Matthew Scobie
Biographic Data
| ID | 1520464 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew Scobie |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew |
| FAMILY NAME | Scobie |
| SIGNATURE | SCOBIE M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of the West Indies |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8928-047X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 157 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Tangata Whenua, People Born of the Land
Who and what counts? Understanding work and workers that matter dialogically
In their essay ‘Indefinite Detention’, Judith Butler (p. 100) made the point that ‘the question of who will be treated humanely presupposes that we have first settled the question of who does and does not count ’ (Butler: 91, emphasis added ). This paper considers this vital issue in the format of a discussion between us as co-authors whose work speaks to the concerns of this special issue – precarity, mattering and marginalization. The paper for…
Time back! Reclaiming Indigenous temporalities
In this article, we demonstrate how Indigenous temporalities have been taken and how they are being taken back. We explore three stories from each of the authors’ lived experience and/or research work. These stories include Ngāi Tahu in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Sámi in Sweden, and Inuit in Nunavik (Arctic Québec). The stories span empirical contexts of historical evidence, storytelling, and research practice; temporal problems of erasing historici…
The Handbook of Diverse Economies , Colonialism, and the State
Land, land banks and land back
This paper situates Indigenous social reproduction as a duality; as both a site of primitive accumulation and as a critical, resurgent, land-based practice. Drawing on three distinct cases from British Columbia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Bua, Fiji, we illustrate how accounting techniques can be a key mechanism with which Indigenous modes of life are brought to the market and are often foundational to the establishment of markets. We argue …
Collective action by community groups
Community groups are taking initiatives to adapt to a changing climate. These organizations differ from businesses and governments by being non-profit, often informal, resource limited, and reliant on volunteer labor. How these organizations facilitate collective action is not well known, especially since they do not necessarily solve common pool resource governance, but rather improve common pool resources through collective action. In fact, at …
The agency of community groups in health and climate change adaptation governance and policy in Sids
Rural livelihoods and caterpillar fungus collection
This study explores the appropriation and distribution of surplus in caterpillar fungus collection in Qinghai using a diverse economies of surplus approach. Ethnographic fieldwork included semi‐structured interviews, focus group discussions, oral histories and participant observations during collection. Findings suggest that one particular enterprise type, with more typically capitalist features has come to dominate caterpillar fungus collection …
Resourcing rangatiratanga as part of constitutional transformation
This study explores possibilities for resourcing rangatiratanga, or Indigenous self‐determination. We start by illustrating the role of taxation in erasing Indigenous sovereignty to first establish colonial authority, and then maintain this authority through an inequitable taxation system. We are motivated by emerging arguments around the importance for Indigenous practices and perspectives in governance, but without the proper resourcing to do s…
Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainability Governance
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) ambitiously pursue their development agendas while facing resource and governance constraints. Global processes like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include governance norms with the potential to influence national institutional arrangements and policy. National implementation processes are dynamic and contest, reinterpret, and/or apply external norms in varied ways. Although much of the success in S…
Solar geoengineering
Solar geoengineering is gaining prominence in climate change debates as an issue worth studying; for some it is even a potential future policy option. We argue here against this increasing normalization of solar geoengineering as a speculative part of the climate policy portfolio. We contend, in particular, that solar geoengineering at planetary scale is not governable in a globally inclusive and just manner within the current international polit…
Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements
The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a rapidly deteriorating earth system. This, however, only increases the need to focus on the role of agency in this context. This paper does so by taking stock of what we know about agency in relation to International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) and suggests directions for future research. We contribute a conceptual frame…
Indigenous enterprise on customary lands
This study examines Indigenous Fijian and Papua New Guinean enterprises on customary land. It explores the duality of merging Indigenous and Western principles of entrepreneurship and the ability to balance business and socio‐cultural imperatives. A qualitative, ethnographic‐case study approach is deployed, with talanoa/tok stori used to collect empirical materials. Two interrelated themes emerged from the study: The need for Indigenous enterpris…
Treaty Preambles and The Environmental Justice Gap
Global environmental architectures have the potential to reduce inequalities, however, legal, and political procedures and structures may also increase injustices and disempowerment. Multilateral environmental agreements create large regimes over some of the most expansive planetary systems. Contracting states list the purposes, motivations and considerations that led them to conclude legally binding agreements in treaty preambles that are an int…
Climate Ambition and Sustainable Development for a New Decade
This paper examines the Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA) and discusses options to improve sub‐ and non‐state involvement in post‐2020 climate governance. A framework that stimulates sub‐ and non‐state action is a necessary complement to national governmental action, as the latter falls short of achieving low‐carbon and climate‐resilient development as envisaged in the Paris Agreement. Applying design principles for an ideal‐type orchestration …
Braiding together student and supervisor aspirations in a struggle to decolonize
In this study, we explore a student-supervisor relationship and the development of relational and reflexive research identities as joint actions towards decolonizing management knowledge and practice. We frame a specific case of PhD supervision through he awa whiria the braided rivers metaphor, which emerges from Māori traditions. This metaphor recognizes a plurality of knowledge streams that can start from different sources, converge, braid and …
International aid, trade and investment and access and allocation
Child marriage, human rights and international norms
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force in 1990. It condemns child marriage, violence and discrimination against children and enjoins tutelage for their education and health. Implementing such principles in national legislation sometimes conflicts with local norms relating to respect for cultural and religious traditions. This was the case of Trinidad and Tobago, a multicultural and multi-religious society that…
Protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction
In September 2018, following over a decade of informal discussions, the United Nations General Assembly launched an intergovernmental conference to address the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. This process is scheduled to take two years and is structured around four themes: marine genetic resources, area-based management tools (including marine protected areas), environmental impact assessments, and c…
The Earth System Governance Project as a network organization
The social sciences have engaged since the late 1980s in international collaborative programmes to study questions of sustainability and global change. This article offers an in-depth analysis of the largest long-standing social-science network in this field: the Earth System Governance Project. Originating as a core project of the former International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, the Earth System Governance Project …
Promises and risks of nonstate action in climate and sustainability governance
Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement stand as milestone diplomatic achievements. However, immense discrepancies between political commitments and governmental action remain. Combined national climate commitments fall far short of the Paris Agreement's 1.5/2°C targets. Similar political ambition gaps persist across various areas of sustainable development. Many therefore argue that actions by nonstate actors, such as businesses an…
New directions in earth system governance research
The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant a…
Equity and sustainability in the Anthropocene
Non-technical summary It is no longer possible nor desirable to address the dual challenges of equity and sustainability separately. Instead, they require new thinking and approaches which recognize their interlinkages, as well as the multiple perspectives and dimensions involved. We illustrate how equity and sustainability are intertwined, and how a complex social–ecological systems lens brings together advances from across the social and natura…
Accountability in climate change governance and Caribbean Sids
Policy coherence in climate governance in Caribbean Small Island Developing States
New directions in earth system governance research
The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant a…
Solar geoengineering
Solar geoengineering is gaining prominence in climate change debates as an issue worth studying; for some it is even a potential future policy option. We argue here against this increasing normalization of solar geoengineering as a speculative part of the climate policy portfolio. We contend, in particular, that solar geoengineering at planetary scale is not governable in a globally inclusive and just manner within the current international polit…
Promises and risks of nonstate action in climate and sustainability governance
Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement stand as milestone diplomatic achievements. However, immense discrepancies between political commitments and governmental action remain. Combined national climate commitments fall far short of the Paris Agreement's 1.5/2°C targets. Similar political ambition gaps persist across various areas of sustainable development. Many therefore argue that actions by nonstate actors, such as businesses an…
Policy coherence in climate governance in Caribbean Small Island Developing States
Indigenous enterprise on customary lands
This study examines Indigenous Fijian and Papua New Guinean enterprises on customary land. It explores the duality of merging Indigenous and Western principles of entrepreneurship and the ability to balance business and socio‐cultural imperatives. A qualitative, ethnographic‐case study approach is deployed, with talanoa/tok stori used to collect empirical materials. Two interrelated themes emerged from the study: The need for Indigenous enterpris…
Protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction
In September 2018, following over a decade of informal discussions, the United Nations General Assembly launched an intergovernmental conference to address the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. This process is scheduled to take two years and is structured around four themes: marine genetic resources, area-based management tools (including marine protected areas), environmental impact assessments, and c…
Land, land banks and land back
This paper situates Indigenous social reproduction as a duality; as both a site of primitive accumulation and as a critical, resurgent, land-based practice. Drawing on three distinct cases from British Columbia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Bua, Fiji, we illustrate how accounting techniques can be a key mechanism with which Indigenous modes of life are brought to the market and are often foundational to the establishment of markets. We argue …
The Earth System Governance Project as a network organization
The social sciences have engaged since the late 1980s in international collaborative programmes to study questions of sustainability and global change. This article offers an in-depth analysis of the largest long-standing social-science network in this field: the Earth System Governance Project. Originating as a core project of the former International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, the Earth System Governance Project …
Rural livelihoods and caterpillar fungus collection
This study explores the appropriation and distribution of surplus in caterpillar fungus collection in Qinghai using a diverse economies of surplus approach. Ethnographic fieldwork included semi‐structured interviews, focus group discussions, oral histories and participant observations during collection. Findings suggest that one particular enterprise type, with more typically capitalist features has come to dominate caterpillar fungus collection …
Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements
The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a rapidly deteriorating earth system. This, however, only increases the need to focus on the role of agency in this context. This paper does so by taking stock of what we know about agency in relation to International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) and suggests directions for future research. We contribute a conceptual frame…
International aid, trade and investment and access and allocation
Policy coherence in climate governance in Caribbean Small Island Developing States
Equity and sustainability in the Anthropocene
Non-technical summary It is no longer possible nor desirable to address the dual challenges of equity and sustainability separately. Instead, they require new thinking and approaches which recognize their interlinkages, as well as the multiple perspectives and dimensions involved. We illustrate how equity and sustainability are intertwined, and how a complex social–ecological systems lens brings together advances from across the social and natura…
Accountability in climate change governance and Caribbean Sids
Protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction
In September 2018, following over a decade of informal discussions, the United Nations General Assembly launched an intergovernmental conference to address the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. This process is scheduled to take two years and is structured around four themes: marine genetic resources, area-based management tools (including marine protected areas), environmental impact assessments, and c…
The Earth System Governance Project as a network organization
The social sciences have engaged since the late 1980s in international collaborative programmes to study questions of sustainability and global change. This article offers an in-depth analysis of the largest long-standing social-science network in this field: the Earth System Governance Project. Originating as a core project of the former International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, the Earth System Governance Project …
Promises and risks of nonstate action in climate and sustainability governance
Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement stand as milestone diplomatic achievements. However, immense discrepancies between political commitments and governmental action remain. Combined national climate commitments fall far short of the Paris Agreement's 1.5/2°C targets. Similar political ambition gaps persist across various areas of sustainable development. Many therefore argue that actions by nonstate actors, such as businesses an…
New directions in earth system governance research
The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant a…
International aid, trade and investment and access and allocation
Child marriage, human rights and international norms
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child entered into force in 1990. It condemns child marriage, violence and discrimination against children and enjoins tutelage for their education and health. Implementing such principles in national legislation sometimes conflicts with local norms relating to respect for cultural and religious traditions. This was the case of Trinidad and Tobago, a multicultural and multi-religious society that…
Treaty Preambles and The Environmental Justice Gap
Global environmental architectures have the potential to reduce inequalities, however, legal, and political procedures and structures may also increase injustices and disempowerment. Multilateral environmental agreements create large regimes over some of the most expansive planetary systems. Contracting states list the purposes, motivations and considerations that led them to conclude legally binding agreements in treaty preambles that are an int…
Climate Ambition and Sustainable Development for a New Decade
This paper examines the Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA) and discusses options to improve sub‐ and non‐state involvement in post‐2020 climate governance. A framework that stimulates sub‐ and non‐state action is a necessary complement to national governmental action, as the latter falls short of achieving low‐carbon and climate‐resilient development as envisaged in the Paris Agreement. Applying design principles for an ideal‐type orchestration …
Braiding together student and supervisor aspirations in a struggle to decolonize
In this study, we explore a student-supervisor relationship and the development of relational and reflexive research identities as joint actions towards decolonizing management knowledge and practice. We frame a specific case of PhD supervision through he awa whiria the braided rivers metaphor, which emerges from Māori traditions. This metaphor recognizes a plurality of knowledge streams that can start from different sources, converge, braid and …
Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainability Governance
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) ambitiously pursue their development agendas while facing resource and governance constraints. Global processes like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include governance norms with the potential to influence national institutional arrangements and policy. National implementation processes are dynamic and contest, reinterpret, and/or apply external norms in varied ways. Although much of the success in S…
Solar geoengineering
Solar geoengineering is gaining prominence in climate change debates as an issue worth studying; for some it is even a potential future policy option. We argue here against this increasing normalization of solar geoengineering as a speculative part of the climate policy portfolio. We contend, in particular, that solar geoengineering at planetary scale is not governable in a globally inclusive and just manner within the current international polit…
Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements
The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a rapidly deteriorating earth system. This, however, only increases the need to focus on the role of agency in this context. This paper does so by taking stock of what we know about agency in relation to International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) and suggests directions for future research. We contribute a conceptual frame…
Indigenous enterprise on customary lands
This study examines Indigenous Fijian and Papua New Guinean enterprises on customary land. It explores the duality of merging Indigenous and Western principles of entrepreneurship and the ability to balance business and socio‐cultural imperatives. A qualitative, ethnographic‐case study approach is deployed, with talanoa/tok stori used to collect empirical materials. Two interrelated themes emerged from the study: The need for Indigenous enterpris…
Collective action by community groups
Community groups are taking initiatives to adapt to a changing climate. These organizations differ from businesses and governments by being non-profit, often informal, resource limited, and reliant on volunteer labor. How these organizations facilitate collective action is not well known, especially since they do not necessarily solve common pool resource governance, but rather improve common pool resources through collective action. In fact, at …
The agency of community groups in health and climate change adaptation governance and policy in Sids
Rural livelihoods and caterpillar fungus collection
This study explores the appropriation and distribution of surplus in caterpillar fungus collection in Qinghai using a diverse economies of surplus approach. Ethnographic fieldwork included semi‐structured interviews, focus group discussions, oral histories and participant observations during collection. Findings suggest that one particular enterprise type, with more typically capitalist features has come to dominate caterpillar fungus collection …
Resourcing rangatiratanga as part of constitutional transformation
This study explores possibilities for resourcing rangatiratanga, or Indigenous self‐determination. We start by illustrating the role of taxation in erasing Indigenous sovereignty to first establish colonial authority, and then maintain this authority through an inequitable taxation system. We are motivated by emerging arguments around the importance for Indigenous practices and perspectives in governance, but without the proper resourcing to do s…
Land, land banks and land back
This paper situates Indigenous social reproduction as a duality; as both a site of primitive accumulation and as a critical, resurgent, land-based practice. Drawing on three distinct cases from British Columbia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Bua, Fiji, we illustrate how accounting techniques can be a key mechanism with which Indigenous modes of life are brought to the market and are often foundational to the establishment of markets. We argue …
Time back! Reclaiming Indigenous temporalities
In this article, we demonstrate how Indigenous temporalities have been taken and how they are being taken back. We explore three stories from each of the authors’ lived experience and/or research work. These stories include Ngāi Tahu in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Sámi in Sweden, and Inuit in Nunavik (Arctic Québec). The stories span empirical contexts of historical evidence, storytelling, and research practice; temporal problems of erasing historici…
The Handbook of Diverse Economies , Colonialism, and the State
Tangata Whenua, People Born of the Land
Who and what counts? Understanding work and workers that matter dialogically
In their essay ‘Indefinite Detention’, Judith Butler (p. 100) made the point that ‘the question of who will be treated humanely presupposes that we have first settled the question of who does and does not count ’ (Butler: 91, emphasis added ). This paper considers this vital issue in the format of a discussion between us as co-authors whose work speaks to the concerns of this special issue – precarity, mattering and marginalization. The paper for…
Political science (21 works) · Economics (14 works) · Corporate governance (13 works) · Law (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Business (12 works) · Ecology (10 works) · Environmental resource management (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (8 works)