Suchergebnisse

Much of the debate on the modernisation of the common property
regimes deals with the problem of the rationality of these regimes.
Justification for the policy to be followed in planning change for such
arrangements is given according to the divergent view points of
development scientists on the subject This paper advocates rethinking of
some of the fundamental concepts involved in the examination of the
contexts where external intervention is to take place for the purposes
of development, if a meaningful inter-disciplinary approach to
development is to emerge. It invokes Godelier's treatise on the historic
and social logic of real, rather than formal rationality, to highlight
the bias inherent within, and limitedness of, the general understanding
of the concept of formal rationality, or its focused, rather than
holistic treatment in socio-historic terms. The case of the Chaprote
forest in the Nagar valley of Northern Pakistan is presented to
illustrate the historical and cultural rationality of traditional
communal arrangements from the local consumption and conservation points
of view, and the functioning of a logic within such arrangements which
is relative and specific to the context in question. The variance
between the thrust of external intervention, and the local potentials
for managing and exploiting local resources is thus emphasised. Some
recommendations for developing traditional regimes within the local and
larger socio-historical context are made in conclusion.