Gender and Cross-Scale Differences in the Perception of Social-Ecological Systems

María Mar Delgado-Serrano and Roberto Escalante Semerena
Additional contact information
María Mar Delgado-Serrano: Department of Agricultural Economics, ETSIAM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Roberto Escalante Semerena: Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: The sound management of Social-Ecological Systems (SESs) requires a deep knowledge of the system and its dynamics, but effective strategies also need to include the perceptions of the local actors. These perceptions are specific and might differ for different actors. In this research, we analyzed the gender and across scales differences in the perception of a SES and unveiled the potential reasons that shape the different actors’ understanding. Using structural analysis tools, we analyzed the perceptions of local women, local men, and external stakeholders on the most relevant variables shaping the actual and future sustainable management of a SES. The research was developed in Santiago Comaltepec, an Indigenous community located in the Sierra de Oaxaca (Mexico) that manage their forest under community-based strategies. The gender differences in perception showed the inequalities in agency, voice, and power between women and men. The comparison of the perceptions between community members and external stakeholders showed greater similarities, but still reflected power differences and differences in knowledge and cultural representations. We concluded that sound and resilient SES management need to recognize the gendered and across scales diversity in perception, knowledge, and practices and create bridges and synergies among knowledge systems to shape desirable trajectories.

Keywords: community-based natural resource management; structural analysis; knowledge systems; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/2983/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/2983/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:9:p:2983-:d:165146

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().