In this episode Hita and Michael spoke with Dustin Garrick who is an Associate Professor at the School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo, Canada and a research fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. We discussed how his passion for rivers led Dustin to move between theory and practice to understand the scope - and limits - of water markets as part of struggles toward more sustainable water management. Starting in the Colorado and Columbia Rivers of North America, Dustin’s work has led to a broader intellectual project to examine the institutional diversity and evolution of water markets, working with a network of partners across the world, to understand whether and under which conditions, different resource users and communities can “use markets without being abused by them”. We also spoke about the critiques of some predominant market based approaches to natural resource governance such as cap-and-trade systems and more free market environmentalism. . We touched upon some of his more recent work on informal water markets, and his growing interest in collective action across the rural-urban divide, which led to the development of a global database on rural-urban water conflict and cooperation that he has developed along with some of his colleagues. Dustin also reflected upon his engagement with large international development organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and global conservation organisations. He stressed that these organisations are not monolithic entities. t They are composed of groups of people with varied perspectives, interests and expertise, including many who share a focus on political economy and informality. Yet, these organisations also face practical and political constraints, that can lead to panacea thinking and otherwise limit the range of institutions and interests considered. We ended with a note on the importance of developing and diversifying one’s mentoring networks, while forging our own academic and non-academic pathways and trajectories. Dustin is currently involved in a book project on “Uncommon Markets”, the details of which may be found here: https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-leshner-fellow-dustin-garrick-launches-uncommon-markets-book-project
Dustin’s institutional website: https://uwaterloo.ca/environment-resources-and-sustainability/people-profiles/dustin-garrick
Some of the references we discuss in this interview are listed below:
125: Boundary spanning with Stephen Posner
124: Social capital and community resilience with Daniel Aldrich
123: Co-production and creativity with Josie Chambers
FFM #3: Mapping coastal fisheries with Paige Roberts
122: Decolonizing Conservation with Mathew Mabele
FFM #2: Reality-based fisheries policy with Bubba Cook
121: An end-of-year pod with the editors of the International Journal of the Commons
120: Land use, agriculture and the anthropocene with Billie Turner II
119: The Duty to Consult with Victoria A. Bikowski
FFM #1: Ocean policy with Elizabeth Mendenhall
118: Using games to teach about collective action and the commons with Eric Klopfer
Insight Episode #54: Dan Holland
Insight Episode #53: Dan Brockington on the myth of fortress conservation
Science and Practice #13: Land Conservation with Peter Stein
117: Coral reefs and collaborative science with Joshua Cinner
Insight Episode #52: Erin O’Donnell on the rights of nature
Insight Episode #51: Kaitlin Cordes on coffee and commodity chains
116: Stewardship salons and social science in the US Forest Service with Lindsay Campbell
115: Complex landscape mosaics and the paradox of pastoral tenure with Lance Robinson
Science and practice #12: Nature-based solutions with Margot Clarvis
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