透過委託 - 代理關係的社會資本發展及交換 - 政大學術集成

全文

(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩士學位學程. International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University. 政治大. Master’s Thesis. 學 ‧. ‧ 國. 立碩士論文. y. sit. Nat. 論文題目. er. io. Researching Research in Action: Social Capital Development and Exchange Through Principal-Agent Relationships a. n. iv l C n 透過委託 - 代理關係的社會資本發展及交換 hengchi U Student: Thomas Robertson Advisor: Mei-Chuan Wei 中華民國 107 年 07 月 July 2018. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(2) 論文題目 Thesis Topic 研究生：. Student: Thomas Robertson. 指導教授：. Advisor: Mei-chuan Wei. 政治大. 國立政治大學. 立. 學. ‧ 國. 亞太研究英語碩士學位學程碩士論文. ‧. io. y. sit. Nat. A Thesis. n. al. er. Submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies. i n U. Ch. v. i e n g c hUniversity National Chengchi In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in China Studies. 中華民國 107 年 07 月 July 2018 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(3) Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the support of a large group of people, each of whom have my thanks and enduring gratitude. To Professor Ching-Ping Tang whose teaching and support throughout my time in the IMAS program was ever enlightening, and always moved me in a productive direction. To Professor Mei-Chuan Wei, I would also like to extend heartfelt thanks for her comments and understanding both during the production of this thesis and during my. 治政大comments and suggestions that A sincere thanks goes to Professor Yih-Ren Lin for his were of great value and a立 source of strength. times of difficulty.. ‧ 國. 學. I would also like to extend thanks to the IMAS administrative staff whose professionalism and dedication to students was a great help.. ‧. The people of Wulai have my enduring gratitude, without whom this work would not. sit. y. Nat. have been possible. Their conversations, care, and warm-hearted kindness, and. io. er. friendships have left a lasting impression.. Finally, I would like to extend a sincere thanks to my family, both in Canada and Taiwan. n. al. i n U. v. for standing through life’s difficulties, and especially to Bear, who has always been there. Ch. to help me push through them.. engchi. i. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(4) Abstract Indigenous peoples around the world are faced with many economic, social, and cultural difficulties as a result of colonial histories. Modern social and solidarity economic theory has led to developmental initiatives that seek to create more equitable conditions for marginalized peoples by leveraging cultural knowledge, values, and traditions in a modern market system, and action research programs have been created to allow inclusion and participation of local peoples in their own development. By linking local peoples to outside resources, such as technological, scientific, and political expertise,. 治政 One such program developed by scholars at National 大 Chengchi University in Taiwan, 立 was the Lokah Initiative; an SSE based action research project that focused on increasing long term economic, social, and political benefits are expected.. ‧ 國. 學. community capacity of the indigenous Atayal people of Wulai. By mobilizing resources, academics behind the Lokah Initiative were able to activate the local community and. ‧. reach some developmental successes. The process, however, required no small effort to build relationships with an initially skeptical community that had experienced many. Nat. sit. y. stalled projects in the past.. al. er. io. Principal-agent theory may provide some insight into the difficulty in aligning interests. v. n. between outside experts who create programs and community members who participate. Ch. i n U. in them. However, agency relationships do not occur in a social vacuum. In particular,. engchi. literature on social capital implicates trust, reciprocity, and a sense of fairness as relational factors that indicate bridging links between principals and agents that can be used to build relationships and reduce agency costs. This thesis seeks to examine the Lokah Initiative’s agency relationships through the lens of social capital. By doing this it is hoped to provide generalizable insights into practices that can help increase the likelihood of success for future projects under the Lokah umbrella and beyond.. ii. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(5) 摘要. 世界各地的原住民因殖民歷史而面臨經濟、社會和文化的種種困境。現代社會與團結經濟理論帶來了發展倡議，在現代市場系統中透過文化知識、價值觀和傳統的運用，為邊緣化的民族提供更公平的條件。行動研究計畫的創建亦使當地民族得以融入並參與自身的發展。將當地民族與外界資源（如科技、科學和政治等專門知識）連結，預期會在經濟、社會和政治等層面帶來長期效益。. 政治大升烏來地區原住民族泰雅族的社區能力、以 SSE 為基礎的行動研究專案。「樂酷立. 台灣國立政治大學的學者就發起一個這樣的計畫，名為「樂酷計畫」。這是針對提. 計畫」背後的學界人士運用其資源，使原民社區動起來並達到某些發展成效。然. ‧ 國. 學. 而，對經歷過許多停滯不前的計畫、一開始就抱持懷疑的社區來說，建立關係的過程並不容易。凝聚專案前進的動力需要大量且持續性的互惠關係。. ‧. 來自外界的計畫發起人和參與其內的社區人員，兩者間協調利益的困難性或許可從. y. Nat. sit. 「委託代理人理論」找到一些洞察。但代理關係並不會在「社會真空」狀態下發. n. al. 係因素，用來建立關係並降低代理成本。. Ch. engchi. er. io. 生。尤其是社會資本的文獻將信任、互惠和公平觀念視為連結委託人和代理人的關. i n U. v. 本研究旨在透過社會資本視角，檢視「樂酷計畫」的代理關係，藉此為實際運作提供可推論的一般性見解，盼能為日後「樂酷計畫」或其他計畫框架下的專案提供參考，提升其成功的機會。. iii. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(6) Keywords Agency theory, action research, social capital, trust, reciprocity, Wulai, Atayal,. 關鍵字代理理論、行動研究、社會資本，信任，互惠、烏來、泰雅族、. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. iv. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(7) Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Keywords ....................................................................................................................................... iv. Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. A Brief History of Indigenous Issues in Taiwan .............................................................. 4. 1.2. Social and Solidarity Economy ........................................................................................ 6. 政治大 2.1 Action Research .................................................................................................................. 10 立 2.2 Agency Theory .................................................................................................................... 14. Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 10. ‧ 國. 學. 2.3 Social Capital ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Measuring Social Capital .................................................................................................... 28. ‧. 3. Methods..................................................................................................................................... 30. y. Nat. sit. 3.1 Framework .......................................................................................................................... 30. n. al. er. io. 3.2 Proxy Indicators .................................................................................................................. 33. Ch. i n U. v. 4. Results ....................................................................................................................................... 37. engchi. 4.1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Indicators of Social Capital: Trust and Reciprocity ............................................................ 41 4.3 Subprojects .......................................................................................................................... 43 4.4 Social Capital ...................................................................................................................... 45. 5. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 47 5.1 Social Capital Indicators ..................................................................................................... 47 5.2 Perceived Motivations ......................................................................................................... 47 5.3 Second-Best Goals .............................................................................................................. 50 5.4 Layers of Agency ................................................................................................................ 51. v. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(8) 5.5 Power, Hierarchy, and Communication .............................................................................. 59. 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 64 6.1 Researching Research in Action? ........................................................................................ 64 6.2 Managing Agency Relationships ........................................................................................ 66 6.3 Future Directions and Long Term Outlook ......................................................................... 71 6.4 Returning to Social Capital ................................................................................................. 72 6.5 Limitations and Directions for Future Research ................................................................. 73 6.7 Final Thoughts: The Risk of Reversion .............................................................................. 74. 政治大. References ..................................................................................................................................... 76. 立. Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 84. ‧ 國. 學. Appendix 1: Interview outline................................................................................................... 84. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. vi. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(9) List of Figures Figure 1: Social capital facilitating capability transfer .....................................................31 Figure 2: Pathway for building social capital ...................................................................46 Figure 3: Common Agency Types ....................................................................................53 Figure 4: Channels of communication between hierarchical levels .................................62. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. vii. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(10) Chapter 1 - Introduction. Indigenous peoples around the world face a multitude of postcolonial economic and social difficulties that include poverty, alcoholism, disempowerment, loss of cultural heritage and identity, and environmental degradation. Developmental projects and ecological conservation initiatives imposed by outside actors have often failed; environmental damage and cultural marginalization continue while poor economic conditions remain.. 政治大 A great deal of scholarly work has sought to address these issues from various 立. perspectives, including environmental conservation, cultural rejuvenation, education,. ‧ 國. 學. responsible economic development, and institutional policymaking and governance, among others. Over the past several decades, ecotourism has often been presented as a. ‧. solution for indigenous peoples who are attempting to reconcile the need for economic. y. Nat. development with that of maintaining ecological sustainability. Yet the knowledge,. sit. working capital, and marketing tools needed to run such businesses are often limited, and. al. er. io. negotiation with stakeholders - who often have conflicting and changing goals and. n. motivations - remains a challenge.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The emerging social and solidarity economy has been garnering the attention of scholars and policy makers for its contributions to social cohesion while providing alternative solutions to state and market failures (Marques, 2013). By looking at self-organization and democratization through collective action, people are able to counteract the effects of a capitalist, market dominated economy. These projects often start small, in “base of the pyramid” communities that suffer from poverty and disenfranchisement, yet if as Laville has said, such initiatives could increase participation “beyond their immediate constituencies, to increase their commitment to and involvement in matters of public regulation and to ally themselves with social movements that share their goals, they could 1. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(11) contribute more effectively to the democratization of economy and society” (Laville, 2013). One path to this participation is through local development programs.. For their part, action and participatory researchers attempt to use their expertise to in order to help communities see some of these benefits realized. They attempt to help harness local, non-academic knowledge and resources in order to mitigate power imbalances. This is done with an emphasis on collaboration between the academics and local populations in a way that is cyclical and inclusive. Action research has a long history of concern with disenfranchised indigenous populations, with roots going back as. 政治大 languages and economic self-sufficiency (Noffke, 1997). Because of the importance of 立 local, non-professional input, action research depends in no small part on the ability of. far as the 1930s United States Bureau of Indian affairs work towards education in local. ‧ 國. 學. researchers to understand local communities and create an alignment of interests. This requires field experience as well as the ability to share information without inadvertently. ‧. creating a sense of alienation when engaging in research actions. Action research is being increasingly used as an approach to community development across a wide range of. Nat. sit. y. settings, including education, health care, post-disaster relief and recovery, agriculture,. io. al. n. development programs.. er. environmental conservation, and local development projects such as ethno-tourism. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Eco- and ethno-tourism have recently been touted as a possible solution to the problem of development that is equitable and socially responsible as well as being sustainable economically, culturally, and environmentally. A broad range of literature has dealt with the positive outcomes that are possible when eco- or ethno-tourism programs are developed. Some benefits that have been identified are outlined below. Most indicators of success in the tourism literature focus on clear and tangible aspects, such as numbers of jobs, visitor or customer numbers, the emergence of capable leadership, changes to local governance institutions, or legal recognition of land rights (Lemelin, Koster, & Youroukos, 2015). A range of political, legal, social, economic, and cultural items that fall along five dimensions of community empowerment, community wellness, 2. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(12) community economic development, community learning, and community stewardship have been identified in the Canadian context, (Colton & Whitney-Squire, 2010; Graci, 2012; Jenkins, 2010), while a perspective focusing more on environmental benefits and respect for cultural and traditional knowledge, retention, reintroduction, and putting into practice of traditional ecological and cultural knowledge has also been seen in cases in New Zealand and Canada (Moller, Berkes, Lyver, & Kislalioglu, 2004; Stephenson, Berkes, Turner, & Dick, 2014), and Taiwan (Chao & Hsu, 2011), among others.. In the broad range of research perspectives above, each has nested within its indicators of. 政治大 communities, and society at large are linked through interconnected relationships that 立 operate at multiple horizontal and vertical levels. The strength of these relationships, success and change the underlying element of social capital. Individuals, sub-groups,. ‧ 國. 學. especially the ones between a disenfranchised community and academic elites, is not a given, and cultivating these relationships - that is, developing social capital – is one. ‧. important piece of the puzzle for implementation and continuation of developmental programs. If developing relationships and social networks is overlooked, programs are. Nat. sit. y. likely to falter, have difficulty gaining momentum, or fail outright with negative. io. er. consequences to both the community and the environment. How to avoid these pitfalls through the investigation of the processes of negotiating these relationships is the subject. al. n. of the following work.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Thus, the goal of this work is to examine the Lokah Initiative development project between NCCU and the indigenous community of Wulai. the project is analyzed in the context of literature on agency theory and social capital. By analyzing the processes and interactions of relationship between actors involved in the project, the work aims to give insight into how social capital is developed, as well as to inform best practices as the project moves forward. It is hoped that insights gained through this case study can also be used in more generalized settings.. 3. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(13) 1.1 A Brief History of Indigenous Issues in Taiwan. As of 2014 there are approximately 530 000 indigenous peoples from16 recognized aboriginal groups: the Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Hla’alua, Kanakannavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Tao, Thao, Tsou, Truku, Sakizaya, and Sediq, numbering approximately 530 000, or 2.3% of the population of Taiwan. The Atayal, (also known as Tayal or Daiyan,) are the second largest number around 86000 and have traditional territory that is located in the northern mountain areas, some of which lies within the. 政治大. jurisdiction of New Taipei City. Of The 6200 people living in the town of Wulai, approximately half are Atayal.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. In Taiwan, historical factors of colonialism, authoritarianism, and capitalist development have resulted in the same “underdevelopment syndrome” seen in other Indigenous. ‧. communities around the globe. The indigenous Atayal peoples who have inhabited Wulai. y. Nat. district located in the mountains south of Taipei City, Taiwan, for at least 5000 years do. io. sit. suffer in this respect. In 1925, restrictions implemented by Japanese colonial authorities. er. placed Wulai inhabitants in fragmented reserved lands or forced them to migrate from. al. n. iv n C traditional hunting economy to one h ebased h i U (Lin & Icyeh, 2007). Restrictions n goncagriculture their original mountain environment altogether, which in turn forced a change from. were also placed on cultural activities, for example with weaving and facial tattooing. being banned by the Japanese in the mid-1930s and limitations placed on the practice of traditional religious beliefs, while education was conducted in Japanese (Yoshimura & Wall, 2010).. These restrictions and emphasis on agriculture continued when the island came under KMT dominion after World War II. Culturally, the language for education was switched from Japanese to Mandarin, and changes in religious practice occurred as missionaries from Canada and Australia were able to successfully convert a large number of Atayal to 4. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(14) Presbyterianism and Catholicism (Yoshimura & Wall, 2010). The KMT continued the Japanese forestry policy and operations until the privatization of Atayal lands in 1966 allowed an influx of private capital from non-mountain residents. Although regulations prohibited the sale of indigenous owned land to non-indigenous people, in practice a black market arose in which indigenous land was sold to outsiders, while government regulations were changed three times to legalize non-indigenous land ownership (Kuan, Yen, & Ai-Ching, 2003) .. Wulai, with its great endowment of natural beauty and natural hot springs1 saw tourism in. 政治大 saw an average of 3000 tourists per day from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, with the 立 majority being Japanese, and tourism was the most important source of income for Wulai took off after 1956 when Chiang Kai-shek established a new tourism policy. The area. ‧ 國. 學. residents at this time (Yoshimura & Wall, 2010). Workers in the tourism industry were primarily women who took part in weaving or dance demonstrations; men were largely. ‧. absent from the tourism scene (ibid.). After martial law was lifted in 1987 the emphasis on Wulai tourism shifted from international to domestic visitors, and the number of. Nat. er. io. sit. y. Japanese tourists declined.. al. n. iv n C U the Alliance of Taiwan h eacross Taiwan. In 1984 indigenous peoples h i formed n g cTaiwan. Together with democratization came an increased awareness of indigenous issues in. Aboriginals (ATA), which three years later distributed a manifesto that placed a strong emphasis on land use and territory, based on a growing sense of indigenous solidarity both within Taiwan and internationally. Further legal amendments occurred in the 90s with the repeal of the pejorative term “shanbao” in favor of “yuanzhumin” for government documents, guarantees of indigenous political participation and government assistance, and an expanded language relating to rights to land (Reid, 2011). In 2004 the forestry act was amended, recognizing that indigenous peoples may use forest resources for their own living needs and in the same year, the Wildlife Conservation act allows. 1. The term “Ulay”, from which the town of Wulai gets its name means hot spring in Atayal. 5. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(15) hunting and use of wildlife for traditional ritual use (Reid, 2011). The caveat to both laws is that the actual rules of resource use are left to the central government to determine, thus effectively preventing indigenous freedom to use and manage their traditional lands.. After Taiwan’s democratization, regulations in Wulai focused on protecting natural areas, with special consideration focusing on the watershed area that supplies the Taipei area’s 8 million inhabitants. Strict governmental regulations on land use and building construction that were meant to protect the urban water supply have seriously hampered the local indigenous peoples’ ability to improve their life conditions (Tang 2018,. 政治大 even gain new benefits from prior projects that may or may not have been undertaken 立 within the legal regulatory framework. The social situation in Wulai became one seen in unpublished). At the same time, lowland capitalists had already been able to retain, or. ‧ 國. 學. many indigenous communities in the world, that of economic stagnation, youth outmigration, loss of identity, drug and alcohol abuse, while illegal developments fueled by. ‧. outside capital produced environmental degradation and economic disparity. The situation became one where the indigenous Atayal of Wulai are involved in tourism-. Nat. sit. y. based ventures for the most part as employees, without the business knowledge or. io. er. financial capital to strike out on their own. Such a historical context is similar to those found in many indigenous areas around the world. Questioning the historical fairness and. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. present use of resources has become a driving factor for scholars seeking to find. engchi. alternative economic developmental strategies that seek more fair and equitable alternatives to existing systems.. 1.2 Social and Solidarity Economy. Social and solidarity economy (SSE) as outlined by Utting refers to forms of economic activity that prioritize social and often environmental objectives, and involve producers, workers, consumers, and citizens acting collectively and in solidarity, and involves cooperatives, mutual associations NGOs, forms of volunteering, self-help groups, fair 6. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(16) trade networks, solidarity purchasing, informal economy workers, and other new forms of for-profit social enterprises and social entrepreneurs, and has at its core the idea of pushing forward social and systematic transformation through redistributive justice, sustainability, alternatives to traditional capitalism, and democratic and emancipatory politics (Utting, 2015). The new social associational economics are democratically structured and operate with non-traditional motivations. These motivations go beyond the simple maximization of profits under a hegemonic capitalism. Of present and growing interest is the inclusion in SSE of non-traditional alternatives to competition, using social capital as “the infrastructure and the engine of economic activities for human-centered local development” (Dash, 2016).. 立. 政治大. With the historical basis of SSE coming in part from utopian socialists, some theorists see. ‧ 國. 學. SSE as a panacea of alternative community based economic pathways to address problems caused by market globalization, the decline of the welfare state, and a. ‧. monopoly of the paradigm of profit as a bottom line that stem from traditionally imperial economics. By expanding economics to include different rationalities, relational capital,. Nat. sit. y. cooperative logic, psychic income, social profit, and ecological well-being, they suggest a. io. er. future of restored socio-cultural and environmental well-being (Dash, 2016). Although there is a long and diverse history of SSE-type concepts, there remains a good degree of. n. al. fluidity in the evolving field.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. This diversity of views can become rather vocal with some authors lamenting the possibility the field is moving away from the utopian ideal, instead facing the risk of being coopted by connections with the existing capitalist system. Some ways SSE could be diluted come from destabilizing policy and regulatory environments, or top-down policy making that is often associated with a particular party; states actively promoting SSE but only giving priority to certain aspects; SSE expansion towards market principles and practices, and splits and tensions arising within SSE networks and movements due to ideological and/or personal differences (Utting, 2012). Nonetheless, characteristics of. 7. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(17) solidarity, trust, cooperation, and community spirit that are rooted in the local social fabric are common factors throughout the SSE literature.. Ideological assertiveness notwithstanding, there is considerable potential in the SSE even when operating in a capitalist environment. For sustainable and equitable economic development in order to “correct the flaws” of traditional economics, there is both a risk of approaching the task from an overly romantic position that could neglect difficulties and contradictions when attempting to increase the scope of SSE projects (Utting, 2012). Indeed, there exists danger of “glossing over the heavy constraints of structure internal. 政治大. group dynamics, and the relationships between internal and external actors”.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. An approach that takes into account such internal and social constraining factors may be an important factor to the successful implementation of SSE programs. SSE goals may be. ‧. of grand and positive vision, but there remains a need to consider the actual tensions and difficulties that are often encountered at community and individual levels during the. sit. y. Nat. development and implementation of SSE programs. Bringing people onboard is vital to. io. and Bacic:. n. al. er. achieve consensus of purpose and long term follow-through, as stated by Pereira Morais. Ch. i n U. v. … the success of these alternative production and community. engchi. organization experiences in the territories depend, to a large extent, on their capacity to integrate processes for economic transformation and cultural, social and political changes, building networks of collaboration and mutual support, which implies in a progressive participation in formulation and implementation of public policies activities, based on the idea of co-creation of these policies. (Pereira Morais & Juan Bacic, 2017).. 8. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(18) Bringing in external expertise through the negotiating the cultural, social, and political changes, building networks, and co-creation of policies requires skillful negotiations that depend to a great extent, open, communicative, and respectful partnerships. In this way, the action researcher may be best suited to implement SSE ideals.. The following document will consist of a literature review encompassing program background, social capital, and agency theory. This literature will then be used to set out the direction for research methods. The data concerning how the Lokah project dealt with difficulties and challenges of relationship building will then be reviewed. Finally. 政治大. concluding comments will be made.. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 9. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(19) Chapter 2: Literature Review. 2.1 Action Research Action research has at its basis socially transformative goals. The field is sometimes seen as a propagator of an “alternative globalization” that seeks to disrupt the status quo of colonial domination and hegemonic globalization in order to create mutual respect and understanding that cross economic, geographic, political, cultural, and epistemological divides with hopes of creating a healthy and sustainable world economy (Rowell, Bruce, Shosh, & Riel, 2017). The hopes held by those in the field in terms of social justice are. 政治大 also to the continuation of preexisting and often threatened cultural aspects as well. 立. that sustainability can be applied not only to environmental and economic factors, but. ‧ 國. 學. Practicality and real-world application are a clear focus in action research. The gains in. ‧. knowledge are intended to be liberating and empowering, by both “studying reality in order to transform it” while “transform[ing] reality in order to study it” (Rowell et al.,. Nat. sit. y. 2017). The transformation is central, through a broad analysis of real-world problems.. io. er. Transformation, both individually and collectively, depends on confronting practices that are not working because they are:. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. a. irrational because the way participants understand the conduct. engchi. and consequences of their practices are unreasonable, incomprehensible, incoherent, or contradictory, or more generally because the practice unreasonably limits the individual and collective self-expression of the people involved and affected by the practice, b. unsustainable because the way the participants conduct their practices are ineffective, unproductive, or non-renewable either immediately or in the long term, or more generally because the practice unreasonably limits the individual and collective selfdevelopment of those involved and affected, or 10. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(20) c. unjust because the way participants relate to one another in the practice, and to others affected by their practice, serves the interests of some at the expense of others, or causes unreasonable conflict or suffering among them, or more generally because the practice unreasonably limits the individual and collective selfdetermination of those involved and affected (Kemmis, Heikkinen, Fransson, Aspfors, and Edwards-Groves, 2014, p. 5) (in McTaggart, Nixon, & Kemmis, 2017). 政治大 myriad of research/practical environments from policy, tourism (Bennett, Lemelin, 立 Koster, & Budke, 2012), education (Robertson, 2000) and educational reform (Somekh & The kind of real-world problems where action research can be found are many, ranging a. ‧ 國. 學. Zeichner, 2009), community and mental health (Cargo & Mercer, 2008; Maiter, Simich, Jacobson, & Wise, 2008), organizational management (Moss, Alho, & Alexander, 2007),. ‧. agriculture, disaster mediation and post disaster relief (Ozerdem & Bowd 2010), post conflict reconstruction, and environmental conservation through traditional knowledge. Nat. er. io. sit. y. (Popova, 2014) among others.. al. n. iv n C h eliving critical participatory action research, n g theories, c h i Uaction learning, emancipatory action Action research includes various branches, including participatory action research,. research, informal action research, and collaborative action research (Rowell et al., 2017), as well as community based research, educational action research, and others. In all these branches public or stakeholder involvement is underpinned by normative, substantive, and instrumental benefits enriching social and individual learning, encouraging multiple perspectives to improve understanding of complex issues and the selecting of appropriate solutions, and having collaborative relationships that assist in project implementation and defusing conflict (Blackstock, Kelly, & Horsey, 2007). Accessing these benefits through requires a development of understanding multifaceted perspectives though a reciprocal exchange of information.. 11. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(21) A characteristic value of action research is that the direction of inquiry is a participative, democratic process. Research directions are determined through input of both researchers and participants. Traditional research is often target based, delegated by researchers from their positions of power. For action research, a participatory worldview approaches people not as objects of research, but instead as valued sources of knowledge. The action researcher places a high level of importance on the input provided by participants or practitioners through input into the analysis, design, implementation, and decisionmaking processes of the research project (Harrison & Callan, 2013). Through interaction. 政治大. between the researchers and participants, synergy can occur, though for these effects to be realized an experienced researcher who recognizes an existing problem and can. 立. navigate the interpersonal relationships in a way so as to gain insight, understanding, and. ‧ 國. 學. create positive change. Two-way communication at all stages is critical to create mutually a mutual understanding of project aims and philosophies (Dyer, J., Stringer, L.C., Dougill, 2014).. ‧ y. Nat. sit. Participants in action research are involved in the analysis, design, implementation. er. io. processes, and decision making processes along with the researcher in order to create a. al. iv n C the normative, substantive, and instrumental benefitsU h e n g c h i of the research itself. Somewhat more informal and interpretive, the methodology encourages a cyclical process of n. kind of “synergy” between the researchers and so called researched, as well as between. reflection, development, and action. This cycle is meant to continue with the inclusion of the participants (or the ‘researched’) being involved in moving through the cycle and giving their input in an open environment where their ideas are on equal footing.. Action research needs to be a flexible and cyclical process. The purpose and/or direction may change during development or implementation as the researcher and practitioner both increase their awareness through a flow of continual feedback. Because this kind of research operates at a social level, interventions and modifications to the process and 12. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(22) even research questions are likely to arise during the process. A challenge for this method comes from keeping interests of both parties aligned during the process, which requires open and ongoing discussions between the two parties. The discussion, reflection, and modification, allow for the development of interim conclusions and charting out courses of action for the next cycle iteration. Put another way, this requires reciprocity, reflexivity, and reflection-on-reality (Robertson, 2000).. As action research is designed to approach a particular situation, policy, or scenario, in order to address a perceived shortcoming or create an as-yet unattained benefit, it stands. 政治大 situation. The work of the researcher thus has real-world consequences for current 立 problems and situations, and while both the researcher and the participant are looking to to reason that those involved would be interested in addressing an unsatisfactory. ‧ 國. 學. create positive effects, consideration should be given to any possible negative effects that may occur if the process is not a truly open or equal one (Nadasdy, 2003).2 Considering. ‧. that much action research seeks to create long-term benefits and relationships, the knowledge of process that can be gained from such programs may be just as important as. Nat. er. io. sit. y. gains in theory or even outcome.. al. n. iv n C learning accruing and spreading h over e time n gcan c hin iturnUlead to both transformations at Together with action and participatory research should come social learning. Social. personal and institutional levels. While individual changes may occur in the short time – these could be as simple as “changing one’s mind” – change and transformations that appear at higher community or institutional levels following a developmental program can take a good deal of time to become evident, perhaps a decade or more (Blackstock et al., 2007). In this regard, it may be more useful to address possible mid-level changes that. 2. The issues surrounding process-related difficulties in action or participatory research may be of interest when seen in the context of relationships of reciprocity. While successful action research can result in closer working relationships, increased levels of trust, and better cooperation (i.e. social capital), and increased community capacity, failures of action researchers to follow through with fairness and transparency risks creating negative outcomes such as withdrawal or disinterest in future projects or even negative reciprocity, leading to a destruction of social capital. 13. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(23) can occur during the formation of stronger institutions, which may take a considerable about of time. Many authors have linked the development of social capital with other changes that occur within communities (for example, Gordon, Kayseas, & Moroz, 2017; Riel, 2017; Urquhart & Wearing, 2017), and these criteria can be used to measure processes and outcomes during a long-term, ongoing project. The study of the “how” this social capital is built could be useful in assisting with more efficient negotiations and interactions between researchers and communities.. 2.2 Agency Theory. 政治大 are appointed to act on the 立behalf of principals, with the principal seeking advice or. At the core of agency theory is the idea of one party acting on behalf of another. Agents. ‧ 國. 學. services from a professional, and the agent generally being a person with professional qualifications or particular skills. Principal-agent relations in fields such as economics, management, and law are often expressed through contracts that outline responsibilities. ‧. and tasks of the agent. Principal-agent relationships also operate and are formalized to. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. limit conflicts of interest, with an expectation that value will be created in the future.. n. The field of agency theory has roots that are strongly planted in rational choice theory in. Ch. i n U. v. traditional economics (Braun & Guston, 2003; Shapiro, 2005). In the relationships. engchi. between two parties, a principal has resources at his or her disposal, but not the resources appropriate to realized their particular goals. An agent can accept the resources to act in the interest of the principal. In the traditional principal-agent theory held in economics, actors are considered to behave according to self-interested rational choice, being constrained against predatory action and moral hazard by certain institutional and contractual designs. Ideally, both principal and agent should profit from this exchange relationship.. 14. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(24) In the case of university based action researchers, two main agency roles are played. With the base in cooperation and participatory action with goals informed through community input, research teams act as agents to the community principal. The community principal in this case can be seen as both the community members in general and their representative leaders. The action researcher’s second main agency relationship is as an agent to the unit that gives access to funding that makes the action research possible.. Agency theory assumes that agents and principals have conflicting goals. Because both parties are expected to act “rationally”, they are likely to maximize their utility which. 政治大 costs due to the effort and resources that must be used in order for the principal to 立 constrain the activities of the agent, for the agent to convince the principal that their best leads agents to not always act in the best interests of the principal. This leads to agency. ‧ 國. 學. interests are indeed being acted upon, and of the residual losses that occur due to incomplete utility alignment (Van Puyvelde, Caers, du Bois, & Jegers, 2012).. ‧ sit. y. Nat. Agency problems arise when there is imperfect sharing of information and the interests of the principal and agent diverge creating agency costs that, while sometimes difficult to. io. er. measure precisely, are significant and likely to occur (Bosse, Phillips, & Phillips, 2016).. al. n. iv n C he agents who operate in a classically rational way. Along this economic i U n g and c hself-interested Much attention has been given to the actions of principals to mitigate negative effects of. bent are often found detailed calculations that aim of creating contracts that minimize. agency costs, such as monitoring and compensation, with the goal of increasing value of organizations and creating higher returns. However, it is unlikely that agents (or principals) operate without some kind of limits on aggressive or predatory self-interest; instead they are constrained by psychological and social norms in a way that lead them to act in consideration of fairness.3 While much literature focuses on controlling and monitoring to reduce moral hazard and shirking on the part of the agent, it is also. 3. Not all agents are constrained by psychological or social norms of behavior. Research into corporate psychopaths and CEOs with narcissistic personalities indicates that these people do not operate according to established social norms of fairness (Body 2005). 15. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(25) important to consider the possibility of principals to engage in shirking as well (Braun & Guston, 2003).. While agency theory at its most basic consists of dyadic relationships between actors in the role of principal an agent, in practice complicated interactions at multiple layers of agency relationships occur. Actors play both roles at the same time, they act in groups as multiple principals, and multiple agents compete from different hierarchical levels and with various personal internal interests in a complicated web of interrelated agency relationships. Researchers are confronted with problems such as free-riding, collective. 政治大 historical context. In some criticisms of the strict economical perspective, taking the 立 individual as a purely self-interested rational actor seeking to maximize benefit has been. 學. ‧ 國. action, informational and power asymmetries, operational difficulties in monitoring, and. seen as an oversimplification of an inherently complicated social environment where in reality perfect agency is rare (Shapiro, 2005).. ‧ sit. y. Nat. Some critics of agency theory see a reductionist approach to specific tangible variables as risking or ignoring the institutional and social context that influences behaviors and. io. er. outcomes. For example, Wiseman et al. (2012) bring up the possibly simplistic. al. n. iv n C principals in favor of maximizinghtheir e nown h i Ubenefit. If it is indeed the case that g cpersonal assumptions of human nature, such as purely self-interested agents who disregard. agents (and presumably principals as well) act out of unmitigated self-interest, then there would be little cause to approach agency questions from other non-economic contexts, as there would be considerable difficulties with theoretical validity. On the other hand, it has been argued that motivations of principals and agents have socially derived interests that may not automatically cause pure maximization efforts or complete alignment of interests (Bosse et al., 2016; Shapiro, 2005; Wiseman, Cuevas-Rodríguez, & Gomez-Mejia, 2012). Put another way, “some agents may genuinely desire to serve the principal, while others may seek to serve a principle even when it conflicts with the wishes of the principal” (Wiseman et al., 2012).. 16. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(26) Wiseman et al. further note that focusing solely on contracts risks neglecting factors of the broader social, institutional, or cultural context that could affect outcomes, and leaves open opportunities for research to further refine the theory (ibid). They also suggest approaching agency issues by looking at cognitive factors, and though his analysis does not include the influence of social capital, this has been explored by other authors who note that by recognizing the influence of the social environment we can improve our understanding of agency problems. According to Bosse et al., for example, “understanding positive reciprocity incentive alignments and monitoring mechanisms. 政治大. have the potential to improve aggregate social welfare by creating agency benefits as well as agency costs” (Bosse et al., 2016 p. 290).. 立. ‧ 國. 學. With slightly modified theoretical elements agency theory has been successfully extended to other fields, such as management, law, political science, international relations, and. ‧. sociology. Through reconsideration of the underlying assumptions of unidimensional. y. Nat. actors, agency theory can be applied across such various fields. Scholars outside of. sit. economics “abandon the assumption of an acontextual, ahistorical, and static relationship. er. io. between principals and agents (Mitnick 1992)” instead considering the relationships in. al. iv n C groups, regulators, legal rules, and the like” (Shapiro, h e n g c h i U2005). By moving away from the traditional mathematical perspective of economics agency theory has expanded to n. the broader social context that includes “other agency relationships, competitors, interest. encompass a wide variety of approaches on the quantitative/qualitative spectrum. In this way, agency theory has been able to provide a wide variety of insights to each of these fields.. In a more sociological interpretation of agency relationships, agency costs are still assumed arise if the agent is not acting in the principal’s best interests. It can be difficult for information be credibly conveyed by between the information holder, whether principal or agent, to the other party who would benefit. This credible transference of 17. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(27) information can become even more challenging between parties who are separated by language and cultural differences. However, in the traditional economic perspective, information asymmetries can be mitigated through contracts and monitoring, which applies to the sociological interpretation as well. In addition, the sociological interpretation allows that clear and flexible channels of communication that can make information sharing possible can be improved by building trust, fairness, and reciprocity, i.e. by developing social capital.. Difficulties may arise from a history of previous agency relationships. If these. 政治大 were achieved, or were concluded too abruptly, locals may come to see relationships with 立 outsider researchers not as repeating interactions, but instead as a series of one-off relationships proceeded badly, resulted in project or social failures, ended before results. ‧ 國. 學. engagements. This could be interpreted as a weakness in cooperation or failure to create social capital, or worse, the destruction of social capital that connects principals and. ‧. agents. The experience of prior difficulties or failed relationships that have occurred in the past may create a context that makes it particularly difficult for new, incoming. Nat. sit. y. researchers to build or rebuild trust. This situation could be made particularly challenging. io. er. if past agents were not seen to have been acting in the best interests of the principal, whether purposefully or not, and is certainly at play in disenfranchised communities and. n. al. those with a colonial history.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Agency problems can also present a complicated set of problems for the action researcher. The researcher as an agent acts on behalf of the community to provide knowledge and expertise to benefit the community, while also requiring knowledge, experience, and effort from the community members to be able to create scholarly output that allows access to the funding that makes action research possible in the first place. This puts the researcher in the role of as an agent acting concomitantly on behalf of the community and the funding institution. Seeking participation from the community and funding from a government institution means that agency problems can operate in both. 18. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(28) directions, especially when monitoring is made more difficult through physical distance, information asymmetries, or opaque policy.. Some principal-agent difficulties in a post-colonial indigenous community were presented in a review by Vining and Richards of natural resource extraction development projects by hybrid indigenous non-indigenous organizations in Canada (Vining & Richards, 2016). These hybrid joint ventures between indigenous and non-indigenous groups provide indigenous communities access to expertise in creating contracts as well as with giving them input into policy decision making processes. For the non-indigenous. 政治大 benefits such as financial, management, employment, land use, and social improvement 立 are expected.. actors, benefits include access to natural resources, for the indigenous communities other. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. Though these programs create links between community insiders and outsiders and a level of benefits are accrued to an extent, they do run into a multitude of issues such as. sit. y. Nat. fragmented ownership, divergent goals, difficult to determine ownership statuses due to unclear treaty rights, internal and external constraints on transfer of ownership rights,. io. er. security from trespass, the long-term survival of indigenous ownership rights (at a. al. n. iv n C h eexacerbated principals. Such conflicts are further n g c h ibyUa pre-existing mistrust of noncollective community level), and conflict between indigenous and non-indigenous. indigenous institutions on the part of indigenous communities that stems from a long and difficult historical background. Although economic benefits were found in this case, evidence of increased community wellbeing resulting from increased own-source income was less clear. The question then arises of how to mitigate these agency relationship difficulties so as to increase meaningful, though intangible, community benefits.. Parallels to agency issues between indigenous principals and not-indigenous agents in the Canadian context can be seen in Taiwan. Many developments in indigenous areas in Taiwan have suffered for reasons that include past unclear ownership of property 19. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(29) resulting from grey or black-market property transactions, restrictive government regulations on the transfer of ownership rights as well as on development of existing properties, land rights issues including past removal from and present limited access to and use of traditional lands, as well a general mistrust of outside institutions. These problems are highly salient to local populations and both result from and lead to difficulties in aligning goals between community insiders and outsiders.. Of particular interest to the present work is found in the more qualitative perspective that can approach issues of “norms, networks, authority, organizations, social control,. 政治大 agents and principals are more likely able to align value and interests when they are 立 closer to each other through kin, community, or associations (ibid). Some authors have. regulation, trust, social cognition, and so on” (Shapiro, 2005). In literature related to trust,. ‧ 國. 學. presented the concept of bounded self-interest to integrate norms such as of fairness as variables that influence the trajectory of principal-agent relationships. In this approach,. ‧. trust and reciprocity can generate positive outcomes and benefits for social welfare that are not captured by traditional models that assume pure self-interest (Bosse et al., 2016).. Nat. sit. y. The importance of sociocultural variables can also be seen in cross-cultural studies of. io. er. agency theory that move outside traditional western population samples, for example between collectivist and individualist cultures or in cultures that place different levels of. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. importance on power hierarchies (Johnson & Droege, 2004).. engchi. In addition, an agent can often find him or herself in the difficult position of serving many principals. In the case of the action researcher, creating a successful program often depends on both acting effectively with the community and on producing material that provides access to the necessary funding supports. This means that the action researcher acts as agent to both the community and the funding institution as principals. Yet the outside institution may have goals that conflict with those of the researcher, or for that matter of the target community.. 20. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(30) “Only the rare agent has the luxury of aligning her interests with a single principal. Conflict of interest is hardly about shirking or opportunism with guile; it is about wrenching choices among the legitimate interests of multiple principals by agents who cannot extricate themselves from acting for so many, [these] agents are increasingly buffeted by the conflicting interests of the principals they serve” (Shapiro, 2005) The agent must then balance goals of both the community principal and the funding institution principal that are not necessarily in alignment. In. 政治大. such cases, conflicting goals make successfully negotiating from their position a delicate proposition, one requiring knowledge of social and. 立. cultural environments from principals on either side of the table.. ‧ 國. 學. Studies of agency relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous communities are. ‧. often interested in determining structural conditions that exist for the agent to meet the. y. Nat. needs of their principal, but they seem to less often examine the linkages of. sit. communication that are vital to aligning intentions. Some work has been done to. er. io. investigate the importance of signaling processes in indigenous political policy and. al. iv n C communication links are vital in understanding principal-agent relations, though the hengchi U question was approached from interactions among bureaucracies. When the question is n. regulation in the United States (Worsham & Gatrell, 2005). This work did suggest that. brought into agency relationships at the meso level of the community and micro level of the individual, communication methods remain vital, though it seems that they are also less-well studied.. 2.3 Social Capital A common thread exists within the literature on action and participatory research, social and solidarity economy, needs based development, assets based development, and recent work on agency theory. In each of these fields, the social capital is increasingly being 21. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(31) viewed as important to the understanding of community development. Although theoretical bases of social capital is less well studied in economics, there is growing evidence of the importance that social capital is important to providing economic returns through networks of social relationships, trust and norms of reciprocity, and institutions that encourage people to be active members of community networks (Pargal, Huq, & Gilligan, 1999). While the intangible and multifaceted nature of social capital being has resulted in the concept being criticized for being defined overly broadly (Aldrich & Meyer, 2014), distilled to its most basic concept, social capital can be seen as allowing returns to result from networks and social relationships.. 政治大 Social capital can be held both at group and individual levels. It can be transferred 立 between groups and individuals, and can diffuse within groups. For example, the social. ‧ 國. 學. capital held by respected community members can be transferred to outsiders, and the “possession” of social capital by researchers can then help engender trust in the greater. ‧. community. An exchange of social capital does not necessarily occur on a strictly one-toone basis; as an intangible asset, social capital can grow through interaction and exchange. Nat. er. io. sit. y. in a way that tangible capital, such as money or infrastructure, cannot.. al. n. iv n C of social capital. This is perhaps h unsurprising i U has been shown to be e n g cashreciprocity. Within each of the fields above, sub-factors of trust and reciprocity in working definitions. important in social interactions across human societies, as well as in non-human primates and canids (Brosnan, 2006; Kurzban, 2013). The likely biological basis of this behavior suggests that an evolutionary advantage is conferred on species that display reciprocity; this long term evolutionary perspective may be of particular importance in light of the dangers to both indigenous societies facing the disappearance of their culture and to humans as a species facing the perils of global climate change.. The concept of reciprocity being important for development and providing returns is not only found in western scientific tradition. The importance of reciprocal relationships 22. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(32) extends beyond relations between people. In many indigenous philosophical systems, the social connections and relationships of reciprocity are an important element of environmental ethics found in indigenous traditional knowledge that are extended to include humans and the natural world. For example, hunting practices of the Ojibwa, Cree, and Inuit groups in North America do not dichotomize between human and nonhuman persons in the environment, instead viewing the two groups as equals operating in a respectful and reciprocal way (Kapashesit & Klippenstein, 1991; Reo & Whyte, 2012). A similar ethic of reciprocity is also found in the Quechua peoples of the Andes, as can be seen in the “Potato Park” agrobiodiversity project. Based on indigenous traditions and philosophies, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is being. 政治大 natural environments ( Oudenhoven, 2010). Ritual practices found in North America and 立 maintained through reciprocal relations between human beings and their social and. the Andes in which offerings are made to deities (tobacco in in North America, wine and. ‧ 國. 學. food in the Andes) reinforce the importance of reciprocal interactions and respect with the environment and create a symbolic lesson for guiding relationships at the. ‧. interpersonal level as well.. sit. y. Nat. io. er. Reciprocity – or at least cooperation - between animals that is assumed in many traditional indigenous belief systems has also been witnessed by scientists with a Western. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. background. For example, Pierrotti et al. describe how their research was informed by the. engchi. indigenous idea that marine mammal and birds foraged together out of a cooperative relationship, with gulls serving as aerial spotters who could locate widely distributed fish and squid, while dolphins, sea lions, and whales would come to feed, and force the prey to the surface, whereby both mammals and birds would benefit (Pierotti & Wildcat, 2000).. Sharing of physical resources as a basic relationship of reciprocity is found at the group or community level for many indigenous peoples. Ojibwa hunters, for example, are expected to provide meat to people who cannot hunt and to the people who taught them how to hunt (Reo & Whyte, 2012). Sharing meat is also found at the group level in 23. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(33) Taiwan, with Truku hunters and trappers sharing meat with their village members. While there may be no formal rules governing the sharing, it was nonetheless expected to be reciprocated, thus reinforcing bonds of friendship and kinship (Simon, 2013). Sharing of agricultural products is also seen with the Andean Quechua, who set aside a portion of the highest quality agricultural products for maintaining social relations (Agrumendo and Wall, 2010). There exists an ongoing benefit in these types of sharing relationships whereby greater trust that resource sharing today will result in reciprocal sharing in the future. Community members gain resilience in that they have access to resources in times of need, and mutual assistance strengthens community bonds that in turn leads to higher trust. This reciprocal sharing of resources sometimes extends to neighboring communities as well.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Accruing social capital does not necessarily lead to positive outcomes, although using a value laden term such as “negative social capital” has been seen by some authors as. ‧. problematic (Grootaert & Van Bastelaer, 2002). “Too much” social capital such as in cases of excessive trust based on ethnic, regional, or religious homogeneity risks price. Nat. sit. y. bubbles in economics and aggressive exclusionary action in politics (Portes, 2014).. io. er. Although in some cases, such as with crime syndicates, social networks can create problematic negative externalities, the social capital is perhaps better seen as “damaging”. n. al. i n U. v. or “harmful” rather than simply “negative”; the social capital still exists in a form that. Ch. engchi. can be transferred and mobilized to create a “positive” outcome. This can be seen in examples such as mafia organizations providing earthquake relief in Japan (Matanle, 2011) or illegal provision of day to day services such as electricity and television in places such as poor Indian neighborhoods.4. At a governance level, the family networks that operate in some Canadian aboriginal governments can also be seen in this context. These communities may have strong social. Another interesting example of the transference of “negative” capital (financial, human, and social) into “positive” outcomes is the Walled City of Kowloon. 4. 24. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(34) capital within certain groups that are often based on family and kindship bonds, yet benefits that come from information and access to resources can be funneled away from outgroup members. This situation can be seen in terms of the problems of excess or untransferred bonding social capital that is not extended to the greater community.. As reciprocity influences the level of cooperation within groups, social bonds within the group are strengthened and the ability of groups to work cooperatively also increases. The growth of informal networks that come from cooperation have been identified as drivers of problem-solving (Aldrich & Meyer, 2014), and groups or communities with. 政治大 strengthen of cooperation (Tai, 2007). This cooperation can be applied at a higher level, 立 such as with interactions with neighboring or outside society or the greater state. An stronger interpersonal networks are able use social norms to prevent elite capture and. ‧ 國. 學. analysis of three cases of water resource management in British Columbia, Canada showed that negotiations for aligning conservation initiatives were more successful5 in. ‧. situations with a mutually respectful attitude and reciprocal sharing of information between indigenous and non-indigenous groups (Von der Porten & De Loë, 2013).. io. sit. y. Nat. er. Social justice towards a disempowered community may be realized in part through. al. n. iv n C U processes of action research h eundertake and collaborative work as academics n g c hthei cyclical. reciprocity operating between the researchers and targets in action research. This mutual. that incorporate local needs and wants to allow adaptation, growth, and resiliency can. help decolonize knowledge gathering, while feelings of long term mutual interests are promoted that allow the application of outside resources with less risk of capture or noncooperation. Justice between the community and the greater society is also increased as researchers act as mediators negotiating for resources from the state or through marketing. The mobilization of human and financial capital that helps balance resource. 5. Although in general the literature on First Nations relations with the Canadian state indicates that this respect and sharing is the exception rather that the rule, indicating the difficulties in engendering such positive relationships. 25. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(35) asymmetries is is facilitated through the exchange of social capital between community leaders and researchers that occurs through collaboration.. However, cooperation and the ability of a community to distribute resources equitably can be reduced in situations where outside resources are injected too quickly or without consideration, thus slowing or even stopping collective action from occurring (Tai, 2007). In these cases, social capital can be diminished, as can be seen with lower participation in local networks, lower levels of trust, and a reduced chance of participation in reciprocal behaviors. The question of how to create cooperation for a development initiative while. 政治大. avoiding the issues of capture and gaining local support was one faced in the early stages. 立. of the Lokah Project.. ‧ 國. 學. As has been mentioned above, social capital as a concept has been criticized for being an. ‧. overly broad term that is problematic for study. To address this issue, theorists have sought to understand the sub factors that make up social capital. Some of these. er. io. sit. y. Nat. interpretations are discussed below.. al. n. iv n C cognitive (for example, Adler & h Kwon, 2002; Grootaert e n g c h i U & Van Blastelaer 2002). When referring to the sharing of information, decision making, social networks and other social Some authors break down forms of social capital into two main types: structural and. structures such as rules and procedures is known as structural social capital. This type of social capital is in some ways more amenable to observation through groups memberships, for example, while cognitive social capital such as the shared norms, values, trust, attitudes, and beliefs is related more closely to internal states and therefore more intangible in nature. These two types of social capital can complement each other and overlap, though it is not always the case that they do.. 26. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(36) Another way to delineate between different types of social capital is in terms of bonding and bridging. Some earlier interpretations view bonding social capital as focusing on the internal connections and structures between people in the same groups, while bridging social capital encompasses the relations and connections that tie one actor to others (Adler & Kwon, 2002), while other interpretations of bonding social capital refine these concepts further, to approach bonding social capital as describing close emotional connections within a highly similar group, for example between family and friends (Aldrich & Meyer, 2014). Bridging social capital then describes social connections involving connections that although being looser, span larger and more diverse organizational groups (Stanton-Salazar, 2011). Some scholars add a third dimension of. 政治大 connections between regular people and those in power. 立. linking social capital to further separate elements of bridging social capital to include 6. ‧ 國. 學. Both bonding and bridging capital are related to increased community capacity. Bonding. ‧. social capital is connected to higher levels of assistance and immediate aid given by family and kin groups in times of disaster, whiles bridging social capital that through. Nat. sit. y. connections with social organizations and people who are outside close kin groups gives. io. er. increased access to outside resources and support for long term (Aldrich & Meyer, 2014). These bridging connections are seen as vital by authors such as Woolcock and Narayan. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. who view the conditions that enable access to formal institutions and expertise as. engchi. essential for community development, so long as bonding social capital is maintained (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000).. A further way to compartmentalize different types of social capital types is to look at structural, relational, and cognitive components. Structural social capital includes network ties and network features, relational social capital includes trust and relationship types, and cognitive social capital includes shared language, identities, beliefs, and norms. Not all authors completely share this third delineation. For example, some authors use “communal” vs “linking” social capital rather than bonding and bridging, or bonding, bridging, and linking. (Adler, 2002 p19) 6. 27. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(37) (Ansari, Munir, & Gregg, 2012). Again, these subtypes of social capital are mutually interacting, with social capital of one type having interactive effects on the others.. The different types of social capital are not mutually exclusive; instead, they can be complimentary and mutually reinforcing. For example, as community members and outsiders work together and develop personal links during projects, thus increasing bridging social capital, the psychological distance between the two decreases as well. In this way, the two individuals begin to develop their own bonds of trust and reciprocity, creating a level of bonding social capital that operates across the two separate groups. A. 政治大 a principal-agent context, an increase or exchange of social capital could result in 立 improved ability to align interests and decrease informational asymmetry.. psychological interpretation could be that the ingroup-outgroup distance is reduced. From. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 2.4 Measuring Social Capital. It may be difficult, or even impossible, to obtain a single measurement of social capital.. Nat. sit. y. Social capital is inherently multidimensional and exists at multiple levels of analysis;. io. er. social capital is not static, and changes over time, and diffuses through networks and between informal and formal institutions (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000). Because social. n. al. i n U. v. capital presents difficulties for direct measurement, measurement must be approached. Ch. engchi. using proxy variables. While there are a multitude of proxy variables available, such as group memberships, voting participation, tolerance of diversity, charitable involvement, sense of trust, etc., there may, in fact, be no perfect proxy variable that can be applied across all contexts, as the actual indicators are subject to geographical or sectoral contexts (Grootaert & Van Bastelaer, 2002).. The choice of proxy indicators of trust can be determined in part based the scope and level of observation. This can range from macro-level national or international institutions, to inter-community level interactions, to associational life, to family and kinship connections, to interpersonal interactions. Measurements can also focus on 28. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.

(38) approaching these areas from standpoint of structure or cognition. Structural indicators of social capital that have been used include association or network memberships, meeting attendance, and participation in collective activities. Relational social capital is often measured through proxies of trust in people or in institutions, or through norms of reciprocity, sharing, and cooperation.. Considering the body of literature above, the application of agency theory to the action research paradigm may provide insight into developing more effective programs. By moving beyond a traditionally financial perspective on agency, a more sociological. 政治大 behavior through interest alignment, monitoring, and incentivizing, may be beneficial. 立 Thus, incorporating intangible assets such as bonding and bridging social capital into orientation with an emphasis on creating positive effects on both agent and principal. ‧ 國. 學. analysis may prove informative in terms of their influence the progression and outcomes of principal-agent interactions within action research programs.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 29. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMAS.012.2018.A07.