Elizabeth Bennett

Globalisation and the Sustainability of World Fisheries: A View from Latin America

This paper describes the integration of Latin American marine fisheries into the global production system in the post-1945 period and the role of foreign and domestic fleets in this process. Through reference to the state-denial theories found in the globalisation literature, it charts the impact that the globalisation process has had upon the exploitation and sustainability of fish stocks in Latin American waters. It argues that while globalisation may indeed boost environmental awareness and lead to a more sustainable level of production through the decreased influence of local political interests, this has yet to happen in the principal Latin American fishing nations.

THE CHALLENGE OF MANAGING SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES WITH REFERENCE TO POVERTY ALLEVIATION

The objective of this paper is to address the following question: “what are the challenges of managing fisheries with reference to poverty alleviation within the specific context of West African small-scale fisheries?”. Raising such a question supposes three strong assumptions. One, that poverty, although it is a multidimensional, inter-sectoral, problem, has also some specific dimensions attached to the nature of the activity/sector considered here, in other words, that some element/dimension of poverty that affects fishing communities is actually related to the fishing activity itself. Two, -as a consequence of the first assumption- that an intrasectoral approach to poverty alleviation is possible. These first two assumptions do not deny or undervalue the fundamental lessons learnt over the last two decades and the subsequent improvements that have been made in understanding the multi-dimensional and complex nature of poverty. Rather the present paper attempts to enrich this new understanding with some additional elements based on our experience of rural poverty within the specific case of fisheries sector. Three, we also assume that there is a strong political willingness to shift poverty reduction (from its current non-existence) to a top-priority objective in the fishery management agenda. Finally, note that in its arguments, this paper follows directly Bene’s analysis of poverty in fishery (Chapter 5) in this volume. In this respect, the term ‘entitlement’ is understood and used in this paper as synonymous of ‘institution-governed access to’. An ‘entitilement failure’, therefore, refers to the absence or denying of access (to a resource, service, or commodity) imposed by institutions (voluntarily) or resulting from institutional mis-functioning (involuntarily). An example of (voluntarily) entitlement failure in a fishery would be the institutionalised (i.e. legitimised by the society) denial of access to fishing grounds faced by the members of a community or group, based on ethnic or religious grounds.

Social capital and fisheries management on small Islands

Recent research on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has demonstrated that social capital has an important role to play in how fisheries are managed and, more importantly, how conflicts are dealt with. The present paper examines the management of fisheries conflicts through a social capital lens; and reviews the importance of the development of social capital by natural resource managers and policy makers in their bid to increase community participation in natural resource management. The paper de-bunks; the myth that island communities have high levels of co-operation and social cohesion. Using a structural/cognitive social capital analytical framework, it concludes that while structural or institutional social capital is high, cognitive or relational social capital is low. Failure to tackle the mismatch between structural and cognitive social capital is likely to lead to serious natural resource problems in the future and will ultimately inhibit collective action. It recommends that social capital be used as an entry point for future work that requires the involvement of the community but where there is no prior history of co-operation.

'Saint Mary of the Contra, Our Lady of Oliver North'; Catholicism and the Nicaraguan State

This paper traces the evolution of (Catholic) church‐state relations from Nicaraguan independence through to 1998, showing how a symbiotic relationship has emerged whereby one makes recourse to the other in order to justify its existence and provide it with moral authority. This relationship, however, has been threatened on a number of occasions. First, by the advent of liberation theology during the Somoza period, second by the increasing secularisation of the FSLN regime during the 1980s. Recent years have seen the Catholic Church recapture its previous authoritative position in the national political arena, although increasing voter apathy and the growth of the Protestant Church movement could again threaten its position.

Saint Mary of the Contra, Our Lady of Oliver North

This paper traces the evolution of (Catholic) church‐state relations from Nicaraguan independence through to 1998, showing how a symbiotic relationship has emerged whereby one makes recourse to the other in order to justify its existence and provide it with moral authority. This relationship, however, has been threatened on a number of occasions. First, by the advent of liberation theology during the Somoza period, second by the increasing secularisation of the FSLN regime during the 1980s. Recent years have seen the Catholic Church recapture its previous authoritative position in the national political arena, although increasing voter apathy and the growth of the Protestant Church movement could again threaten its position.