This module examines the conceptualisation and management of resources through the lens of governance against a backdrop of intensified conflicts over their use globally. Governance is defined loosely as the formal and informal structures and processes that encourage and accommodate representation by societal groups in decision-making and decision-taking.
The module considers different ways in which resource production and its distributional effects are represented, managed, legitimised and contested through complex relations between state, industry and society. Through a variety of case studies, it explores the resulting implications for accountability, transparency, social acceptability, representation and justice, and for power relations locally, nationally and globally. It also considers various obstacles and barriers as well as tools and procedures that might enable wider participation of actors in resource governance in future. Crucially, developing effective forms of resource governance is a process that cuts across multiple geographical scales and political-administrative boundaries, requiring targeted interventions to enable effective participation.
By the end of the module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of resource management from relating theories of inter alia governance, justice, epistemology/knowledges, and science and technology studies through to practical contemporary resource management issues.
- Identify and critically assess shifting patterns and processes of resource governance based on case studies and the competing interests of different actors in relation to them.
- Critically evaluate policies and interventions relating to resource governance in terms of governance relations, justice, and/or effectiveness of outcomes.
- Demonstrate the value of an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to understanding resource management and conflicts.