This is a study about rural households making a living from a declining natural resource base and surviving in a changing rural economy in rural Philippines. Informed by the political ecology and feminist environmentalism theoretical frameworks, the study uses empirically-based theorizing to elucidate social factors that influence household resource management strategies. Interactions of class and gender relations, the coexistence of market and nonmarket relations, and the power of social networks are among the social constructs that shape the everyday choices and decisions of household resource users. The findings of this study suggest that a "technological fix" model to address resource degradation is not the answer. I conclude by stating that building social capital and engendering local control of resources are keys to sustainable natural resource management. / Ph. D.