La gobernanza ambiental en las áreas naturales protegidas mexicanas: Una reflexión desde el enfoque del capital social estructural

Abstract

In this paper some considerations are made on the social resources that facilitate the management governance structures for protected areas (PA). Ahead of the dominant presence of the State in these territories, the objective is to identify the social mechanisms that can facilitate the linking of social actors in support of decentralized social structures. Emphasis is placed on the approach of structural social capital (CS) as a framework for analyzing networks and patterns of social organization. Although, it is highlighted the presence of strong communities that manage the resources of the PA, the need to build complex social structures based on the linking of social actors of different scales and territorialities that facilitate environmental governance processes. A positive and causal vision is presented around the CS and governance. However, some limitations of this approach are identified as a framework for analyzing the understanding of social relations in complex territories such as the PA. Methodologically, this paper responds to a process of literature review and to an inductive analysis where the main input is the empirical evidence gets in previous studies carried out by the authors. The structural CS analysis reveals the morphology of the relationships, but not the links between social actors as a set of conflict relationships, tensions and disagreements; thus we propose other viewpoints.