TY - JOUR

T1 - Privatizing the commons

T2 - New approaches need broader evaluative criteria for sustainability

AU - Partelow, Stefan

AU - Abson, David J.

AU - Schlueter, Achim

AU - Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria

AU - von Wehrden, Henrik

AU - Collier, Neil

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019, Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services. All rights reserved.

PY - 2019/5/3

Y1 - 2019/5/3

N2 - Privatization is, since Hardin, often promoted as a solution to many natural resource management challenges, particularly in common-pool resource systems. However, novel forms of privatization are being implemented in unexamined ways. In this article we explore how privatization affects natural resource management from the perspective of multi-dimensional social-ecological systems. We critique the notion that privatization is desirable due to its pure efficiency, and argue that efficiency must be relative to achieving other normative societal goals, in particular, sustainability. While sustainability outcomes often cannot be fully actualized, the processes through which privatization attempts to achieve them are more tangible criteria. First, we draw on (1) distributional and (2) procedural justice as normative societal goals to assess effectiveness of different forms of privatization. Second, we analyze the broader implications of privatization for social-ecological system functioning considering (3) path dependency and (4) spillover effects. We apply these four concepts to examine three different cases of privatization: eco-certification in fisheries, seed patents in agriculture and property rights in rangelands. We argue that the evaluative criteria for the success of privatization are often oversimplified, and highlight how privatization can influence social-ecological systems and the achievement of normative goals in largely unexamined ways.

AB - Privatization is, since Hardin, often promoted as a solution to many natural resource management challenges, particularly in common-pool resource systems. However, novel forms of privatization are being implemented in unexamined ways. In this article we explore how privatization affects natural resource management from the perspective of multi-dimensional social-ecological systems. We critique the notion that privatization is desirable due to its pure efficiency, and argue that efficiency must be relative to achieving other normative societal goals, in particular, sustainability. While sustainability outcomes often cannot be fully actualized, the processes through which privatization attempts to achieve them are more tangible criteria. First, we draw on (1) distributional and (2) procedural justice as normative societal goals to assess effectiveness of different forms of privatization. Second, we analyze the broader implications of privatization for social-ecological system functioning considering (3) path dependency and (4) spillover effects. We apply these four concepts to examine three different cases of privatization: eco-certification in fisheries, seed patents in agriculture and property rights in rangelands. We argue that the evaluative criteria for the success of privatization are often oversimplified, and highlight how privatization can influence social-ecological systems and the achievement of normative goals in largely unexamined ways.

KW - Ecological economics

KW - governance

KW - institutional economics

KW - political science

KW - public policy

KW - sustainability

KW - Environmental planning

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066801482&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.18352/ijc.938

DO - 10.18352/ijc.938

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 13

SP - 747

EP - 776

JO - International Journal of the Commons

JF - International Journal of the Commons

SN - 1875-0281

IS - 1

ER -