A Case Study about Transnational Voluntary Standards to Local Practices: Forest Certification in Russia
Abstract: In this paper, I discuss how local actors translate transnational voluntary standards of responsible natural resource management into on-the-ground practices in domestic settings. Building on an extensive study of forest certifi cation in Russia, I argue that implementation is not a straightforward execution of transnational rules imposed by powerful transnational actors – e.g., international NGOs, multinationals, governments or consumers. Rather, local actors negotiate the ways in which transnational standards are implemented locally in both formal and informal settings, and thereby settle political confl icts over natural resource management and construct new knowledge related to standard implementation and good natural resource management.
Introduction: This research analyzes how local activists and enterprises translate transnational voluntary standards for the responsible use of natural resources into on-the-ground practices in a context of non-advanced industrial countries. The literature on market-driven forms of transnational private governance, such as certifi cation and labeling, assumes that once standards are adopted, they will translate into improvements in enterprises’ practices where necessary, and that practices can therefore be read off the standards. However, it overlooks two important social processes which take place at the local level in multi-level governance systems and which condition the implementation of transnational standards: These processes are stakeholder interest negotiation and collective learning, defi ned as new knowledge building. Keep reading…
