Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-30DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107256
Ian Scoones
Uncertainty – where we don’t know what the future will hold – dominates our world. Climate change, natural disasters, pandemics and financial systems are characterised by deep uncertainties, even ignorance. Yet development efforts try to control, manage, plan and order the world in ways that often backfire. In an age of uncertainty, we need to ask whether development should be a project of control, often drawing on formal expertise and creating order through top-down intervention, or one of flexible, responsive, adaptive caring This Insights essay will explore the implications of taking uncertainty seriously, examining the implications for how we approach perhaps the biggest development challenge of all: adapting to climate change.
{"title":"Why embracing uncertainty means rethinking development","authors":"Ian Scoones","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Uncertainty – where we don’t know what the future will hold – dominates our world. Climate change, natural disasters, pandemics and financial systems are characterised by deep uncertainties, even ignorance. Yet development efforts try to control, manage, plan and order the world in ways that often backfire. In an age of uncertainty, we need to ask whether development should be a project of control, often drawing on formal expertise and creating order through top-down intervention, or one of flexible, responsive, adaptive caring This Insights essay will explore the implications of taking uncertainty seriously, examining the implications for how we approach perhaps the biggest development challenge of all: adapting to climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 107256"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-11DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107211
Leoni Mendler-Krakau, Michael Frenkel
China has emerged as an internationally leading creditor of development finance and is now competing with traditional Western donors and lenders. Between 2000 and 2021, Chinese public sector institutions committed more than USD 1.3 trillion to low- and middle-income countries. The flagship Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, has enabled unprecedented infrastructure investment in about 150 countries. Western criticism of a lack of transparency has prompted speculation about the environmental impact of Chinese lending abroad. We examine whether Chinese official finance to Africa between 2000 and 2021 is associated with “greener” electricity generation—which can serve as the backbone for a sustainable energy transition on the continent—and whether it has contributed to emission reduction. To mitigate endogeneity concerns, we employ an instrumental variable approach that relies on the exogenous variation in the availability of Chinese official finance over time. Our findings suggest that Chinese official finance has increased the adoption of renewable energy for electricity generation, although the impact differs between development-oriented and commercial finance and changes over time. Furthermore, while Chinese official finance has contributed to reducing emissions and improving electricity access, commercial projects appear to offset some of the emission reductions.
{"title":"How green is China’s development finance? Power generation and air pollution in Africa","authors":"Leoni Mendler-Krakau, Michael Frenkel","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107211","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107211","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China has emerged as an internationally leading creditor of development finance and is now competing with traditional Western donors and lenders. Between 2000 and 2021, Chinese public sector institutions committed more than USD 1.3 trillion to low- and middle-income countries. The flagship Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, has enabled unprecedented infrastructure investment in about 150 countries. Western criticism of a lack of transparency has prompted speculation about the environmental impact of Chinese lending abroad. We examine whether Chinese official finance to Africa between 2000 and 2021 is associated with “greener” electricity generation—which can serve as the backbone for a sustainable energy transition on the continent—and whether it has contributed to emission reduction. To mitigate endogeneity concerns, we employ an instrumental variable approach that relies on the exogenous variation in the availability of Chinese official finance over time. Our findings suggest that Chinese official finance has increased the adoption of renewable energy for electricity generation, although the impact differs between development-oriented and commercial finance and changes over time. Furthermore, while Chinese official finance has contributed to reducing emissions and improving electricity access, commercial projects appear to offset some of the emission reductions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 107211"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145479132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-29DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107267
Diana Suhardiman , Chaya Vaddhanaphuti , Saw Sha Bwe Moo , Paul Sein Twa
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Firebreaks as indigenous knowledge system and cultural practice: an emerging counternarrative in forest fire governance” [World Dev. 198 (2026) 107224]","authors":"Diana Suhardiman , Chaya Vaddhanaphuti , Saw Sha Bwe Moo , Paul Sein Twa","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107267","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107267","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 107267"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145736753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.106978
Rebecca Hanson , Dorothy Kronick
Official vigilantism, or police officers’ extralegal punishment of perceived offenses, is often understood as the product of a repressive state. We show that official vigilantism can also arise in reaction to a state deemed insufficiently repressive. When criminal justice reform strengthens protections for suspects or defendants, police can turn to extralegal punishment as a substitute for newly disallowed tools of legal punishment. We investigate this dynamic in a case study. When Venezuela implemented criminal procedure reform in 1999, we find, some officers responded by killing those whom they could no longer arrest or detain. We then discuss the conditions under which rights-oriented reform can spark official vigilantism.
{"title":"Official vigilantism","authors":"Rebecca Hanson , Dorothy Kronick","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.106978","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.106978","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Official vigilantism, or police officers’ extralegal punishment of perceived offenses, is often understood as the product of a repressive state. We show that official vigilantism can also arise in reaction to a state deemed insufficiently repressive. When criminal justice reform strengthens protections for suspects or defendants, police can turn to extralegal punishment as a substitute for newly disallowed tools of legal punishment. We investigate this dynamic in a case study. When Venezuela implemented criminal procedure reform in 1999, we find, some officers responded by killing those whom they could no longer arrest or detain. We then discuss the conditions under which rights-oriented reform can spark official vigilantism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 106978"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145425125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107235
Huan-yu Cui, Yue-qun Cao
We conducted a quasi-natural experiment using the gradual introduction of 12,369 hotlines across Chinese cities to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of public reporting on corporate environmental violations. Our findings can be summarized in three key points. First, public participation in environmental governance leads to a substantial reduction in pollution emissions from industrial firms, primarily targeting dirty industries rather than clean industries; furthermore, the indirect effect on clean enterprises does not offset the overall treatment effect. Second, responding to public reporting, regulators relax regulations on clean industries while tightening regulations on dirty industries. In turn, dirty industries implement measures to reduce emissions through process improvements, end-of-pipe treatments, and effective green innovations. Third, the effectiveness of public participation in environmental governance is influenced by local politicians’ professional motivations, telephone penetration, and citizens’ environmental awareness. Importantly, public participation improves residents’ health and well-being. Additionally, it has resulted in an annual GDP gain of 5.47 billion RMB and saved 15,369.1 million RMB in health care costs.
{"title":"Does the baby that cries get milk? Direct and indirect effects of public participation on environmental governance in China","authors":"Huan-yu Cui, Yue-qun Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107235","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We conducted a quasi-natural experiment using the gradual introduction of 12,369 hotlines across Chinese cities to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of public reporting on corporate environmental violations. Our findings can be summarized in three key points. First, public participation in environmental governance leads to a substantial reduction in pollution emissions from industrial firms, primarily targeting dirty industries rather than clean industries; furthermore, the indirect effect on clean enterprises does not offset the overall treatment effect. Second, responding to public reporting, regulators relax regulations on clean industries while tightening regulations on dirty industries. In turn, dirty industries implement measures to reduce emissions through process improvements, end-of-pipe treatments, and effective green innovations. Third, the effectiveness of public participation in environmental governance is influenced by local politicians’ professional motivations, telephone penetration, and citizens’ environmental awareness. Importantly, public participation improves residents’ health and well-being. Additionally, it has resulted in an annual GDP gain of 5.47 billion RMB and saved 15,369.1 million RMB in health care costs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107235"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145475378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107213
Maria Pereira , Graça Miranda Silva , Filipe Coelho
Our study analyses the role of both private and public debt, in conjunction with other financial and institutional factors, in shaping environmental performance (EP). Prior research on debt and EP has yielded inconclusive results and neglected the role of private debt and the interplay of various intervening factors. We address these gaps by applying Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to data from 59 countries. We find multiple pathways to achieving both high and non-high EP, highlighting the lack of a single best approach. Additionally, the results denote that high (non-high) public or private debt does not constrain a high (non-high) EP. The findings also demonstrate that no single financial means, including either type of debt or GDP alone, is necessary by itself for achieving high EP; rather, a combination of at least two financial means is necessary for such an outcome. Relatedly, the absence of all financial means is not sufficient to achieve non-high EP. Moreover, the role of debt on EP tends to depend on the other factors with which it is combined. Finally, financial means must be combined with different mixes of institutional factors for achieving a high and a non-high EP. Hence, our results reconcile previously mixed findings by indicating that the role of private and public debt on EP is contingent on other factors. This underscores the importance of considering the complex interplay between factors influencing environmental outcomes. Accordingly, this research offers insights into theory and informs policy decisions targeting both economic growth and environmental sustainability.
{"title":"A fuzzy-set QCA approach exploring the role of public and private debt in shaping environmental performance","authors":"Maria Pereira , Graça Miranda Silva , Filipe Coelho","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107213","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107213","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our study analyses the role of both private and public debt, in conjunction with other financial and institutional factors, in shaping environmental performance (EP). Prior research on debt and EP has yielded inconclusive results and neglected the role of private debt and the interplay of various intervening factors. We address these gaps by applying Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to data from 59 countries. We find multiple pathways to achieving both high and non-high EP, highlighting the lack of a single best approach. Additionally, the results denote that high (non-high) public or private debt does not constrain a high (non-high) EP. The findings also demonstrate that no single financial means, including either type of debt or GDP alone, is necessary by itself for achieving high EP; rather, a combination of at least two financial means is necessary for such an outcome. Relatedly, the absence of all financial means is not sufficient to achieve non-high EP. Moreover, the role of debt on EP tends to depend on the other factors with which it is combined. Finally, financial means must be combined with different mixes of institutional factors for achieving a high and a non-high EP. Hence, our results reconcile previously mixed findings by indicating that the role of private and public debt on EP is contingent on other factors. This underscores the importance of considering the complex interplay between factors influencing environmental outcomes. Accordingly, this research offers insights into theory and informs policy decisions targeting both economic growth and environmental sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107213"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145425127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-10-25DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107155
Nicolás Idrobo , Dorothy Kronick , Francisco Rodríguez
An article recently published in this journal claims to present statistical evidence of fraud in Bolivia’s controversial 2019 presidential election. These claims are significant not only for our understanding of a pivotal moment in Latin American politics but also because, as the authors note, their methods might inform how researchers investigate fraud in other cases. We explain why the evidence does not support the authors’ conclusions. They claim to find evidence of fraud based on: (1) a difference-in-differences, (2) a simple difference, and (3) regression discontinuity. But (1) the pre-trends are converging in the difference-indifferences, (2) there are many benign explanations for the simple difference, and (3) the regression discontinuity uses an arbitrarily chosen cutoff at which placebo outcomes are not smooth. Our objective is both to correct the record about this specific election and, more generally, to reiterate the risks of ad hoc election forensics.
{"title":"On unfounded claims of electoral fraud","authors":"Nicolás Idrobo , Dorothy Kronick , Francisco Rodríguez","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An article recently published in this journal claims to present statistical evidence of fraud in Bolivia’s controversial 2019 presidential election. These claims are significant not only for our understanding of a pivotal moment in Latin American politics but also because, as the authors note, their methods might inform how researchers investigate fraud in other cases. We explain why the evidence does not support the authors’ conclusions. They claim to find evidence of fraud based on: (1) a difference-in-differences, (2) a simple difference, and (3) regression discontinuity. But (1) the pre-trends are converging in the difference-indifferences, (2) there are many benign explanations for the simple difference, and (3) the regression discontinuity uses an arbitrarily chosen cutoff at which placebo outcomes are not smooth. Our objective is both to correct the record about this specific election and, more generally, to reiterate the risks of ad hoc election forensics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107155"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145365266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107190
Sandra V. Rozo , Alejandra Quintana , María José Urbina
How does easing the economic integration of forced migrants affect native voting behaviors in the Global South? We assess how a regularization program which facilitated the temporal economic integration of half a million Venezuelan forced migrants affected the electoral choices of Colombian voters. This is done by comparing the election results in municipalities with higher and lower take-up rates for the program, before and after its implementation. Our findings show negligible impacts of the program on native voting behavior. We also conducted a survey experiment to investigate the lack of voters’ response. Even after receiving information about the program, Colombian voters showed no changes in voting intentions or prosocial views towards migrants. Hence, voters’ indifference did not stem from a lack of awareness about the program. Instead, theoretical and qualitative evidence suggests that it may be potentially explained by (1) the absence of negative economic effects of the program, (2) the low media and political salience of the program, (3) the cultural proximity between Colombia and Venezuela, and (4) the stabilization of Venezuelan inflows into Colombia after 2018.
{"title":"Electoral effects of integrating forced migrants: Evidence from a Southern Country","authors":"Sandra V. Rozo , Alejandra Quintana , María José Urbina","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107190","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107190","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>How does easing the economic integration of forced migrants affect native voting behaviors in the Global South? We assess how a regularization program which facilitated the temporal economic integration of half a million Venezuelan forced migrants affected the electoral choices of Colombian voters. This is done by comparing the election results in municipalities with higher and lower take-up rates for the program, before and after its implementation. Our findings show negligible impacts of the program on native voting behavior. We also conducted a survey experiment to investigate the lack of voters’ response. Even after receiving information about the program, Colombian voters showed no changes in voting intentions or prosocial views towards migrants. Hence, voters’ indifference did not stem from a lack of awareness about the program. Instead, theoretical and qualitative evidence suggests that it may be potentially explained by (1) the absence of negative economic effects of the program, (2) the low media and political salience of the program, (3) the cultural proximity between Colombia and Venezuela, and (4) the stabilization of Venezuelan inflows into Colombia after 2018.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107190"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145340948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107231
Sara Vélez Zapata , Gonzalo A. Vargas , Elizabeth Castaño , Carolina Muñoz , Yeison Londoño , María Camila Zamudio-Mir , Mariela Ríos , Alexander Palau , Sergio Valencia , Manuel Tovar , Jorge Tobón , Mauricio Uribe , Adolfo Eslava
Community forestry can reduce deforestation, protect tropical biodiverse hotspots, and support the livelihoods of rural inhabitants, but only under the right conditions, e.g., well-defined property rights, enabling regulation, supportive bureaucracies, robust community institutions, and a peaceful environment in which collective action is possible. Since forest-rich regions often lack such auspicious circumstances, in this article, we ask whether community forestry may still be effective when they are missing and, if so, under what conditions. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we analysed the practices and organisational arrangements of eleven communes (veredas) on the western slopes of the San Lucas Mountains, in northern Colombia, characterised by a weak state presence and the chronic influence of non-state armed groups. Our findings suggest that communities can achieve low deforestation rates and promote forest regeneration when they meet three conditions: legitimate environmental leadership, support from external partners, and sustainable values and practices in relation to the natural environment. This article expands our knowledge of the conditions that make community forestry more effective in curbing deforestation and forest degradation. It provides actionable advice for civil society and local organisations that want to reduce deforestation and support vulnerable rural communities even when the ‘right’ policies and institutions are absent.
{"title":"Against the Odds: Community forestry in the San Lucas Mountains, Colombia","authors":"Sara Vélez Zapata , Gonzalo A. Vargas , Elizabeth Castaño , Carolina Muñoz , Yeison Londoño , María Camila Zamudio-Mir , Mariela Ríos , Alexander Palau , Sergio Valencia , Manuel Tovar , Jorge Tobón , Mauricio Uribe , Adolfo Eslava","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107231","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107231","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Community forestry can reduce deforestation, protect tropical biodiverse hotspots, and support the livelihoods of rural inhabitants, but only under the right conditions, e.g., well-defined property rights, enabling regulation, supportive bureaucracies, robust community institutions, and a peaceful environment in which collective action is possible. Since forest-rich regions often lack such auspicious circumstances, in this article, we ask whether community forestry may still be effective when they are missing and, if so, under what conditions. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we analysed the practices and organisational arrangements of eleven communes (<em>veredas</em>) on the western slopes of the San Lucas Mountains, in northern Colombia, characterised by a weak state presence and the chronic influence of non-state armed groups. Our findings suggest that communities can achieve low deforestation rates and promote forest regeneration when they meet three conditions: legitimate environmental leadership, support from external partners, and sustainable values and practices in relation to the natural environment. This article expands our knowledge of the conditions that make community forestry more effective in curbing deforestation and forest degradation. It provides actionable advice for civil society and local organisations that want to reduce deforestation and support vulnerable rural communities even when the ‘right’ policies and institutions are absent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107231"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145475377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-04DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107224
Diana Suhardiman , Saw Sha Bwe Moo , Chaya Vaddhanaphuti , Paul Sein Twa
This paper studies Karen Indigenous approaches in forest fire governance, contextualized in rotational farming practices and embedded in Karen communities’ cultural norms, values, and life philosophy. It presents the Kaw way of governing as Karen communities’ strategies to sustain their livelihoods and key element to tackle the problem of uncontrollable forest fires. Putting firebreak application as Karen communities’ Indigenous knowledge, it challenges the dominant narrative of the politics of blame, which positions burning from rotational farming, also known as swidden agriculture, as a key decisive factor causing (uncontrollable) forest fires and the transboundary haze and air pollution problem. We argue that rather than viewing burning from rotational farming practices as the source of problem, policy makers should embrace Karen communities’ Indigenous knowledge surrounding firebreak application as a central part of the solution in regional forest fire governance. It compares Karen communities’ knowledge and cultural practices surrounding the organization and application of firebreaks in the Salween Peace Park, Kawthoolei, Karen State, Myanmar, with the way farmers applied prescribed burning in Mae On District of Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand.
{"title":"Firebreaks as indigenous knowledge system and cultural practice: an emerging counternarrative in forest fire governance","authors":"Diana Suhardiman , Saw Sha Bwe Moo , Chaya Vaddhanaphuti , Paul Sein Twa","doi":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107224","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107224","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies Karen Indigenous approaches in forest fire governance, contextualized in rotational farming practices and embedded in Karen communities’ cultural norms, values, and life philosophy. It presents the <em>Kaw</em> way of governing as Karen communities’ strategies to sustain their livelihoods and key element to tackle the problem of uncontrollable forest fires. Putting firebreak application as Karen communities’ Indigenous knowledge, it challenges the dominant narrative of the politics of blame, which positions burning from rotational farming, also known as swidden agriculture, as a key decisive factor causing (uncontrollable) forest fires and the transboundary haze and air pollution problem. We argue that rather than viewing burning from rotational farming practices as the source of problem, policy makers should embrace Karen communities’ Indigenous knowledge surrounding firebreak application as a central part of the solution in regional forest fire governance. It compares Karen communities’ knowledge and cultural practices surrounding the organization and application of firebreaks in the Salween Peace Park, Kawthoolei, Karen State, Myanmar, with the way farmers applied prescribed burning in Mae On District of Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48463,"journal":{"name":"World Development","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 107224"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145475327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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