Suchergebnisse

This article presents an analysis of the Soviet Union's whaling for humpbacks in the Antarctic in the 1950s and 1960s, which violated regulations set by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Recently compiled archival records from the Soviet Union indicate that Soviet whalers took a greater number of humpback whales in the Antarctic from 1949 to 1972 than all other whaling fleets combined. The number of humpback whales the Soviet fleet took from the Antarctic in 1961 and 1962 was several times higher than that which IWC biologists then believed to be sustainable. The USSR submitted false reports to the IWC and stalled the creation and implementation of a system of international observation for years. This article suggests that the history of the IWC, the first environmental organization to be global in scope, points to weaknesses in contemporary environmental treaty regimes. Like the Whaling Convention in the 1950s and 1960s, many environmental treaties today are not well monitored. By the time its international observer scheme began operating in 1972-1973, the damage inflicted on whale populations, including humpbacks, was severe.

This theoretical and empirical study examines the influence of global institutions on the generation of scientific knowledge. Virginia Walsh's approach reverses the traditional focus of international relations literature--which most often deals with how scientific knowledge influences institutions--and offers an original way to look at international environmental governance. After proposing a theory of institutional mechanisms by which global institutions shape the generation of knowledge, the book turns to detailed case studies of two institutions in the under- studied but vital area of marine science, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, to illustrate these mechanisms.In part 1, "Theory," the book identifies three specific mechanisms or "fixes" that provide the means by which institutions shape the generation and use of knowledge. With the positional fix, key individuals use their social roles or positions in an institution to influence the beliefs of members or fix the direction of research. The statutory fix occurs when beliefs gain acceptance as a consequence of being embedded in rules or treaties. The committee fix is illustrated in the regularized practices through which social groups accept statements as group beliefs. Part 2, "Evidence," shows these mechanisms at work in the two case studies. The Scripps Institution, for example, illustrates the positional fix, as successive directors used their position to frame research. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, on the other hand, exemplifies both the statutory fix and the committee fix in its regulatory actions.