Sara Delaney, PhD student in the University of Maine agroecology lab, and co-authors have published a new manuscript entitled Commoning climate change: Peer-to-peer social affinity in a muti-level commons in Spire, the Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability.
In their paper, Delaney et al. propose that “the structure of climate governance is centered around effective social relationships.” They examine social dynamics related to climate governance on multiple levels, including individual, state, and multinational, and use compelling case studies to illustrate how these dynamics play out in each context. Peer-to-peer social affinity in a central concept in their analysis, which they define as “interactions based on mutual interest between equal-level actors; individual to individual, group to group, state to state, and nation to nation.”
Read the full article at https://umaine.edu/spire/2023/04/21/delaney-jackson-olsen-torres/
Figure 1 published in Delaney et al. (2023). Representation of a multi-level global commons. Global climate goals and policies are set collaboratively by stakeholders from many collective action groups. Nations follow global initiatives and work to set policies that give direction to their state and local organizations. Many small collective action organizations made up of individuals manage local CPRs and take action to reduce GHG emissions. Organizations of similar size, power, and ethos collaborate creating accountability and peer-to-peer social affinity. Teal= global level; Light Blue= National/multinational level; Gray=regional/local level; People=individual level. Arrows represent social collaborations within the same levels of governance. Figure 1 is adapted from Beitl (2019).