Long run transitions in resource-based Inuit communities
Kaiser, A.; Parchomenko, A. (2018). Long run transitions in resource-based Inuit communities, in: Vestergaard, N. et al.Arctic marine resource governance and development. pp. 89-114. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67365-3_6
In: Vestergaard, N. et al. (Ed.) (2018). Arctic marine resource governance and development. Springer International Publishing: Cham. ISBN 978-3-319-67365-3. XV, 235 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67365-3, more
We discuss a multi-trophic model of socio-ecological systems. The model helps identify historical governance gaps that gained importance with the introduction of non-Inuit trading that have created lingering legacies today. In the model, humans harvest and manage a base of living natural resources. Some of the humans can organize activities that increase the resource base and/or its harvestability. These increases create capital returns, with effectiveness dependent upon governance. A change in the terms of trade within the existing socio-ecological systems through increased global contact changed relative values. Trade induced both direct changes, e.g. in the population and in the resource base, and indirect changes through institutional gaps. Examples include Arctic fox and Bowhead whales. Early on, Inuit and outside traders saw trades as mutually beneficial. Trade also introduced new technologies (e.g. guns, traps) that lowered costs, but increased resource pressures. These transformations changed the governance needs of the socio-ecological system. New economic challenges needed changes in stewardship and institutions. In particular, institutional solutions needed to address dynamic impacts from overharvesting and to assure that trade not only increased present day but also intertemporal well-being. Stewardship over new technologies and pressures evolved too slowly compared to the rate of economic change.
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