Opening Windows: Embracing New Perspectives and Practices in Natural Resource Social Sciences

The third decennial review from the International Association for Society and Natural Resources, Opening Windowssimultaneously examines the breadth and societal relevance of Society and Natural Resources (SNR) knowledge, explores emergent issues and new directions in SNR scholarship, and captures the increasing diversity of SNR research. Authors from various backgrounds—career stage, gender and sexuality, race/ethnicity, and global region—provide a fresh, nuanced, and critical look at the field from both researchers’ and practitioners’ perspectives.

This reflexive book is organized around four key themes: diversity and justice, governance and power, engagement and elicitation, and relationships and place. This is not a complacent volume—chapters point to gaps in conventional scholarship and to how much work remains to be done. Power is a central focus, including the role of cultural and economic power in “participatory” approaches to natural resource management and the biases encoded into the very concepts that guide scholarly and practical work. The chapters include robust literature syntheses, conceptual models, and case studies that provide examples of best practices and recommend research directions to improve and transform natural resource social sciences. An unmistakable spirit of hope is exemplified by findings suggesting positive roles for research in the progress ahead.

Bringing fresh perspectives on the assumptions and interests that underlie and entangle scholarship on natural resource decisionmaking and the justness of its outcomes, Opening Windows is significant for scholars, students, natural resource practitioners, managers and decision makers, and policy makers.

Kate Sherren is professor in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University, Canada. She works on the human dimensions of climate-focused landscape transitions such as coastal adaptation, renewable energy, and sustainable grazing

Gladman (Glad) Thondhlana is associate professor and head of the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University, where he teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students. His research work centres broadly on human dimensions of natural resources management, including the links between natural resource use and rural livelihoods, collaborative management of natural resources, conservation conflicts, and sustainable consumption. His work is guided by questions aimed at addressing inequality, marginalisation, and social injustice in resource management.

Douglas Jackson-Smith is professor and Kellogg Chair of Agroecosystem Management in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University, USA. He has published extensively in social science and interdisciplinary journals and served as president of the Rural Sociological Society.