The logic of environmental conservation and community development created by local residents from their experiences of environmental destruction

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13846
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: Iwate Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Hirai Yusuke 岩手県立大学, 総合政策学部, 准教授 (60757524)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 環境保全 / 地域づくり / 社会学的モノグラフ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to clarify the logic for coexisting environmental conservation and community development that local communities have created through their experience of environmental destruction.
The foundation of this community development lies in the experiential knowledge of observing minute changes in nature. This experiential knowledge is not something that can be easily passed on even among local people. That is why this experiential knowledge is difficult to be persuasive in negotiations with the national and prefectural governments (because it cannot be explained scientifically). I would like to complete my research with the following points in mind. How did a small number of local residents with experiential knowledge come to an agreement with the region, prefecture, and national government and proceed with the creation of fishing grounds and communities based on their experiential knowledge?

Free Research Field

村落社会学、環境社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的・社会的意義は、自然と人の関係性の貧困化という現代的な社会問題への解決の糸口を見いだせる点である。農地・山林の荒廃や野生動物被害の問題は、自然の過少利用によって生じてきた側面がある。一方で、農林漁業は成長産業として国家政策に位置づけらえ、大型産業化がすすめられ、自然の過剰利用がみられる。この両極端にみえる現象に通底するのは、自然と人の関係性が多様性を失い、人びとの営みと自然とが疎遠化しているという課題である。本研究は、日本の近代化の中で、この課題を意識せざるを得なかった人々の実践（現代において自然との関係を結びつつ生活を維持する）を描き、その論理や考え方を抽出するものである。