Taking Prejudice Seriously: Burkean Reflections on the Rural Past and Present

Abstract

Urban‐based nature conservation elites often condemn rural communities as backwards when they appeal to the value of tradition. Nevertheless, drawing from an interview study of Swedish hunters, we show that appeals to tradition express a coherent, if problematic, philosophical vision. We ask, then, two questions: (1) Do the ideas of Swedish hunters reflect a coherent philosophical vision? (2) Could this vision have a positive function in facilitating improved public dialogue over conservation policy? We examine this overlooked phenomenon of philosophical beliefs as the basis for contesting conservation policy. We also elucidate the negative consequences of this oversight for nature conservation policy debates. Finally, we discuss its positive function in nature conservation policy‐making. Overall, we argue that policymakers should strive for a better understanding and appreciation of the hunters’ philosophical vision and that the hunters themselves should strive to better articulate this vision rather than their resentments.

Go to the forest! Exploring the orderings of Swedish Nature-Based Integration

“…Likewise, both orderings delimit periods of time when socionatural relations were 'better' (the past) or 'worse' (now) (cf. von Essen and Allen, 2017). I would expect many respondents of this study to blanch at the comparison of their work with far-right ordering projects, the point is to highlight that they are rooted in the same ordering substrate -of nations, nationalities and national landscapes and practices.…”

What influences hunting participation of potential new hunters? Qualitative insights from Sweden

“…access to land and social networks) identified in this study are minimized the state can support recruitment. Furthermore, these are new hunters that have not experienced this unfairness personally, however, considering other research that identifies how governmental institutions may burden relevant actor groups (Eliason 2012, von Essen andAllen 2017), there is a risk of this group quitting hunting if not supported properly. The hunter organizations themselves cannot recruit hunters to a necessary extent, thus the state could take a larger responsibility given the political will and intention to have hunters as the basis in the partnership model.…”

Welcoming Wolves? Governing the Return of Large Carnivores in Traditional Pastoral Landscapes

“…This contributed to the rejection of wolves and refusal to adapt, since the traditional land-use systems were important for local economies and identities (González-Álvarez, 2015). This fear of "losing the landscape, " and its links to large carnivores, has been observed elsewhere, for instance India, Sweden, and Norway (Ghosal et al, 2015;von Essen and Allen, 2018). A shared finding between these cases was the perception that traditional management is becoming impossible due to the increasingly hegemonic position of the wilderness ethos (promoting protection over production) within public opinion and policymaking.…”