The Anti-Politics of TEK: The Institutionalization of Co-Management Discourse and Practice

Abstract

Co-operative resource management holds out the promise of positive social change on two fronts: improved management and the empowerment of local communities. The institutionalization of co-management discourse and practice, how ever, has unintended political consequences analogous to those identified by recent critics of development discourse. As a result, co-management may actually be preventing rather than fostering the kind of change proponents desire. In this paper, I examine the discourse and practice of co-management and how they constrain the ways people can act—and even think—about wildlife management. I focus on the case of the Ruby Range Sheep Steering Committee, a co-management body established to address concerns about a population of Dall Sheep in the southwest Yukon.