426
Assessing Human Processes in Society-Environment Interactions
the concept of communal land tenure (Bromley,
1992; Bruce and Migot-Adholla, 1994), and by geographers (Turner et aI., 1993b). The basis of the
challenge is that people differ from animals and insects by their ability to make individual and institutional decisions about how to manage resources
and to exercise some control over population numbers and their application of technology in the interests of sustained production.
Both carrying capacity models and the intensification literature imply a unidirectional process toward either collapse or continued expansion of output in response to innovations induced by
population pressure. Olson's (1998) discussion of
the driving forces of land-use changes in Africa
links the discussion on the impact of increasing
population densities with political ecology in rural
Africa. She demonstrates that the common process
of agricultural intensification associated with population increase is not inevitably unidirectional and
progressive or environmentally neutral. Rather, societies may progress at one time and regress at another in their patterns of land use, land management, and production as political forces emanating
at the global and national levels change local power
structures and the local economy.
28.5.4 Noneconomic Factors
The preceding discussion has shown that, while
many see economic factors as a determinant of people's interaction with the resource base, these models also recognize a wide range of noneconomic
factors. These include political factors such as zoning and cultural ones such as the preservation of
holy ground or forests (Nyamweru, 1998).
Much modeling and planning make the assumption that, by altering the spatial distribution of particular phenomena, desired outcomes in terms of
land use can be facilitated. For example, in planning for improved social and economic development among a population, many have assumed that
an even spatial distribution in the provision of infrastructural services, such as roads, markets,
schools, and hospitals, will inevitably result in a
more equable use of such facilities by the population. In reality, this is not inevitable, because political, cultural, and economic conditions often intervene to prevent the desired and predicted outcome
of more equitable social and economic conditions.
For example, improved transportation infrastructure will have a greater impact on those whose
livelihoods can benefit from reduced transport
costs, such as commercial farmers, than on those
whose economic focus is the local market. Social
services such as schools and hospitals may be built
to a plan of spatial equity. However, the ability of
different members of the society to access the services will depend on their economic standing: Can
they afford school fees, or the cost of medicine, or
can children be spared from agricultural labor to
attend school? Cultural values also influence outcomes. Will people accept the type of medical treatment provided or will they continue to approach
traditional healers? In many societies the division
of labor between men and women allows men more
freedom than women, whose daily responsibilities
in economic and domestic activities permit little
time to attend clinics.
The recognition that spatial equity does not necessarily imply social equity is captured in the concept of spatial separatism (Sack, 1980; Gore,
1984). It is an important concept for modeling the
relation between ecological and societal systems. It
highlights the fact that societies are heterogeneous
and that models that use highly generalized variables, such as population numbers, growth, and
density, to represent society are inevitably restricted. They are also flawed in their application
in circumstances where the inherent heterogeneity
of the target population is not explicitly considered
in either the design of the model or in the interpretation of its output.
The heterogeneity that needs to be considered in
such circumstances includes variations in terms of
the components listed in Table 28.2. Political
power exercised by individuals, groups, and institutions may initiate a change in resource use that
may become established, altered through experience, or rejected by all or part of a population in
the short or longer term. The outcome will reflect
economic and cultural factors and their expression
through power held by affected individuals, groups,
and institutions.
This dialectic among those with different access
to power has been clearly developed in the work
of Giddens (1982) under the term structure and
agency. Giddens argues that the way society
arranges the distribution of resources reflects both
structure, that is, the ability of those with power to
determine and enact structures that enable their particular objectives through laws, economic policy,
investment strategies and the like, and also agency,
that is, the power held by those affected to accept,
reject, and modify these to represent their values,
objectives, and mores. Resource use reflects an ongoing dialogue over objectives between the dominant classes, often a minority, and the less powerful majority.
Assessing Human Processes in Society-Environment Interactions
the concept of communal land tenure (Bromley,
1992; Bruce and Migot-Adholla, 1994), and by geographers (Turner et aI., 1993b). The basis of the
challenge is that people differ from animals and insects by their ability to make individual and institutional decisions about how to manage resources
and to exercise some control over population numbers and their application of technology in the interests of sustained production.
Both carrying capacity models and the intensification literature imply a unidirectional process toward either collapse or continued expansion of output in response to innovations induced by
population pressure. Olson's (1998) discussion of
the driving forces of land-use changes in Africa
links the discussion on the impact of increasing
population densities with political ecology in rural
Africa. She demonstrates that the common process
of agricultural intensification associated with population increase is not inevitably unidirectional and
progressive or environmentally neutral. Rather, societies may progress at one time and regress at another in their patterns of land use, land management, and production as political forces emanating
at the global and national levels change local power
structures and the local economy.
28.5.4 Noneconomic Factors
The preceding discussion has shown that, while
many see economic factors as a determinant of people's interaction with the resource base, these models also recognize a wide range of noneconomic
factors. These include political factors such as zoning and cultural ones such as the preservation of
holy ground or forests (Nyamweru, 1998).
Much modeling and planning make the assumption that, by altering the spatial distribution of particular phenomena, desired outcomes in terms of
land use can be facilitated. For example, in planning for improved social and economic development among a population, many have assumed that
an even spatial distribution in the provision of infrastructural services, such as roads, markets,
schools, and hospitals, will inevitably result in a
more equable use of such facilities by the population. In reality, this is not inevitable, because political, cultural, and economic conditions often intervene to prevent the desired and predicted outcome
of more equitable social and economic conditions.
For example, improved transportation infrastructure will have a greater impact on those whose
livelihoods can benefit from reduced transport
costs, such as commercial farmers, than on those
whose economic focus is the local market. Social
services such as schools and hospitals may be built
to a plan of spatial equity. However, the ability of
different members of the society to access the services will depend on their economic standing: Can
they afford school fees, or the cost of medicine, or
can children be spared from agricultural labor to
attend school? Cultural values also influence outcomes. Will people accept the type of medical treatment provided or will they continue to approach
traditional healers? In many societies the division
of labor between men and women allows men more
freedom than women, whose daily responsibilities
in economic and domestic activities permit little
time to attend clinics.
The recognition that spatial equity does not necessarily imply social equity is captured in the concept of spatial separatism (Sack, 1980; Gore,
1984). It is an important concept for modeling the
relation between ecological and societal systems. It
highlights the fact that societies are heterogeneous
and that models that use highly generalized variables, such as population numbers, growth, and
density, to represent society are inevitably restricted. They are also flawed in their application
in circumstances where the inherent heterogeneity
of the target population is not explicitly considered
in either the design of the model or in the interpretation of its output.
The heterogeneity that needs to be considered in
such circumstances includes variations in terms of
the components listed in Table 28.2. Political
power exercised by individuals, groups, and institutions may initiate a change in resource use that
may become established, altered through experience, or rejected by all or part of a population in
the short or longer term. The outcome will reflect
economic and cultural factors and their expression
through power held by affected individuals, groups,
and institutions.
This dialectic among those with different access
to power has been clearly developed in the work
of Giddens (1982) under the term structure and
agency. Giddens argues that the way society
arranges the distribution of resources reflects both
structure, that is, the ability of those with power to
determine and enact structures that enable their particular objectives through laws, economic policy,
investment strategies and the like, and also agency,
that is, the power held by those affected to accept,
reject, and modify these to represent their values,
objectives, and mores. Resource use reflects an ongoing dialogue over objectives between the dominant classes, often a minority, and the less powerful majority.