{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/390562"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/390562","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"People, politics and power: an investigation of a multi-scalar UK-Kenya conservation partnership","abstract":"Partnerships in conservation and development have been advocated for over many decades. They have been described as: an approach to lessen the power hierarchy between actors (Olawoore and Kamruzzaman, 2019); tools to bring together stakeholders with divergent interests to manage natural resources (Mugo, Visseren- Hamakers and Duim, 2020); and as ways to achieve greater participatory governance of the environment with marginalised groups such as indigenous people (Arévalo and Ros- Tonen, 2009). However, partnerships have been heavily critiqued for masking top-down power hierarchies between actors, giving impressions of equality while in practice nothing has shifted (Chapin, 2004; Ros-Tonen, Van den Hombergh and Zoomers, 2007). A growing body of research is starting to understand how partnership are more interdependent in reality, formed of cyclical processes and shared vulnerabilities (Sterling et al., 2017; Toomey, 2020). What is missing in the anthropology and political ecology literature on conservation is an understanding of how these partnerships in conservation operate across multiple scales and how power dynamics shift and change over time. In this thesis, I investigate the social and political dynamics that shape multi-scalar conservation partnerships and explore how both top-down and interdependent power dynamics can occur simultaneously. I draw my findings from an in-depth case study of a multi-scalar partnership between a conservation INGO based in the UK, a local conservation organisation based in Kenya and people living in and around conservation areas in Kenya. In order to gain in-depth insights into this partnership I suggest a different way for researchers to work with conservation practitioners rather than for and/or on conservation (Sandbrook et al., 2013). I do so through approaches based on participatory research oriented around action (Toomey, Knight and Barlow, 2017) and appreciative inquiry (Stavros and Torres, 2021) to create change in practice. My findings show how the role of individuals and social factors influence the dynamics of multi-scalar partnerships, where at different stages of the partnership different factors become more influential. I show how each partner works within a paradox in which they are relatively powerful and powerless at different times and are interdependent on each other in ways that can be positive and also negative towards achieving their aims. By working with practitioners, I explore how researchers can move beyond critique and plant seeds of change that are grounded in reality. Overall, I show how there are different types of partnerships within a multi-scalar partnership that are linked in a cyclical nature of shifting scales. I argue that on a day-to-day level, power is fluid between scales yet over time the partnerships are contained in a top-down power hierarchy created by the institutional power of colonialism. I propose that both notions of multi-scalar partnerships being interdependent and within a top-down power hierarchy are not mutually exclusive and can occur at the same time. For conservation practice to decolonise, I suggest that changes need to take place on both the level of the individual and on social factors in order to create the transformation that is needed.","abstract_html":"Partnerships in conservation and development have been advocated for over many decades. They have been described as: an approach to lessen the power hierarchy between actors (Olawoore and Kamruzzaman, 2019); tools to bring together stakeholders with divergent interests to manage natural resources (Mugo, Visseren- Hamakers and Duim, 2020); and as ways to achieve greater participatory governance of the environment with marginalised groups such as indigenous people (Arévalo and Ros- Tonen, 2009). However, partnerships have been heavily critiqued for masking top-down power hierarchies between actors, giving impressions of equality while in practice nothing has shifted (Chapin, 2004; Ros-Tonen, Van den Hombergh and Zoomers, 2007). A growing body of research is starting to understand how partnership are more interdependent in reality, formed of cyclical processes and shared vulnerabilities (Sterling et al., 2017; Toomey, 2020). What is missing in the anthropology and political ecology literature on conservation is an understanding of how these partnerships in conservation operate across multiple scales and how power dynamics shift and change over time. In this thesis, I investigate the social and political dynamics that shape multi-scalar conservation partnerships and explore how both top-down and interdependent power dynamics can occur simultaneously. I draw my findings from an in-depth case study of a multi-scalar partnership between a conservation INGO based in the UK, a local conservation organisation based in Kenya and people living in and around conservation areas in Kenya. In order to gain in-depth insights into this partnership I suggest a different way for researchers to work with conservation practitioners rather than for and/or on conservation (Sandbrook et al., 2013). I do so through approaches based on participatory research oriented around action (Toomey, Knight and Barlow, 2017) and appreciative inquiry (Stavros and Torres, 2021) to create change in practice. My findings show how the role of individuals and social factors influence the dynamics of multi-scalar partnerships, where at different stages of the partnership different factors become more influential. I show how each partner works within a paradox in which they are relatively powerful and powerless at different times and are interdependent on each other in ways that can be positive and also negative towards achieving their aims. By working with practitioners, I explore how researchers can move beyond critique and plant seeds of change that are grounded in reality. Overall, I show how there are different types of partnerships within a multi-scalar partnership that are linked in a cyclical nature of shifting scales. I argue that on a day-to-day level, power is fluid between scales yet over time the partnerships are contained in a top-down power hierarchy created by the institutional power of colonialism. I propose that both notions of multi-scalar partnerships being interdependent and within a top-down power hierarchy are not mutually exclusive and can occur at the same time. For conservation practice to decolonise, I suggest that changes need to take place on both the level of the individual and on social factors in order to create the transformation that is needed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Winn, Fleur"],"institution":"University of Cambridge","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Sandbrook, Chris","Small, Rob"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-06-06","date_published":"2024-06-06","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:11Z","subjects":["Conservation","Partnerships","Power","Working with","Multi-scalar"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/2e1aa47c-17fe-4420-a520-33008565db13/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.122115","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.doi"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Sandbrook, Chris","Small, Rob"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.sponsor","label":"Sponsor","values":["Downing College"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Winn, Fleur"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024-06-06"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cambridge"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/390562"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Conservation","Partnerships","Power","Working with","Multi-scalar"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/2e1aa47c-17fe-4420-a520-33008565db13/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.122115"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/6f082c87-3fa7-4862-acf6-20004784ce58/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Partnerships in conservation and development have been advocated for over many decades. 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I do so through approaches based on participatory research oriented around action (Toomey, Knight and Barlow, 2017) and appreciative inquiry (Stavros and Torres, 2021) to create change in practice. My findings show how the role of individuals and social factors influence the dynamics of multi-scalar partnerships, where at different stages of the partnership different factors become more influential. I show how each partner works within a paradox in which they are relatively powerful and powerless at different times and are interdependent on each other in ways that can be positive and also negative towards achieving their aims. By working with practitioners, I explore how researchers can move beyond critique and plant seeds of change that are grounded in reality. Overall, I show how there are different types of partnerships within a multi-scalar partnership that are linked in a cyclical nature of shifting scales. 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What is missing in the anthropology and political ecology literature on conservation is an understanding of how these partnerships in conservation operate across multiple scales and how power dynamics shift and change over time. In this thesis, I investigate the social and political dynamics that shape multi-scalar conservation partnerships and explore how both top-down and interdependent power dynamics can occur simultaneously. I draw my findings from an in-depth case study of a multi-scalar partnership between a conservation INGO based in the UK, a local conservation organisation based in Kenya and people living in and around conservation areas in Kenya. In order to gain in-depth insights into this partnership I suggest a different way for researchers to work with conservation practitioners rather than for and/or on conservation (Sandbrook et al., 2013). I do so through approaches based on participatory research oriented around action (Toomey, Knight and Barlow, 2017) and appreciative inquiry (Stavros and Torres, 2021) to create change in practice. My findings show how the role of individuals and social factors influence the dynamics of multi-scalar partnerships, where at different stages of the partnership different factors become more influential. I show how each partner works within a paradox in which they are relatively powerful and powerless at different times and are interdependent on each other in ways that can be positive and also negative towards achieving their aims. By working with practitioners, I explore how researchers can move beyond critique and plant seeds of change that are grounded in reality. Overall, I show how there are different types of partnerships within a multi-scalar partnership that are linked in a cyclical nature of shifting scales. I argue that on a day-to-day level, power is fluid between scales yet over time the partnerships are contained in a top-down power hierarchy created by the institutional power of colonialism. I propose that both notions of multi-scalar partnerships being interdependent and within a top-down power hierarchy are not mutually exclusive and can occur at the same time. 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