of an Automotive Plant

In April 2004, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd (MMAL) announced the closure of its foundry and engine-making plant at Lonsdale in southern Adelaide. The closure resulted in 700 involuntary redundancies with a further 400 positions lost at MMAL's Tonsley Park plant through voluntary redundancies. The loss of jobs and associated economic activity were a major shock to southern Adelaide, a relatively poor region with few large manufacturing establishments, a limited economic infrastructure and a relatively unskilled labour force. The region had suffered setbacks in the previous three years with a downturn in the wine industry and the closure of the nearby Mobil Oil Refinery at Port Stanvac. This paper draws on debates around multiscalar governance in order to understand how governments have responded to employment loss in southern Adelaide. The paper pays particular attention to the balance between regional and industry-focused initiatives and suggests that regions need to ensure they occupy a central position within the strategies and actions of governments. The paper also highlights the vulnerability of regions that lack growth coalitions able to operate as effective advocates for their region.

Multiscalar Governance and Regional Environmental Management in Australia

At a moment when regionalisation and regionalism are being widely promoted across a range of policy sectors, this paper argues that much regional activity, including regional environmental management, is often the product of interactions, resources and opportunities at other scales. The paper shows how local and extra-regional interactions, resources and opportunities influence environmental management at the regional level in Australia by the development of a case analysis of Far North Queensland. It finds that much of the current thinking about regionalisation and regionalism ignores these multiscalar dimensions. This can impede and undermine efforts to manage the environment effectively at the regional level. The paper identifies some opportunities to improve regional environmental management activities in Australia and draws out the broader implications for other policy sectors and other countries embracing the movement towards regionalism/regionalisation. The relationship between governance by network at the regional level and the power and control of central government is highlighted. The paper also calls for further research into how governments and other actors successfully manage multiscalar relations of governance in order to promote (or impede) specific public policy initiatives.

Ensuring a future for collective forestry in China's southwest: Adding human and social capital to policy reforms

Worldwide, the potential of smallholder forestry to meet policymakers' economic and environmental objectives is gaining increased recognition. In Southwest China, a significant portion of forests are owned and managed by smallholder, village collectives. Decisions made now will determine whether the potential of collective forestry in Southwest China can be realized, or whether smallholder forests are ultimately consolidated into larger holdings. This analysis traces the history of collective forest management in four villages in northwest Yunnan, highlighting four issues fundamental to unlocking the potential of collective forestry: policy support, forestry approach, village institutions, and multi-scale governance. Policy reforms are necessary but not sufficient as a means to bring improvements in these four areas. Investments in human and social capital–linked to the process of building more formal institutions–are essential beside longer-term institutional change.

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SCALE AND EUROPEAN GOVERNANCE1

ABSTRACTThis paper introduces some concepts for analysing scalar aspects of governance, governance failure, and meta‐governance. There is now a significant corpus of work on multi‐level governance in the European Union as well as an enormous literature on various modes of governance. Although the problem of scale is often posed directly for the EU case (notably in terms of the ‘multi‐level’ character of its political regime), scalar issues are also important for all forms of governance. For effective governance must take account of the specific spatio‐temporalities of its objects and mechanisms as well as the spatio‐temporal location and horizons of action of the subjects involved in its exercise. In particular, among their other relational properties, the objects of governance are more or less embedded in space, place, and scale and linked to distinctive temporal relations and emergent temporalities. This indicates the relevance of a strategic‐relational concern with space, place and scale, with spatial, local and scalar imaginaries, and with attempts to secure spatio‐temporal fixes to facilitate the reproduction of objects of governance. Given space constraints, I focus here on two sets of issues: (i) theoretically, the role of scale, scalar divisions of labour, the relativisation of scale, and multi‐scalar governance; and (ii) substantively, the now paradigmatic case of the European Union as a novel form of multi‐scalar meta‐governance.