6. Who is to act and use the tools? Five paradigms of organised action A SAVOIR
Conclusion Debates about ETB use can leave the uncomfortable impression of being caught between two evils: on the one hand, the simplistic views of action underlying the textbook principles of ETBs, on the other hand the confusing message that it is all very political and depends on complex processes and situations. On the first side of the alternative, the five-paradigm approaches point up that indeed, the economic theory roots of ETBs limit themselves to two models of action only: market-coordination and government intervention. These two models, however, are not in essence simplistic. There is no reason to reduce them to textbook caricatures. The pragmatics and politics of government intervention, the pragmatics and politics of direct coordination between stakeholders are legitimate fields of investigation and practice by themselves. As long as one is aware that they can’t cover the whole story, they deserve serious investigation and each one opens avenues for action with ETBs and other tools. On the other side of the alternative, the approach proposed in this chapter lays down clear landmarks to navigate the plurality of views, especially of alternatives to the market-coordination and government-intervention views of biodiversity policy and ETB use. There is not on the one hand a simplistic view and on the other, one complex alternative. There are several different possible perspectives on who can and should act on biodiversity issues, on who can and should use ETBs. Each perspective is powerful and brings a large, specific potential for grounding both analysis and practice in specific ways. To use them in a relevant way, a few principles have to be kept in mind. There is no model of action that would include and subsume the others. Any perspective on, and for, action is inevitably partial. One has to choose. As summed up in table 5, lucid consideration of the context – especially of what kind of outcomes we are after, and what role we play in the situation as actors or analysts – can help choose the most relevant perspective. There is also no perspective on agency in the use of ETBs without serious blind spots. Knowing where they are helps greatly to draw up more relevant analyses and designs. Conversely, ignoring them just fuels confusion in debates about ETBs.
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© AFD / Tools for what trade? / September 2014