Understanding Society and Natural Resources : Forging New Strands of Integration Across the Social Sciences

In this edited volume leading scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds wrestle with social science integration opportunities and challenges. This book explores the growing concern of how best to achieve effective integration of the social science disciplines as a means for furthering natural resource social science and environmental problem solving. The chapters provide an overview of the history, vision, advances, examples and methods that could lead to integration. The quest for integration among the social sciences is not new. Some argue that the social sciences have lagged in their advancements and contributions to society due to their inability to address integration related issues. Integration merits debate for a number of reasons. First, natural resource issues are complex and are affected by multiple proximate driving social factors. Single disciplinary studies focused at one level are unlikely to provide explanations that represent this complexity and are limited in their ability to inform policy recommendations. Complex problems are best explored across disciplines that examine social-ecological phenomenon from different scales. Second, multi-disciplinary initiatives such as those with physical and biological scientists are necessary to understand the scope of the social sciences. Too frequently there is a belief that one social scientist on a multi-disciplinary team provides adequate social science representation. Third, more complete models of human behavior will be achieved through a synthesis of diverse social science perspectives. Foreword 6 Preface: AND not OR 8 References 10 Acknowledgments 12 Contents 14 Contributors 16 Introduction 20 An Enduring Concern 20 Overview of Book 22 References 25 Part I: The Status of Integration 27 Chapter 1: A Vision of the Future of Science: Reintegrating of the Study of Humans and the Rest of Nature 28 1.1 The Role of Envisioning in Creating the Future 28 1.2 Consilience Among All the Sciences 29 1.3 Reestablishing the Balance Between Synthesis and Analysis 30 1.4 A Pragmatic Modeling Philosophy 32 1.5 A Multiscale Approach to Science 34 1.5.1 Aggregation 34 1.5.2 Hierarchy Theory 35 1.5.3 Fractals and Chaos 36 1.5.4 Resolution and Predictability 37 1.6 Cultural and Biological Co-evolution 38 1.6.1 Cultural vs. Genetic Evolution 39 1.6.2 Evolutionary Criteria 40 1.7 Creating a Shared Vision of a Desirable and Sustainable Future 41 1.8 Conclusions 46 References 46 Chapter 2: Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB): Integrating Social Science and the Humanities into Solving Sustainability Challenges 50 2.1 Introduction 50 2.1.1 Dealing with Scientific Silos and Uncertainties 50 2.1.2 Solving These Challenges 53 2.2 Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) 54 2.2.1 MAHB’s Mission and Structure 54 2.2.2 MAHB’s Research Approach 57 2.3 A Research Agenda for and from MAHB 60 2.3.1 Socio-cultural Change for Sustainability 60 2.3.2 Population and Sustainability 61 2.3.3 Environmental Governance for Sustainability 62 2.3.4 Inequity and Sustainability 63 2.4 Concluding Reflections 65 References 65 Part II: Topics in Integration 69 Chapter 3: Science During Crisis: The Application of Interdisciplinary and Strategic Science During Major Environmental Crises 70 3.1 Introduction 70 3.2 Science During Crisis: Two Examples 72 3.2.1 2010: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 72 3.2.2 2012: Hurricane Sandy 75 3.3 Examples of Social Science During Environmental Crisis Events 77 3.4 Distinctive Characteristics of Science During Environmental Crises 78 3.4.1 The Importance of Coupled Human-Natural Systems 79 3.4.2 The Challenge of Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Teams 79 3.4.3 The Importance of Uncertainties and Limitations 81 3.4.4 The Value of Cascading Consequences and Assessing Impacts 82 3.4.5 The Need for Sense of Place 82 3.4.6 The Demands of Communicating Science During Crisis 83 3.5 A Modest Research Agenda 84 3.6 Conclusion 85 References 86 Chapter 4: Who’s Afraid of Thomas Malthus? 89 4.1 Introduction 89 4.2 Classical Malthusianism 90 4.2.1 The Logical Structure of Malthusianism 92 4.2.2 Why Malthus Was Wrong 93 4.2.3 Why Malthus May Still Turn Out to Be Right 94 4.2.4 Science Integration 95 4.3 Simple Neo-Malthusian Theories 95 4.3.1 Environmental Neo-Malthusianism 95 4.3.2 Climate-Based Neo-Malthusianism 97 4.3.3 Energy-Based Neo-Malthusianism 98 4.3.4 Critique of Simple Neo-Malthusianism 99 4.4 Complex Neo-Malthusian Theories 99 4.4.1 Limits to Growth 99 4.4.2 Eco-scarcity Theory 101 4.4.3 Critique of Eco-scarcity Theory 102 4.4.4 Climate-Based Eco-scarcity 103 4.4.5 The Future in the Past 104 4.4.6 Science Integration 105 4.4.7 Civilizational Neo-Malthusianism 106 4.5 The Role of Social Science 107 4.6 Conclusion 109 Postscript 110 References 110 Chapter 5: A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Social-Ecological Models of Emerging Infectious Diseases 115 5.1 Introduction 115 5.2 Integrating Social Science Theories Relevant to Development Transitions 117 5.3 Anthropogenic and Ecological Determinants of HPAI in Southeast Asia 121 5.4 Developing and Testing the Framework 124 5.5 Lessons Learned About Social Science Integration 126 5.6 Conclusion 127 References 128 Chapter 6: Studying Power with the Social-Ecological System Framework 132 6.1 Introduction 132 6.2 Incorporating Power Within The SES Framework 134 6.3 Overview of the SES Framework 135 6.4 Operationalizing Research on the Role of Power in Social-Ecological Systems 138 6.5 Analyzing Power Within The SES Framework 139 6.6 Institutional Power 141 6.7 Elinor Ostrom’s Definition of Power 144 6.8 Steven Lukes’s Three Faces of Power 145 6.9 Douglass North and the Institutional Matrix 146 6.10 Discussion 148 6.11 Conclusions: An Interdisciplinary Agenda for the Study of Power in SESs 150 References 153 Chapter 7: Considerations in Representing Human Individuals in Social-Ecological Models 157 7.1 Purpose 157 7.2 Impetus for Change Emanating from Ecological Sciences 158 7.3 A Need for Greater Inclusion of the Individual in Ecosystem Models 158 7.4 Human Thought as Dynamic and Adaptive 159 7.4.1 Dual Adaptive Systems in Humans 160 7.5 The Individual in a Multi-level Context 162 7.5.1 Hierarchies Within the Individual 162 7.5.2 The Individual-Group Hierarchy 164 7.5.3 Institutional and Structural Factors 165 7.5.3.1 Economic Development 166 7.5.3.2 Governance Systems 167 7.5.3.3 Geographic Regions 169 7.5.3.4 Cultural Groups 169 7.6 Mutually Constructed Nature of Human Thought and the Social and Natural Environment 171 7.7 Conclusion 172 References 173 Part III: Methodological Advances for Facilitating Social Science Integration 179 Chapter 8: The Representation of Human-Environment Interactions in Land Change Research and Modelling 180 8.1 Introduction: Land Change and Spatial Models 180 8.2 The Representation of Human-Environment Interactions in Land Change Models 181 8.2.1 Different Perspectives and Research Approaches 184 8.2.2 Using Social Science Case-Studies to Help Parameterize Land Change Models 186 8.2.3 Representation of Human-Environment Interactions in Land Change Models 188 8.3 Land Change Models as a Platform for Social Science Integration 189 References 192 Chapter 9: Simulation as an Approach to Social-­Ecological Integration, with an Emphasis on Agent-Based Modeling 197 9.1 Introduction 197 9.2 Utilities of Simulations 198 9.3 Integrated Modeling 199 9.3.1 Ecological and Social Models 201 9.3.2 Integrated Modeling with Stakeholders 202 9.4 Agent-Based Modeling 203 9.5 Examples 207 9.5.1 Integrated Assessments with S avanna and DECUMA 207 9.5.2 Balinese Water Temple Networks 210 9.5.3 Wet Season Versus Dry Season Livestock Dispersal 212 9.6 Summary and Conclusions 213 References 216 Chapter 10: Inter-disciplinary Analysis of Climate Change and Society: A Network Approach 221 10.1 Introduction 221 10.2 Structure, Function and Power in Social Networks 224 10.3 Action Networks and Discourse Networks 226 10.3.1 Culture as Context in Social Network Analysis 227 10.3.2 Discourse Networks Around Climate Change 230 10.3.3 Policy Networks Around Climate Change 239 10.4 Conclusion 243 References 243 Chapter 11: Designing Social Learning Systems for Integrating Social Sciences into Policy Processes: Some Experiences of Water Managing 247 11.1 Introduction 247 11.2 Framing Choices in Environmental Policy Situations 249 11.3 Integration and Systems 253 11.4 Designing Social Learning Systems for Social Science Integration 255 11.5 Case Studies of Designing Social Learning Systems 259 11.5.1 Integrating Environment Agency Catchment Science into Policy 259 11.5.2 Creating Water Sensitive Cities in Australia 260 11.5.3 Social Learning for Ecosystem Services in Lake Baiyangdian, China 262 11.6 Constraints and Opportunities for Social Learning for Integration 263 11.7 Concluding Comments and Implications for Future Integrated Policy-Making 265 References 266 Author Bios 270 Index 276 In this edited open access book leading scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds wrestle with social science integration opportunities and challenges. This book explores the growing concern of how best to achieve effective integration of the social science disciplines as a means for furthering natural resource social science and environmental problem solving. The chapters provide an overview of the history, vision, advances, examples and methods that could lead to integration. The quest for integration among the social sciences is not new. Some argue that the social sciences have lagged in their advancements and contributions to society due to their inability to address integration related issues. Integration merits debate for a number of reasons. First, natural resource issues are complex and are affected by multiple proximate driving social factors. Single disciplinary studies focused at one level are unlikely to provide explanations that represent this complexity and are limited in their ability to inform policy recommendations. Complex problems are best explored across disciplines that examine social-ecological phenomenon from different scales. Second, multi-disciplinary initiatives such as those with physical and biological scientists are necessary to understand the scope of the social sciences. Too frequently there is a belief that one social scientist on a multi-disciplinary team provides adequate social science representation. Third, more complete models of human behavior will be achieved through a synthesis of diverse social science perspectives. Front Matter....Pages i-xxv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 A Vision of the Future of Science: Reintegrating of the Study of Humans and the Rest of Nature....Pages 3-24 Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB): Integrating Social Science and the Humanities into Solving Sustainability Challenges....Pages 25-43 Front Matter....Pages 45-45 Science During Crisis: The Application of Interdisciplinary and Strategic Science During Major Environmental Crises....Pages 47-65 Who’s Afraid of Thomas Malthus?....Pages 67-92 A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Social-Ecological Models of Emerging Infectious Diseases....Pages 93-109 Studying Power with the Social-Ecological System Framework....Pages 111-135 Considerations in Representing Human Individuals in Social-Ecological Models....Pages 137-158 Front Matter....Pages 159-159 The Representation of Human-Environment Interactions in Land Change Research and Modelling....Pages 161-177 Simulation as an Approach to Social-Ecological Integration, with an Emphasis on Agent-Based Modeling....Pages 179-202 Inter-disciplinary Analysis of Climate Change and Society: A Network Approach....Pages 203-228 Designing Social Learning Systems for Integrating Social Sciences into Policy Processes: Some Experiences of Water Managing....Pages 229-251 Back Matter....Pages 253-261 "Al igual que otros procesos constituyentes en las Américas, el aporte indígena es clave al poner los conceptos de 'buen vivir,' la plurinacionalidad, los derechos de la madre tierra, el agua como bien público, el pluralismo jurídico, el derecho a consulta en proyectos ambientales, la coparticipación en recursos naturales, las lenguas nativas, otras formas de poder político y la autonomía territorial. Como aporte a este debate sustantivo, hemos seleccionado un conjunto de textos que llamamos Fuentes para una Constitución con Poder Indígena. Se investigaron tratados históricos suscritos por Chile con los mapuche, y documentos recientes en el período democrático. Observamos Constituciones de norte a sur de América en que lo indígena ocupa un rol clave y permea el texto constitucional de un conjunto de países. A su vez, extractamos Declaraciones Internacionales esenciales sobre los derechos indígenas de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) y otras agencias del sistema de Naciones Unidas. Luego, se consideren declaraciones plurales de las organizaciones indígenas en favor del reconocimiento, plurinacionalidad, derechos territoriales y culturales. Finalmente, se agregan declaraciones relevantes de otros actores" --back cover