Introduction

This chapter provides an introduction to the volume on conflicts over natural resources in the Global South and situates the various contributions made. The authors note that such conflicts frequently involve poor, mainly rural people who are struggling to maintain access to the resources on which they depend for a living. The volume is concerned mainly with conceptual approaches to the issue of conflict. Given the diversity of conflict and cooperation dynamics and their relation with natural resources, the authors argue that general causal theories are problematic. Rather than aiming for grand explanations, the volume therefore is aimed to realise what Merton (1949) has termed ‘middle-range theory’

The pathogenesis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in organ transplant recipients

Dermatology-oncolog

Institutional landscapes affecting small-scale fishing in Southern Sri Lanka - legal pluralism and its socio-economic effects

This paper demonstrates the variety of institutional arrangements affecting small-scale fishing in southern Sri Lanka, highlighting legal pluralism and focusing particularly on its consequences for livelihoods and resource conservation. Evidence derives from two landing centres in Hambantota District, and is grouped according to three institutional types: norms, community working rules and state working rules. The authors argue that these institutions play differential roles in providing access to fishing, preventing conflict, structuring fishing operations, reducing risks and conserving resources. Interactions between state and community legal systems consist of four types - indifference, competition, accommodation and mutual support. Institutional effectiveness is threatened most where implementation is poor or rules are in direct competition