Revisiting the Role of Institutions in Transformative Contexts: Institutional Change and Conflicts

Abstract

The study of conflicts over natural resources is neither governed by a coherent set of theories nor limited by strict disciplinary boundaries. Rather, it encompasses a multitude of conceptions grounded within a wide array of disciplines and epistemological assumptions concerning the links between institutional change and conflicts, often concluding in contradictory propositions. This article aims at providing conceptual guidance for the special issue, by reviewing institutional research with a particular focus on institutional change and associated conflicts and drawing some implications from transformative settings. More specifically, the paper explores certain propositions and concepts utilised by institutional economists to explain why conflicts persist despite institutional reforms explicitly or implicitly introduced to resolve them. The author revisits diverse cases from different regions to investigate key concepts related to institutional change and its implications on environmental conflicts associated to transformations, complementing this view from a political science perspective. The paper concludes by offering an overview of factors identified as instrumental in understanding the institutional change and conflict–cooperation continuum.

The Role of Common-Pool Resources’ Institutional Robustness in a Collective Action Dilemma under Environmental Variations

“…Each of the first six (6) DPs were measured with a five (5) points Likert scale ranging from 'totally disagree' to 'totally agree' (see Table 3). Following Gari et al [39], who propose a scale from 'absence' (0) to 'present' (1) of the DPs, we coded the answers ranging from 'total disagreement' (0) to 'total agreement' (1). We also considered intermediate answers with 0.25 for 'disagreement', 0.5 for 'neutral', and 0.75 for 'agreement'.…”

“…The seminal paper of this special issue: "Revisiting the Role of Institutions in Transformative Contexts: Institutional Change and Conflicts" [1], brings to the discussion this unprecedented setting for humanity and the potential surge of conflicts with a focus on the role of institutional change. The author argues three (3) causes for institutional change: (i) the lack of an institution, (ii) a futile institution, or (iii) the need to adjust the institution given external disturbances (p. 9, [1]). This paper dives into the latter cause for institutional change, where climate change introduces the external disturbances.…”

“…CPRs are fertile ground for 'conflict' considering the conceptualization adopted by Zikos where conflicts are understood as "an important contextual factor under which institutional processes take place and as a framing condition for the (non)cooperative strategies adopted by involved actors, ultimately influencing the success of introduced institutional changes" (p. 4, [1]). Conflicts are the setting where actors have incompatible natural resource governance objectives [2].…”

When Unfair Trade Is Also at Home: The Economic Sustainability of Coffee Farms

“…Coffee supply is mainly based on exports from countries with different institutional architectures. As the rules of the game and the configuration of the agri-food chains are different in each producing country, contract enforcement, definition of property rights, and external arbitration shall not be the same as well [29,30].…”

“…FNC [Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia] has shown that it is far more expensive to take a container from coffee growing in Armenia to Cartagena (900 km) than from In Brazil, coffee production involves complex governance mechanisms to coordinate the whole chain towards both domestic and international markets [21,40]. Although present in remote locations, the supply chain involves a supportive activity from private agents who collectively handle issues that government fails to address [30,41]. There is no public organization responsible for the sector in the country, but there are several associations and cooperatives that provide support to producers.…”