Multi-level governance of British Columbia's mountain pine beetle crisis: The roles of memory and identity

摘要

As multi-level environmental governance approaches have become increasingly popular, many researchers have critically examined their implications for devolution and withdrawal of the state. Others have suggested that such approaches are necessary for more resilient, flexible natural resource management. However, the qualitative social dimensions of multi-level governance remain less well understood. We explore how two such dimensions-memory and identity-are significant determinants of access to resources for adaptation in the case of regional governance of mountain pine beetle infestation in central British Columbia, Canada. We found that memory and identity are conceptual research lenses with the potential to elicit subtle detail about how participants in governance efforts mobilize, engage, or are limited by (both consciously and unconsciously) social relationships between communities and within a resource-dependent, rural region.