Journal of International Development Studies
Online ISSN : 2434-5296
Print ISSN : 1342-3045
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Environment and Development in Developing Countries: Literature Review on Resource Governance
Michiko ISHISONETomohiro OHJin SATO
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2010 Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages 3-16

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Abstract

Since the early 1990s, “sustainable development” has emerged as a concept to bridge the conventional divide between “development” and “environment conservation.” However, the sustainability concept has not been fully adopted in many of developing countries because rapid economic growth is still given high priority. In developing countries, resource management and utilization are pressing issues over environmental conservation and preservation. Control of resources, instead of the environment, therefore, should be given central focus which will then allow us to integrate environmental conservation, development, and poverty alleviation.

Natural resource studies have increased since the 1980s in the United States and European countries. Indeed, Elinor Ostrom's Nobel Prize in 2009 demonstrates part of the progress of social sciences of natural resources. In Japan, however, although studies have been conducted in the field of environmental governance particularliy since 1990s, resource studies have been rarely cultivated. Against this backdrop, this paper surveys natural resource studies of developing countires focusing three leading research areas namely, “resource curse”, studies of “commons”, and “political ecology.” By reviewing the recent trend and debates in resource studies, this paper will demonstrate what scholars of develoment studies can learn from the literature, and in turn, contribute to it.

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© 2010 The Japan Society for International Development
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