Key Frameworks For Analyzing Environmental And Development Problems

Explain key theoretical social science frameworks for looking at environmental and development problems

Compare and assess the comparative value and usefulness of different conceptual approaches from policy sciences, political ecology, and other knowledge areas for understanding particular issues or problems.

Apply these frameworks to analyse how political processes affect environmental and developmental trajectories, and to work out possibilities for promoting better outcomes.

a) The objective of Political Economy Analysis (PEA) according to Hudson and Leftwich (2014) is to understand “the way in which political and economic processes interact” which “is critical in promoting or frustrating developmental processes”. Referring to Dauvergne and Lister (2011) article, explain how the global political economy of timber shapes the forestry industry. Explain the processes and dynamics that both frustrate and enable efforts to address the problem.  Please explain the concepts you use in your answer.

b) Environmental Policy Instruments include information, voluntary negotiated agreements, and organisation (restructuring the machinery of government) (see Connelly et al p194) Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches in relation to the case study from Fisheries in Transition article. What sorts of capacities might be required for the state to get this kind of instrument to work? Please explain any concepts (e.g. state capacity, policy instrument or other terms) you use in your answer.

c) Environmental management can be improved by taking scale into account. What are the key challenges that Armitage (2007) identified in multi-level governance of commons? 

d) Explain how these issues shape the governance of natural resources in at least three case studies you read during this course. Please explain the concepts you use in your answer.

Theoretical social science frameworks

It has been observed in the modern political environmental world that the relationships are maintained by certain approaches and it has been observed that the ecological factors are influenced by certain political measures. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and phenomena. The effect of the same can be observed in the portion of the degradation and marginalization, contradictory matters related to the environment and conservative measures and environmental movements (Neumann 2014).

Frank Throne has coined the term for the first time and it has been observed that the system has been included in the current political environment. Political ecology’s movement as a field since its inception in the 1970s has complicated its scope and goals. Through the discipline’s history, certain influences have grown more and less influential in determining the focus of study (van Kerkhoff and Pilbeam 2017). Peter A. Walker traces the importance of the ecological sciences in political ecology. It has been observed and analysed by the political ecologists that the force of mal-adaptation and the instabilities are affected by the political ecology. Julian Steward has been invented certain theories regarding the political ecology and in case. The application of the political ecology has been observed regarding the assertion of power impacts and it has certain loopholes. There is a lack of compelling counter-narrative and it has been observed that focusing on human responses to environmental events without presupposing the impact of political processes on environmental events (Schifeling and Hoffman 2017).       

Bangladesh is a country that is based mainly on agriculture and is now facing critical issues that are related to ecological pollution. The early years provided a source for the pollution problems, but in the recent times it has been seen that it has increased to a great extent. The pollution related to air has caused the country to suffer very badly with respect to money and the lives of the people (Broad and Cavanagh 2015). During the 2000s, it was seen that the country spent nearly $800 million and invested 15000 human lives for clearing the air but the level of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and the dust particles in the air caused most of the human resources to suffer, which practically resulted in death. The rise in the brick kilns has resulted in increasing the air pollution, as it is being used in the dry seasons as well, which creates most of the pollution (Neumann 2014).

The case of Buriganga River is extremely adverse, which has resulted in the loss of water and most of the aquatic species have died in that water body. This has resulted due to the increase in the filth, which has resulted in the water to be turning in to black gel. This water body was one of the primary sources that helped in feeding the other smaller rivers in the region. These water bodies have resulted in the collecting more than 7000 units of industrial wastes, which has caused the water body to be filled with effluents (Hoque and Clarke 2013). This has resulted in the water to be unusable and uninhabited for the lives of human, as the level of mercury was found to be high within the source.  There is a provision of law, which helps in keeping the water clear along with the establishment of effluent treatment plants but it can be seen that most of the owners of the industry are flouting the rules that are laid down in the law (Dey and Islam 2015). 

Comparative value and usefulness of different conceptual approaches

The quality of the soil also has been degrading due to the erosion that is being caused and the use of harmful chemicals in the agriculture business. Most of the forest areas have been cut down due to the effect of encroachment and the improper kind of disposing the effluents that are present in agriculture. The cultivable lands use less of the organic matters, which have resulted in the run-offs of the top soil and due to the overgrazing of the live stocks that are being possessed by the humans (Shahbaz et al. 2014). 

The aquaculture has been grown up in the provinces of Vietnam in the era of early nineties. The activity was become popular in the provinces of Lagoon district and it has been observed that the system regarding the property rights and bundle of rights have been encoded under the system of the said provinces. The problem arose when certain contradiction has been made relating to the diversity of resources and the property rights based on the Lagoon village. The thought of the residents of the village had certain proclamation regarding the property rights and in their words, farmlands are the private lands and the water body is the open land (Galik and Jagger 2015). In the Lagoon village, the people were regulated their own traditional rules. However, in 1986, certain amendments have been done regarding the property rights of the provinces and it has been notified that the poor anglers were out from the new rule and therefore certain property confliction has been observed. All the natural as well as the private resources are the government property in the provinces of Lagoon and therefore, conflicts has taken place between the government and privatization of the resources (Bohringer et al. 2016).

The problem related to the matter of Lagoon is based on the confliction between the diversity of resources and the conception of bundle of rights. Melissa Marschke has defined the effect of the bundle of rights to resolve the challenge that has been cropped up regarding the rural poverty and environmental sustainability. The level of the bundle of rights is categorized as access, withdrawal, management, exclusion and alienation of resources. These rights are given to the anglers so that they can enjoy the same with the other rights regarding the property. Certain policies has been implemented regarding the establishment of the bundle of rights (Koehler 2015).

According to Schlager and Ostrom, among the levels of the bundle of rights, access and withdrawal are applied in the problem of Lagoon village. According to the property right system of Vietnam, no individuals are the real owner of the property. They are enjoying certain level of rights that are the operation level and the collective choice level (Bohringer et al. 2016).

Problems have been cropped up regarding the coastal system of the country as the resources are overlapping in nature. Moreover, certain confliction is there in between the state property, common property and private property. In the present case, it has been observed that the inhabitants of the area are very much depended on the coastal resources and the rules regarding the government policies over the lands and the property rights system of the country has created certain complexion regarding the same (Koehler 2015).

Applying frameworks to analyze political processes and promote better outcomes

Marschke that overlapping but differentiated bundle of rights has pointed it out and property rights are became the government property after 1975. Schlager and Ostrom have stated about the operational and collective-choice rights comprise different bundles of rights for different types of lagoon use it. It has been observed that most of the fish corrals and net-enclosures are registered with the local government for taxes and granted a one-year permit. However, the de facto fishing ground in net-enclosures is generally larger than what is registered. Whether or not net-enclosure users apply for a commune permit, fish corals and net-enclosures are considered de facto private property with all customary collective-choice rights (Galik and Jagger 2015). Differences have observed when it has been notified by the government that the fishing grounds should be guarded and in case if the anglers or the person who enjoyed the right failed to fence the same, they will be deprived from the enjoyment of customary exclusion rights. It has been observed that the division of rights is creating certain differences and it has been observed that the property rights regime in the provinces of the Vietnam has caused great dilemma regarding the system of the Vietnam including the Lagoon village. The most common character of the property rights can be divided into two parts- excludability and substractibility. Alienation has considered as private property ownership and primary and secondary property regimes are included within the common property regimes (Papazian et al. 2017).

The property rights are showing the ways in which the bundle of rights is enjoying by the residents. These are specifying the way by which these rights can be utilized by the inhabitants. Alienation rights combined with exclusion may produce incentives for owners to undertake long-term investment to capture long-term benefits. However, disregarding the interest of the larger society with respect to sustainability, tenure systems may give owners no inducement to consider the off-site consequences of their use of resources (Taylor 2014).

However, it has been observed that the differences occurred regarding the property rights system and the contradiction cropped up in between the government policies and the operational rights system. Apparently, it was thought that the overlapping property regimes and the contradiction may harm the system of the Lagoon district, but later it was found that the policies regarding the bundle of rights assisted to improve the standard of the property related matters and the socio-political characters are developed also. The poor anglers had enlarged their business and a rapid economic growth has been observed in this district (Twijnstra 2014). 

Each state has specific political systems in terms of protecting the environment from declining. The political system of the states for ensuring the protection of the environment and nature of the states is defined as the state capacity. However, in spite of having well-defined and structured state capacity, the states still fail to manage the environmental problems challenging. In the article Understanding the Environmental and Social Policy by Klink 2014, a state encounters hindrances in managing environmental problems due to social and economical factor of the state. It can be seen that the political system of the states includes the implementation of theories such as Green Theory. According to the theory, the theorists have identified the state as a source of social domination as well as environmental degradation. However, on the contrary, the political system of the state encounters issues in recognizing the significance of the state for securing effective action on a range of environmental challenges.

One of the most significant challenges in managing environmental issues is the human capabilities. Humans develop the political systems ensuring the protection of the environment. Additionally, humans are the most significant medium that helps in implementing the methods of protecting the environment. However, the capabilities of the humans thereby, question the proper management of environmental issues in a state. Firstly, limited human resources challenge the management of the environment issues (Richards 2015). It is associated with the equal distribution of social and material benefits across the categories and groups. The human capabilities are largely affected by the lack of enthusiasm and persisting ignorance of securing and protecting the environment. The people involved within the political systems of managing environment lacks adequate urge and responsibility of implementing the state law of protecting the environment. This is because of lack of support for the people and lack of sincerity among the people to protect the environment of the state. Additionally, the economic and financial resources of the state are also a issues in managing the environmental challenges. The state government has limited resources to spend for protecting the environment. Based on the current environmental scenario of the state, the protection of the state environment might require advanced actions for conserving the environment (Twijnstra 2014).

In the twenty-first century, the issues of managing the environment challenges are different. The major issues of the twenty first century for managing the environmental challenges include the neoliberal globalisation, democratisation ad power shifts in the international state system associated with the rise of BRIC emerging power. Due to the neoliberal globalisation, the rate of flow of capital, labour and commodities have increased. For example, trade liberalization has extensively increased the flow of commodities across the states. The increased flow of commodities crossed the states has resulted in breaking the nexus between the natural production and the domestic consumption of the state. Additionally, the financial liberalization has provided greater flexibility for the state to decide to sites to produce and invest. The state entrepreneurs have increasingly linked with the globalization due to the huge availability of financial resources. The neoliberal globalisation largely affects the development of the state in terms of identifying the channels through which the laws and policies (Klink 2014).  

The least formal democratic regimes have affected the effective management of the environmental challenges. Due to democratisation, the greater state development is not always influenced. Democratic pluralism might counteract the coherent and effectiveness of the state performance. On the other hand, democratisation might help in influencing the the social factors of the state that helps in effective management of the environmental challenges. Due to democratization, there are several viewpoints and opinions prevailing within the political system, effective implementation of protecting the environment are compromised. The range of opinions of implementing the procedure of protecting the environment is hampered due to contradicting opinions. The individuals involved in the state political system of protecting the environment develop contradictory views in terms of protecting the environment. Therefore, the management of the environmental challenges have become a major issue in for the state government (Richards 2015).

On the other hand, the organizational competency also affects the implementation of protecting the environment. The organizational structure, the employees and the organizational policies affect the implementation of state policies of protecting the environment.

Political economy analysis is one of the most powerful tool for the improvement of the effectiveness of aid. It creates a link between the traditional concerns of the politics and economics. The main context of the formal structures is to reveal the underlying interests, incentives and the institutions that enable to frustrate change. The politics of deforestation in brazil has followed a traditional single path which is quite different to the path followed by the other countries which suffers from the same problem of deforestation Brazil has been a crucial figure in the international negotiations regarding the roles of forests and the abundance of forest resources (Richards and VanWey 2015).

The rate of deforestation in Indonesia and Brazil has increased over the years due to the increased demand of development and poaching in the country. However, recently, Brazil has surpassed Indonesia in the rate of deforestation. Brazil has one of the largest tropical forests that include the Amazon and the Congo. It has been seen that Both Amazon and Congo has been losing 310,000 hectares of forestland between 2006-2010 (Rakodi 2014). This is due to the increased political and economic drivers that have been hampering the rate of deforestation. Brazil is one of the developing countries eventually emphasizing on the development of the country. Therefore, in order to influence development of the country, the Brazilian government is facilitating foreign investors for conducting business in the country. Due to government enforcement, the rate of deforestation has increased in Brazil thereby, hampering the natural resources of the country (Nolte et al. 2017).

Political economy Analysis is one of the most p[powerful tool for the improvement of the effectiveness of aid. It creates a link between the traditional concerns of the politics and economics. The main context of the formal structures is to reveal the underlying interests, incentives and the institutions that enable to frustrate change. The politics of deforestation in Brazil has followed a traditional single path which is quite different to the path followed by the other countries which suffers from the same problem of deforestation Brazil has been a crucial figure in the international negotiations regarding the roles of forests and the abundance of forest resources. The domestic factors that determine the deforestation are governance over deforestation, the participation of the civil society, raising concerns on the environmental degradation, involvement of Amazon states on the policy debates, the role of the presidential diplomacy and the involvement of the private sector to save the environment.

Deforestation is a severe problem in the provinces of Brazil and it has been a reported fact that Brazil is the fastest removed forestation country in the world. It has been observed that the rain forests are decreasing in the territories of Brazil and it is presumed that the forest could be reduced approximately 40% in the year 2030. It has been reported by the the Superintendency for the Development of Amazonia (SUDAM) in 1966 that slash and burn, draught are the main reason behind the deforestation. Charcoal production and the poverty of the Brazil are also provoke the citizen to take deforestation-based policy.

Because of increased cattle ranching, the forest and the natural resources is being compromised. The people of Brazil are emphasizing more on raising cattle rather than conserving the natural resources. The people are not planting trees to restore the exhausted natural resources due to cattle ranching. Additionally, the logging business Brazil has also affecting the natural resources. The Brazilian people are are cutting down trees in order to use the logs for doing business and for home uses.

However, these things can be mitigated if the government intervenes within the system in a proper manner. The cutting down of the trees need to be restricted in some areas, which will help in giving rise to the flora and the fauna. The toxic chemicals need to be reduced in areas that support forests so that it can help in allowing the growth of the trees and the rise in their species. The local community needs to provide good support by spreading awareness about the harmful nature of deforestation, which will help in grabbing the attention of the investors, as they will try to avoid these areas.

Figure 1- Levels of Political Economy Analysis

Source- (As created by the Author)

The above figure depicts the relationships between the different levels of the analysis of the political economy.

It was only after the successful implementation of the innovative policies of the government was able to officially open to the discussion of the RED-like mechanisms in the multilateral meetings. The concept of sustainable Livelihoods constitutes and has been adapted by the different developmental agencies like the British Framework and many other such organizations.

The rate of deforestation in Indonesia and Brazil has increased over the years due to the increased demand of development and poaching in the country. However, recently, Brazil has surpassed Indonesia in the rate of deforestation. Brazil has one of the largest tropical forest that includes the Amazon and the Congo. It has been seen that Both Amazon and Congo has been losing 310,000 hectares of forestland between 2006-2010. This is due to the increased political and economic drivers that have been hampering the rate of deforestation. Brazil is one of the developing countries eventually emphasizing on the development of the country. Therefore, in order to influence development of the country, the Brazilian government is facilitating foreign investors for conducting business in the country. Due to government enforcement, the rate of deforestation has increased in Brazil thereby, hampering the natural resources of the country.

The Brazilian rainforest have decreased severely due to the increased rate of deforestation. However, on the contrary, though the rate of deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest has decreased but it is predicted that the Brazilian rainforest will decrease by 30% by 2030. The major reasons of deforestation in Brazil include cattle ranching, mining activities, soybean production along with logging and increased rate development and construction. The majority of the population of Brazil is dependent on cattle ranching. Because of increased cattle, ranching the forest is minimised.

Livelihood Approach is concerned at the beginning with the people. It seeks to gain an accurate and realistic understanding of the strength of the people of the mentioned country which is believed to be the strength of the country. It is one of the most crucial elements to convert these particular strengths of the people into positive outcomes to save t he environment from degradation.

The policies, institutions and the processes of the framework cannot  be overemphasized  as because the levels in which they operate are different  from each other.,  These processes have a direct impact on the lives of  the people.