From Invisibility to Transparency: Identifying the Implications
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Date
2008-12-24
Authors
Turner, Nancy
Gregory, Robin
Brooks, Cheryl
Failing, Lee
Satterfield, Terre
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Resilience Alliance
Abstract
This paper explores the need for a broader and more inclusive approach to decisions about
land and resources, one that recognizes the legitimacy of cultural values and traditional knowledge in
environmental decision making and policy. Invisible losses are those not widely recognized or accounted
for in decisions about resource planning and decision making in resource- and land-use negotiations
precisely because they involve considerations that tend to be ignored by managers and scientists or because
they are often indirect or cumulative, resulting from a complex, often cumulative series of events, decisions,
choices, or policies. First Nations communities in western North America have experienced many such
losses that, together, have resulted in a decline in the overall resilience of individuals and communities.
We have identified eight types invisible losses that are often overlapping and cumulative: cultural/lifestyle
losses, loss of identity, health losses, loss of self-determination and influence, emotional and psychological
losses, loss of order in the world, knowledge losses, and indirect economic losses and lost opportunities.
To render such invisible losses more transparent, which represents the first step in developing a more
positive and equitable basis for decision making and negotiations around land and resources, we recommend
six processes: focusing on what matters to the people affected, describing what matters in meaningful ways,
making a place for these concerns in decision making, evaluating future losses and gains from a historical
baseline, recognizing culturally derived values as relevant, and creating better alternatives for decision
making so that invisible losses will be diminished or eliminated in the future.
Description
14 pages
Keywords
First Nations, Decision making, Resource use, Negotiation, Cultural values
Citation
Turner, N. J., Gregory, R., Brooks, C., Failing, L., & Satterfield, T. (2008). From invisibility to transparency: Identifying the implications. Ecology and Society, 13, Article 7. Retrieved December 24, 2008, from http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art7/