Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene
Management frequently creates system conditions that poorly mimic the conditions of a desirable self-organizing regime. Such management is ubiquitous across complex systems of people and nature and will likely intensify as these systems face rapid change. However, it is highly uncertain whether the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Resilience Alliance
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss1/art4/ |
| _version_ | 1818852451401334784 |
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| author | David G. Angeler Brian C. Chaffin Shana M. Sundstrom Ahjond Garmestani Kevin L. Pope Daniel R. Uden Dirac Twidwell Craig R. Allen |
| author_facet | David G. Angeler Brian C. Chaffin Shana M. Sundstrom Ahjond Garmestani Kevin L. Pope Daniel R. Uden Dirac Twidwell Craig R. Allen |
| author_sort | David G. Angeler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Management frequently creates system conditions that poorly mimic the conditions of a desirable self-organizing regime. Such management is ubiquitous across complex systems of people and nature and will likely intensify as these systems face rapid change. However, it is highly uncertain whether the costs (unintended consequences, including negative side effects) of management but also social dynamics can eventually outweigh benefits in the long term. We introduce the term "coerced regime" to conceptualize this management form and tie it into resilience theory. The concept encompasses proactive and reactive management to maintain desirable and mitigate undesirable regime conditions, respectively. A coerced regime can be quantified through a measure of the amount of management required to artificially maintain its desirable conditions. Coerced regimes comprise "ghosts" of self-sustaining desirable system regimes but ultimately become "dead regimes walking" when these regimes collapse as soon as management is discontinued. We demonstrate the broad application of coerced regimes using distinct complex systems of humans and nature (human subjects, aquatic and terrestrial environments, agriculture, and global climate). We discuss commonalities and differences between these examples to identify trade-offs between benefits and harms of management. The concept of coerced regimes can spur thinking and inform management about the duality of what we know and can envision versus what we do not know and therefore cannot envision: a pervasive sustainability conundrum as planet Earth swiftly moves toward a future without historical analogue. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:21:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-00f84afdab904448a987b8a16ed623ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:21:08Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-00f84afdab904448a987b8a16ed623ec2022-12-21T20:30:55ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872020-03-01251410.5751/ES-11286-25010411286Coerced regimes: management challenges in the AnthropoceneDavid G. Angeler0Brian C. Chaffin1Shana M. Sundstrom2Ahjond Garmestani3Kevin L. Pope4Daniel R. Uden5Dirac Twidwell6Craig R. Allen7Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and AssessmentW.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of MontanaSchool of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-LincolnU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyU.S. Geological Survey - Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitSchool of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-LincolnDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-LincolnSchool of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-LincolnManagement frequently creates system conditions that poorly mimic the conditions of a desirable self-organizing regime. Such management is ubiquitous across complex systems of people and nature and will likely intensify as these systems face rapid change. However, it is highly uncertain whether the costs (unintended consequences, including negative side effects) of management but also social dynamics can eventually outweigh benefits in the long term. We introduce the term "coerced regime" to conceptualize this management form and tie it into resilience theory. The concept encompasses proactive and reactive management to maintain desirable and mitigate undesirable regime conditions, respectively. A coerced regime can be quantified through a measure of the amount of management required to artificially maintain its desirable conditions. Coerced regimes comprise "ghosts" of self-sustaining desirable system regimes but ultimately become "dead regimes walking" when these regimes collapse as soon as management is discontinued. We demonstrate the broad application of coerced regimes using distinct complex systems of humans and nature (human subjects, aquatic and terrestrial environments, agriculture, and global climate). We discuss commonalities and differences between these examples to identify trade-offs between benefits and harms of management. The concept of coerced regimes can spur thinking and inform management about the duality of what we know and can envision versus what we do not know and therefore cannot envision: a pervasive sustainability conundrum as planet Earth swiftly moves toward a future without historical analogue.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss1/art4/alternative regimescoercioninterdisciplinarymanagementmitigationresiliencerestoration |
| spellingShingle | David G. Angeler Brian C. Chaffin Shana M. Sundstrom Ahjond Garmestani Kevin L. Pope Daniel R. Uden Dirac Twidwell Craig R. Allen Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene Ecology and Society alternative regimes coercion interdisciplinary management mitigation resilience restoration |
| title | Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene |
| title_full | Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene |
| title_fullStr | Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene |
| title_short | Coerced regimes: management challenges in the Anthropocene |
| title_sort | coerced regimes management challenges in the anthropocene |
| topic | alternative regimes coercion interdisciplinary management mitigation resilience restoration |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss1/art4/ |
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