Robert Paine

Social construction of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ and Saami reindeer pastoralism

I want to raise for discussion questions that trouble me as an observer concerning the talk of a “tragedy of the commons” on the Finnmark tundra, and the consequent intrusion of the state as a very active ‘overseer’ (even in a moral capacity) of Saami reindeer pastoral praxis.1 This may sound as though I deny there is a crisis ‐ but such is not the case; my concern is with how it came to be and, thus, what it is.

Israel: The making of self in the Pioneering' of the Nation

The Zionist project was more than a simple “ingathering” of people. All Jews by birth, those who reached Palestine in the early decades of this century were swept into the making of a “new” people with a “new” ethic and a “new” discipline—out of which would emerge the “old‐new” state of Israel. The present article addresses this multiple process with its strains and contradictions, as experiences by the “pioneer” generation and their Palestinian‐born children—the sabra.

Aboriginality multiculturalism, and liberal rights philosophy

Abstract Inasmuch as Aboriginal peoples today are, in one manner or another, encapsulated within sovereign states not of their own making, the politics of Aboriginal identity throws out special challenges. This article addresses some of them: the separate, even contradictory, cognitions of ‘place’ between Aboriginal and, say, Immigrant; the present inappropriateness and insufficiency of Western liberal rights philosophy, along with multiculturalism, respecting aboriginality; the distorting (often enigmatically so) and divisive colonial legacies as Aboriginals themselves engage in the politics of their identity. The case of the Mohawks of Kahnawake, outside Montreal, is presented as an illustrative counterpoint to the political philosophy of Will Kymlicka and Charles Taylor.

Reindeer and caribou Rangifer tarandus in the wild and under pastoralism

Reindeer and caribou, respectively Old World and New World forms of Rangifer tarandus , live in large groups in the boreal forest and on the Arctic tundra. Many stocks of reindeer are herded by pastoralists. This article reviews the ecology, breeding biology and herding behaviour of both forms, as revealed by recent field studies. It identifies breeding synchrony, dominance and leadership as important aspects of their social organization, mediated by a system of signals that keep the herds together, and discusses the significance of pastoral practices that maintain herd organization and make reindeer herding possible.