Title: 'Nested' participation in hierarchical societies? Lessons for social- ecological research and management

Authors: Marion Glaser, Irendra Radjawali, Sebastian Ferse, Bernhard Glaeser

Addresses: Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstr 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany. ' Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstr 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany. ' Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstr 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany. ' German Society for Human Ecology (DGH), Clayallee 271, 14169 Berlin, Germany

Abstract: In the shift from community-based ecosystem management to co-management by the government and user groups, the participation of local resource users has remained important. In research, participatory approaches aim to enable local communities to contribute to sustainability knowledge. However, the outcomes of participatory practice have been particularly meagre in hierarchical contexts. The article links the difficulties of participatory practice to the hierarchical features of Indonesian society and examines a recently conducted participatory analysis of the social-ecological dynamics surrounding marine resource management in an Indonesian coral archipelago. We discuss the options and limitations encountered in this distinctly hierarchical society and suggest an approach for designing nested participation in this and similarly hierarchical socio-cultural settings. A visual tool is suggested which particularly supports the participation of ecosystem users in the lower ranks of social hierarchies in the search for more sustainable social-ecological futures.

Keywords: social-ecological systems; systems analysis; focus groups; social hierarchies; Indonesia; participatory management; nested participation; participatory games; agent-based modelling; hierarchical societies; local resource users; marine resource management; coral archipelago; ecosystems; sustainability; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2010.035571

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2010 Vol.2 No.4, pp.390 - 414

Published online: 30 Sep 2010 *

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