This dissertation explores the effects of democratic competition among political parties in India on natural resources and the ability of local communities to cooperate for natural resource management. A significant number of decentralization policies in developing countries depend for their success on local collective action for the provision of public goods. At the same time, democratization generates multiple impulses in society, and understanding its effects on the prospects for local cooperation is important for explaining the variation in success of decentralization policies for natural resource management. I use historical and ethnographic data to understand the influence of political competition on natural resource outcomes and local collective action. The descriptive analysis draws upon theoretical and empirical literatures on political competition, collective action, and property rights, and is used as the basis for generating hypotheses as well as specifying context-specific measurements of the relevant variables for statistical analysis. I test the hypotheses on two sets of dependent variables – local cooperation and forest condition – and three datasets covering community-based irrigation and forest management systems, co-management institutions for irrigation, soil conservation, and forest management, as well as state-managed forests as the null category without decentralized management. The findings show that an inclusive pattern of political mobilization and party competition have increased the salience of environment and forests in the public domain and democratic politics, with a positive effect on resource outcomes. Further, natural resources are better managed by decentralized institutions, compared to state management. However, communities located in highly competitive electoral districts find it significantly more difficult to cooperate due to interference from political parties. Moreover, communities that are heterogeneous along the salient issue dimension in democratic politics are the worst affected. On the other hand, better representation of sub-group interests in community affairs, prevalence of democratic practices, and linkages of community leaders to multiple political parties are associated with higher levels of local cooperation. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate that communities are better at natural resource management than state agencies, but the impulses generated by democratization can constrain the ability of local communities to manage natural resources. / Dissertation

The community development in Taiwan has its unique connotation and meaning, some scholars pointed that the key to the continuous promotion of community development is in the self identity, collective participation and active support. Promotion of community development fears discontinuity. The phenomenon that commonly appears is discontinuity of residents¡¦ participation or unsatisfactory cohesive force of community. As a consequence, the community development is regarded as a mean to enable collective action of community residents, what affects the communities to enable an effective collective action is an issue to be discussed in the study. There are four purposes of this study : firstly; is to get to know the theoretical base of local community development task in Taiwan; secondly; to proof the effect among social capital, community empowerment and collective action; thirdly; to explore the operation strategies for ¡§urban¡¨ and ¡§rural¡¨ community development and lastly, to combine social capital, community empowerment and collective action theories related aspects to construct a ¡§continuous development model¡¨ for the community development in Taiwan. The research variables with regard to the community collective action of this study include: ¡§civic engagement¡¨, ¡§interpersonal trust¡¨, ¡§social networks¡¨, ¡§community empowerment¡¨, ¡§individual and social benefits (incentives)¡¨ etc., with community participants (effective sample size of 573 people in total) from 19 community development associations as research objects; including 10 communities in Kaohsiung city (urban community), 9 communities in Kaohsiung county and Tainan county (rural community), with questionnaires acquired to proceed reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis, using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to construct variables and model test that affect the collective action of community residents for community development. According to analysis of overall sample, there is certain effect of civic engagement on social capital, community empowerment on social capital, social capital on collective action, and individual and social benefits (incentives) on collective action; moreover, a direct impact of community empowerment is shown on the collective action. According to the model fit outcomes, urban community samples are more close to ideal standard, followed by overall sample. The suggestions and strategies proposed upon the research outcomes were mainly divided into 3 directions : first of all, to increase activity management and construct interactive network from social capital perspective; second, to advance identification affection through learning capability from community empowerment perspective; eventually, to provide incentives to enable an interest from collective action perspective. There shall be positive and effective influence on the community collective action once the community development is planned and fulfilled as per 3 dimensions recommended by the study.

Abstract This research will mainly study the Ping-Ling Freeway Plebiscite Act and the Ping-Ling County River and Fish Protection Act. The thesis adopts the logic of collective action and the analytic path of the resource mobilization theory and approval theory, which are derived from the collective action and social action theories. The research will further analyze the cause, process, effect and obstacles, of the Ping-Ling Plebiscite Action and River and Fish Protection Act. By observing the two actions, conclusions can then be drawn on the relationship between the regional collective action and the regional democracy. In the research, it is noted that a political elite, who is also an initiator, organizer as well as spokesperson, plays a significant role in the behavior of collective action. The Ping-Ling Plebiscite and the River and Fish Protection Act, with the leadership and power of the political elite added to hold, construct a systematic mechanism such as the Fish Protection Patrol Party. The politic elite will provide the residents theory discourse for use in participating collective action. Throughout the process of the regional residents participating in collective action, there will be great benefits to the democratic development in the region. From the process of actively participating in the regional affairs, the residents will develop new perspectives, and thus have positive on the development of regional civism. It is also discovered in the study that the factional structure of Ping-Ling County is gradually changing. The phenomenon of faction predominating the residents¡¦ power of political life is gradually diminishing. The residents now cast their votes based on the candidates¡¦ ability and contribution to the region and much less based on faction. It is shown that regional democracy can be radicated and practiced through collective action, and this can be a possible approach for every region¡¦s municipals push.

The unemployed workers movement in Argentina (also known as the piqueteros) emerged during the mid 1990s, as a response to the increasing poverty and unemployment produced by the economic reforms implemented by the national government. Its extraordinary growth and leading role in the protests of 2001-2002 led many scholars to believe that it would become an enduring aspect of Argentina’s politics. However, after 2002, the movement entered a period of decline, which was reflected in the loss of members, support, and public influence. In this paper, I study the trajectory of this movement in order to advance certain arguments regarding the relation between grievances and collective action. I will argue that a key factor behind the decline of the movement was the amelioration of the main grievance which gave it rise. The emergence and consolidation of the piqueteros coincided with a period of increasing unemployment. However, after 2002, Argentina’s economy entered a phase of intense growth which significantly improved labor market conditions. The new scenario deeply affected the movement’s influence. Therefore, the study of the piqueteros can provide significant insight about social movement theory. In particular, it suggests that the relation between grievances and collective action is more direct than what the resource mobilization and political process approaches predict. In other words, the case of the piqueteros shows that grievances matter: although several factors may mediate between them and collective action, their effect is never negligible. In addition, this paper addresses a more “empirical” gap. Although there is an increasing body of literature about the decline of the piquetero movement, most studies focus on political variables and neglect the potential role played by the reduction in unemployment. In other words, in exploring the causes of this downfall, authors usually center on the emergence of a new government in 2003, the divisions between different organizations, and the loss of legitimacy among other sectors of society. By focusing on an alternative explanation, I expect to contribute to the understanding of this movement. / text

This document presents the research I have undertaken over the last decade. It is both retrospective and prospective in the sense that, although it is obviously focused on my past activities, it also indicates ways for future research. The main topic of my overall research can be summarized as follows: I explore the development of online, open projects, or communities of creation, such as Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS), from an economics point of view. This means that in addition to renewing the answers to Olson's question about the individual participation to collective action (1965), it questions also the why and how companies participate in this process, renewing Arrow's dilemma (1962) on the incentives to produce innovation and the incentive to disseminate this innovation, and the way people organize themselves to transform participation into concrete pieces of knowledge, being software or encyclopedia articles.

Past research suggests that members of devalued groups recognize their group is discriminated against. Do the implicit responses of members of these groups demonstrate the same pattern? I argue that they do not and that this is due to a motivated protection of members of devalued groups’ social identity. Study 1 demonstrates that, at an explicit level African-Canadians recognize that their group is discriminated against, but at an implicit level African-Canadians think that most people like their group to a greater extent than do European-Canadians. Study 2 replicates this implicit finding but demonstrates that devalued and majority groups do not have different implicit normative regard about a non-devalued group. Study 3 again replicates the implicit finding with Muslim participants while demonstrating that, when affirmed, this group difference disappears. Study 4 demonstrates that implicit normative regard can predict collective action over and above implicit attitudes and explicit normative regard. The implications for social identity theory and collective action are discussed.

This thesis aspires to advance understanding of how actor choices relate to embedded structures of rules in communicative planning practice, using insights from the institutional literature developed in organizational science, economics, sociology and planning. Specifically, the thesis argues that a spatial institutional perspective can help planners understand the complex patterns of interaction among actors, and between actors and rules. Actors interact in the spaces created by the interplay between actor choices and rule structures: the institutional environment. The thesis comprises five papers: two case studies, a literature review and a theoretical paper. A review of the institutional literature reveals insights from other disciplines not yet fully explored in planning, including transaction cost analysis to explain individual decisions and collective action approaches to understanding micro behaviour and macro outcomes. These insights, together with the results of the case studies, suggest that planning theory needs to better understand how individual actors make choices within rule structures and based on the expected behaviour of others. To address this, the thesis offers the concept of relational rewards, which incorporates theories of social capital and communication externalities into a rational actor approach. This may provide an explanation for why self-interested actors make choices about whether or not to participate in interactive forums designed to meet communicative goals. This approach can also explain how boundedly rational actors without communicative norms may over time develop a propensity to collaborate. In a practical sense, this thesis challenges planners to think about what selective incentives they offer actors to participate in communicative planning. It encourages planners to identify and characterize the many institutional environments for planning and decisionmaking in transaction cost terms. Planning theorists and practitioners are experienced and adept in understanding and applying a spatial perspective, and can develop a spatial-institutional approach to coordinating actors both across physical space and within institutional environments. / <p>QC 20100927</p>

This thesis contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the anti-racist movement in Sweden by describing its development from the early 1930s to the mid-2000s. It pays special attention to mapping and analyzing the ideas that have motivated anti-racist activities and their importance for mobilizing support and movement activity. Using the theoretical toolbox of the framing perspective, the strengths, weaknesses, possibilities and limitations of different anti-racist frames are discussed, as are the consequences of different types of intra-movement frame disputes and frame contests with external actors. By tracing and describing the historical development of the movement and different types of anti-racist frames, I create a typology of different anti-racist actors - what I call pragmatic, radical and moderate anti-racists. The activities of these types of actors are described throughout the long and winding history of the movement. In the thesis, the movement’s history is divided into four waves of protest. The movement’s roots stretch back to the 1930s and the struggle against Fascism and Nazism. It continues during the 1960s and onwards with the anti-apartheid movement, the 1980s mass mobilizations against domestic racist groups and the intensified struggles of the last decades against racist extremism, right-wing populism and various aspects of structural racism. Based on the typology, three cases are selected for further scrutiny. Pragmatic anti-racism is studied through the activities of Stoppa rasismen (Stop racism) in the 1980s, radical anti-racism through Antifascistisk aktion (Antifascist action, also known as AFA) during the 1990s and moderate anti-racism through Samling mot rasism och diskriminering (Gathering against racism and discrimination) at the turn of the millennium. By gaining access to extensive empirical material I have been able to follow each case from its first steps to its downfall. The material has been gathered from a variety of sources using different qualitative techniques. I have conducted semi-structured interviews with activists and analyzed protocols, pamphlets, journals, internal bulletins, mails, posters, speeches, web pages that have been disbanded, pictures, films and books. The analysis shows that the different types of actors face different challenges, and have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to mobilizing consensus and fostering participation. However, the three actors have also faced common challenges when trying to mobilize against racism given the national context, the self-image of Sweden as a tolerant, open and egalitarian country and the dominant views of racism, which taken together has turned racism into a serious but fairly marginal problem. The analysis also shows the effects of frame disputes and frame contests with regard to diagnostic, prognostic and motivational aspects of framing. At times the dividing lines have led to a broadening of the movement and its work, creating a wide mobilization potential and a strong multitudinous movement. During other periods the differences have contributed to long and profound conflicts that have drained the organizations and activists of time, resources and energy. Instead of focusing on combating their opponents, the anti-racist groups have been engulfed in internal strife, which has severely fragmented, divided and weakened the movement and hindered mobilization – contributing to turning the movement into a dispersed “milieu” by the mid-2000s. The thesis concludes with a chapter discussing how the empirical applicability of the framing perspective can be improved.

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Saskatchewan has good growing conditions, much land and water resources, minimal pest pressure and the expertise necessary for growing high-quality commercial vegetables. Statistics show, however, that commercial vegetable production occupies a relatively small place in the agricultural economy of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan production accounts for less than 10 per cent of the total provincial market for fresh vegetables, the other supplies of fresh vegetables marketed in Saskatchewan come from sources outside of the province and imports from the southern United States, Mexico, and other warm regions. The majority of Saskatchewan produced vegetables are sold through market gardens, farmers’ markets and consumer contract sales. In light of the increasing importance of fresh vegetable demand, examining the role of a new marketing organization in the province is important as it might bring about major realignment of the Saskatchewan fresh produce market. Recently, a project supported by the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (ACS) encouraged producers to organize themselves into picking zones and to work together to supply larger retail markets. The Grocery People (TGP) (a retailer) has agreed to purchase vegetables grown in Saskatchewan for their distribution centre in Saskatoon. This new organization, Prairie Fresh Food Corporation (PFFC), despite its numerous benefits, will test the farmer participants’ resolve to cooperate rather than proceed alone. This poses a real opportunity for producers to expand and develop the infrastructure required, as produce can be pooled. This study uses Transaction Cost, Agency and Monopolistic Competition theories to analyze the factors that hamper farmers from participating in contracts and taking advantage of these potential opportunities. It considers the advantages and barriers or potential challenges to wholesalers and retailers cooperating with this plan. In particular, an economic model of economies of scale through collective action is developed. The model assumes that small growers can access higher market share through collective action and achieving economies of scale. The results of personal interviews with eleven members of PFFC are presented and analyzed in a case study format. The case study analysis of PFFC reveals that the organization could provide positive benefits to its members in the early period of its establishment. The results show that the market share of the PFFC is still relatively small throughout the province, but its members expect it to expand in the future. The results suggest that high relative prices in the market and trust in the buyer have a positive effect on the probability of farmer participation in the project.