The power of discourse: Hard lessons for traditional forest communities in the Amazon

Published Date
October 2009, Vol.11(5):392–397, doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2008.11.004
Discourse and Expertise in Forest and Environmental Governance

Author 

Gabriel Medina ^a,,,

Benno Pokorny ^a

Jes Weigelt ^b

aAlbert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Institute of Silviculture, Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany

• bHumboldt University Berlin, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Division of Resource Economics, Berlin, Germany

Available online 26 January 2009.

Abstract

In the contemporary Amazon, ‘discourse’ is increasingly a new means of exercising power, influencing local society and the ways in which natural resources are managed. As society becomes ever more complex, direct means of exercising power no longer enjoy the same legitimacy and efficacy. Discourses are instead now assuming a dominant role in defining governance regimes; the sense of what is correct and socially acceptable, and what is not. This is particularly relevant for the rapidly advancing development frontiers in the Amazon region, where local communities are coming into contact with external players highly interested in their forest resources. This study focuses on understanding how external discourses can restrict the Amazonian communities' options for using their forests, but also how communities can harness these discourses to achieve their own claims and objectives. Empirical evidence from four study areas in the Bolivian, Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon regions is used to show how discourses on sustainable forest management are moulding forestry governance. The conclusion shows that while the discourses used by loggers and development organisations are strongly influencing the way communities manage their forests, some communities are also successfully using these discourses in alliances with environmental organisations to achieve acknowledgment of their demands.

Keywords

Environmental discourse

Community forestry

Logging

Development projects

NGOs

---

 Table 1

Table 1.

 Table 2

Table 2.

 Table 3

Table 3.

• ☆
  Presented at the conference ‘Scientific framework of environmental and forest governance—the role of discourses and expertise.’ August 2007. Organised by the Institute of Forest Policy and Nature Conservation at the Georg-August-University Göttingen.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 761 203 3680; fax: +49 761 203 3781.

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800909001852