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‘Hired Hands’ or ‘Local Voice’: Understandings and Experience of Local Participation in Conservation
Author(s) -
Goodwin Philip
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
transactions of the institute of british geographers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.196
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1475-5661
pISSN - 0020-2754
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-2754.1998.00481.x
Subject(s) - credibility , citizen journalism , sociology , politics , space (punctuation) , public relations , local government , political science , public administration , law , philosophy , linguistics
In recent years, the notion of local participation has emerged as a major force in both policy‐making and political philosophy. This paper explores the role that participation is playing in mediating relations between local people, conservation organizations and the ideas and practices of nature conservation in England. Drawing upon empirical research in the county of Kent, the paper argues that there are systematic discrepancies between the motives, experiences and understandings of the various policy actors towards the theory and practice of a participatory conservation. It argues that these apparent discrepancies have serious implications for both the credibility and the effectiveness of present initiatives, whereby participatory practice serves to reshape existing conceptions of conservation and rural space.