11.959
Reforming Natural Resources Governance: Failings of Scientific Rationalism and Alternatives for Building Common Ground
January IAP 2007
For the last century, precepts of scientific management and administrative rationality have concentrated power in the hands of technical specialists, which in recent decades has contributed to widespread disenfranchisement and discontent among stakeholders in natural resources cases. In this seminar we examine the limitations of scientific management as a model both for governance and for gathering and using information, and describe alternative methods for informing and organizing decision-making processes. We feature cases involving large carnivores in the West (mountain lions and grizzly bears), Northeast coastal fisheries, and adaptive management of the Colorado River. There will be nightly readings and a short written assignment.
Readings
- Bryan, Todd. “Tragedy Averted: The Promise of Collaboration.” Society and Natural Resources 17 (2004): 881-896.
- Smith, M. Estellie. “Chaos, Consensus and Common Sense.” The Ecologist 25, nos. 2 and 3 (1995): 80-85.
- Easterly, William. The White Man’s Burden . New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2006. ISBN: 0143038826.
- Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac . New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0195146174.
- McKinney, Matthew, and William Harmon. The Western Confluence . Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004. ISBN: 1559639636.
- Lubchenco, Jane. “Entering the Century of the Environment: A New Social Contract for Science.” Science 279, no. 5350 (1998): 491-497.
- Fischer, Frank. Citizens, Experts and the Environment . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0822326221.
- Berkes, Fikret, and Carl Folke. “Back to the Future: Ecosystem Dynamics and Local Knowledge.” Chapter 5 in Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems . Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001. ISBN: 1559638575.
- Daniels, Steven, and Gregg Walker. Working through Environmental Conflict . Westport, CT: Praeger Press, 2001. ISBN: 0275964736.
- Ascher, William. “Scientific Information and Uncertainty: Challenges for the Use of Science in Policymaking.” Science and Engineering Ethics 10, no. 3 (2004): 437-455.
- Healy, Robert, and William Ascher. “Knowledge in the Policy Process: Incorporating New Environmental Information in Natural Resources Policy Making.” Policy Sciences 28 (1995): 1-19.
- Kruglanski, Arie, and Donna Webster. “Motivated Closing of the Mind: ‘Seizing’ and ‘Freezing’.” Psychological Review 103, no. 2 (1996): 263-283.
- Lasswell, Harold. Jurisprudence for a Free Society . New Haven, CT: New Haven Press, 1992. ISBN: 0792309898.
- Sarewitz, Daniel. “How Science Makes Environmental Controversies Worse.” Environmental Science and Policy 7 (2004): 385-403.
- Shils, Edward. The Virtue of Civility . Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1997. ISBN: 0865971471.
- Van Hiel, Alain, and Ivan Mervielde. “Openness to Experience and Boundaries in the Mind: Relationships with Cultural and Economic Conservative Beliefs.” Journal of Personality 72, no. 4 (2004): 659–686.
- Webster, Donna, and Arie Kruglanski. “Individual Differences in Need for Cognitive Closure.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67, no. 6 (1994): 1049-1062.
- McRae, Robert. “Social Consequences of Experiential Openness.” Psychological Bulletin 120, no. 3 (1996): 323-337.
- Wood, Wendy. “Attitude Change: Persuasion and Social Influence.” Annual Review of Psychology 51 (2000): 539-570.
- Hullett, Craig. “The Impact of Mood on Persuasion: A Meta-Analysis.” Communication Research 32, no. 4 (2005): 423-442.
- Brunner, Ronald, and Toddi Steelman. “Beyond Scientific Management,” and “Toward Adaptive Governance,” chapters 1 and 7 in Adaptive Governance . New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN: 0231136250.
- Ehrmann, John, and Barbara Stinson. “Joint Fact-Finding and the Use of Technical Experts.” Chapter 9 in The Consensus Building Handbook . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999. ISBN: 0761908447.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.