Five paradigms of collective action underlying the human dimension of conservation
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the question of collective action addressing the human dimension of conservation: ethical, cultural, and social. The first part of the chapter explains the five fundamental paradigms of collective action that underpin both lay and academic discourses on action for conservation. The paradigms are government paradigm, co-ordination paradigm, revolution paradigm, governance paradigm, and minority action paradigm. The second part of the chapter provides an illustration of such clarification. It introduces current controversies about community based conservation in Africa-more particularly, in East Africa's Maasailand-and show how the five-paradigms model proposed can shed light on them. The chapter ends with a discussion of some possible misunderstandings hindering the effort to work on collective action across conservation biology and social sciences, and offers some suggestions for further learning and research.