Ångman, Elin
- Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Social interaction is an important-and often forgotten-aspect of conflicts in natural resource management (NRM). Building on the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction, this article explores how the concept of impression management during social interaction can help understand NRM conflicts. A qualitative study was carried out on a Swedish case involving a conflict over clear-cutting of a forest. To explain why the conflict escalated and destructivity increased, we investigated how the involved actors interpreted each other's actions. For an individual, role confusion occurs when a particular interaction creates a conflict between the presented self and the self expected from the social situation (Goffman 1956). The analysis shows that actors could not use their established social arenas to address dissatisfaction due to the fear of role confusion. Instead, they avoided informal face-to-face meetings and changed the conditions of the social situation to avoid role confusion.
Keywords
embarrassment; Erving Goffman; forest management; natural resource conflict; natural resource management; roles; social interaction; symbolic interaction
Published in
Society and Natural Resources
2011, volume: 24, number: 12, pages: 1335-1344
SLU Authors
Hallgren, Lars
- Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Nordström, Eva-Maria
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Economics and Business
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Social Sciences
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2011.558172
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/35747