Sustainable Livelihoods + Participatory Democracy Research in Nicaragua
Challenge:
International development initiatives have often been criticized for running programs that lack relevance, understanding and involvement of local communities — and therefore impact. From my involvement in placemaking to my environmental work, I have always been interested in the spaces – physical, institutional, cultural – in which humans and the environment intersect. In 2009, for my graduate research, I conducted fieldwork researching the political and livelihood initiatives that developed around a sustainable forestry initiative in San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua, a municipality to the north of Managua known for its forests and deforestation, as well as its poverty levels. The research sought to understand two distinct local approaches to economic and community empowerments: a community committee and a forestry co-operative.
Approach:
I used a grounded approach to the research, applying Actor Network Theory as the theoretical lens that I used to analyse the information collected. A combination of data collection approaches included semi-formal interviews, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and the use of local and national government and NGO documents, as well as immersion in Nicaraguan life. Much of the research and informal data analysis was done simultaneously and iteratively, helping guide interviews and interactions with participants. With interviews being the most rich source of data collection – I interviewed participants until I achieved “information saturation,” where salient themes and messages become redundant, are similar to those in previous interviews and essentially no new information is gained.
A word on actor network theory: actor network theory is like a human-centered approach, except that the approach considers more than humans. Essentially blurring the dichotomy between nature and society, it symmetrically recognizes human and non-human actors in a network of interactions which together create a range of exchanges, outcomes and possibilities. By extending spheres of influence, the theory tries to escape predetermined categories and re-describe real-world phenomena.
Analysis was primarily done through grounded methods and open coding, using affinity diagrams, actors mapping, and system mapping to contextualize and group the emergent themes and understand how the players connect with one another.
Results:
The result is an outline of the political responses and participatory processes engendered by economic and environmental risk that have taken place in San Francisco Libre in the past decade-and-a-half to frame the contours of a relational community forestry where a democratizing form of ecological citizenship has been able to emerge.The research was completed as part of my Masters thesis; my original thesis can be found here. The findings were published as Collaborating with a Muddy Road and an Ailing Forest: The Construction of Ecological Citizenship in San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua, co-authored by Julie Cupples, in the Journal of Latin American Geography.