Diverse ecologies: Mapping complexity in environmental governance

Abstract

This article outlines a novel framework for investigating complex intersections among divergent approaches to enacting environmental governance. I term this the study of “diverse ecologies.” The framework builds on J.K. Gibson-Graham’s influential “diverse economies” perspective but seeks to integrate this with research in political ecology that devotes greater attention to issues of structural power. In particular, the article draws on growing analysis of environmental governance as a form of “environmentality” building on Foucault’s influential governmentality analytic. While early literature in this area overlooked the multiple forms of environmentality that may intersect within a given context, more recent research emphasizes this diversity. Integrating multiple environmentalities and diverse economies perspectives thus provides the grounding for the “diverse ecologies” framework outlined herein. The framework’s application is illustrated through analysis of a popular payment for environmental services program in Costa Rica.