Reconstructing governability: how fisheries are made governable

Song, Andrew M., Johnsen, Jahn P., and Morrison, Tiffany H. (2018) Reconstructing governability: how fisheries are made governable. Fish and Fisheries, 19 (2). pp. 377-389.

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Abstract

Governability is an important concept in the political and environmental social sciences with increasing application to socio-ecological systems such as fisheries. Indeed, governability analyses of fisheries and related systems such as marine-protected areas have generated innovative ways to implement sustainability ideals. Yet, despite progress made, we argue that there remain limitations in current conceptions of governability that hinder further analytical development and use. By drawing on general systems theoryspecifically cybernetics, control and feedbackwe interrogate the conceptual foundations that underpin two key limitations: the need to incorporate the numerous variables that comprise a complex, holistic system into a singular assessment of governability, and the a priori separation of the governor and the governed that precludes analysis of a self-governing situation. We argue that by highlighting the reciprocal nature of a governor-governed relationship and the co-produced understanding of governing capacity and objects, a relational approach to governability is possible. This offers a clearer and more pragmatic understanding of how governors and fishers can make fisheries governable.

Item ID: 53585
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1467-2979
Keywords: capacity, cybernetics, governance, holism, relationality, socio-ecological system
Funders: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Projects and Grants: ACIAR grant FIS/2012/074
Date Deposited: 09 May 2018 08:30
FoR Codes: 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4407 Policy and administration > 440704 Environment policy @ 40%
44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4408 Political science > 440899 Political science not elsewhere classified @ 40%
44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4407 Policy and administration > 440708 Public administration @ 20%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9607 Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards > 960701 Coastal and Marine Management Policy @ 80%
94 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 9402 Government and Politics > 940299 Government and Politics not elsewhere classified @ 20%
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