Conflict over Dams: Connections Between ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’ and DamNation
Ben Knight’s DamNation depicts a conflict between Earth First! activists, hydroelectricity companies, Native Americans (particularly the Elwha tribe), and the federal government. The conflict is over several finite resources such as the salmon population, hydroelectric power, and ecosystem health. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the conflict represented in the film is a clear example of the “Tragedy of the Commons” (TOTC). This is due to the similarities between the conflict in the film and characteristics of a common’s tragedy like subtractability and rational behaviour, the difficulty in generating a solution as one-variable solutions are …show more content…
The solution to the conflict in the film, like with a commons, must consider all levels of government and key stakeholders involved; a one-dimensional approach struggles with rule compliance, trust, and commitment towards global objectives. Without this approach, the demise of the commons is certain. An excellent example is the Canadian Government’s attempt and failure to save the Northern Cod Industry in Newfoundland. In the early 2000s, the government of Canada responded to falling cod stocks. However, their approach only considered the absolute number of stocks – factors such as decreasing size of individual fish, alternative employment for those in the fishing industry, and health of distinct cod population groups were ignored (Dietz, Ostrom, & Stern, 2003). Assuming that the cod industry is a commons (subtractable, non-excludable), it is clear that a single angle approach – only considering raw stock numbers per year or a government-only approach – leads to a failure to preserve the common good. Therefore, the one-dimensional approach in the film will lead to a decline in the commons (i.e., salmon stock, natural environmental beauty). For instance, Earth First! activist Mikal Jakubal’s spray paint dam art might raise public awareness at the community level, but does not consider government or market …show more content…
The characteristics of the conflict and those of a commons are consistent. Furthermore, the challenges and solutions with governing a commons parallels those present in environmental conflicts like DamNation. With a growing global population and finite resources, conflicts surrounding commons assets will unfortunately become more prevalent. Consequently, identifying and generating solutions to conflicts around a commons will be necessary to ensure that they will not destroyed to the detriment to
Ben Knight’s DamNation depicts a conflict between Earth First! activists, hydroelectricity companies, Native Americans (particularly the Elwha tribe), and the federal government. The conflict is over several finite resources such as the salmon population, hydroelectric power, and ecosystem health. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the conflict represented in the film is a clear example of the “Tragedy of the Commons” (TOTC). This is due to the similarities between the conflict in the film and characteristics of a common’s tragedy like subtractability and rational behaviour, the difficulty in generating a solution as one-variable solutions are …show more content…
The solution to the conflict in the film, like with a commons, must consider all levels of government and key stakeholders involved; a one-dimensional approach struggles with rule compliance, trust, and commitment towards global objectives. Without this approach, the demise of the commons is certain. An excellent example is the Canadian Government’s attempt and failure to save the Northern Cod Industry in Newfoundland. In the early 2000s, the government of Canada responded to falling cod stocks. However, their approach only considered the absolute number of stocks – factors such as decreasing size of individual fish, alternative employment for those in the fishing industry, and health of distinct cod population groups were ignored (Dietz, Ostrom, & Stern, 2003). Assuming that the cod industry is a commons (subtractable, non-excludable), it is clear that a single angle approach – only considering raw stock numbers per year or a government-only approach – leads to a failure to preserve the common good. Therefore, the one-dimensional approach in the film will lead to a decline in the commons (i.e., salmon stock, natural environmental beauty). For instance, Earth First! activist Mikal Jakubal’s spray paint dam art might raise public awareness at the community level, but does not consider government or market …show more content…
The characteristics of the conflict and those of a commons are consistent. Furthermore, the challenges and solutions with governing a commons parallels those present in environmental conflicts like DamNation. With a growing global population and finite resources, conflicts surrounding commons assets will unfortunately become more prevalent. Consequently, identifying and generating solutions to conflicts around a commons will be necessary to ensure that they will not destroyed to the detriment to