The 'Thematic Node 1' is part of NCCR North-South and delves into institutions, livelihoods and conflicts. Institutions regulate access to natural, political and symbolic resources and frame the political and social contexts within which social actors strive for their livelihoods. Latent or violent conflicts are also directly linked to the ways in which institutions regulate, or fail to regulate power imbalances within societies, and to the existence or lack of channels through which political grievances can be expressed and negotiated.
The overall objective is to research the dynamic and changing roles of political, social, economic and cultural institutions in order to (1) understand how they regulate social interactions between and among individuals and groups (specifically regarding access to livelihood means, and peace and security), and (2) to enable a broader acceptance and legitimacy of institutions relevant for sustainable development.
To understand these processes, we interlink our research with contemporary theoretical debates that conceptualise institutions not as given structures that influence people's behaviour, but as socially constructed rules, regulations, norms and values. This crucial conceptualisation as 'socially constructed' allows us to analyse institutions on the one hand as structures or frames established in order to achieve certain social, political or economic goals. On the other hand, it indicates that institutions are also changed, modified or even invented by certain social actors. The focus on actors highlights the potential of disagreement, and thus contestations among actors (state and non-state actors). Thus, 'institutions' need to be researched as deeply embedded in social processes, influenced by social actors, their interests and unequal power relations. We research these processes around three thematic thrusts, i.e.
(1) contestations around institutions in post-conflict situations and around rural development policies --> see the separate project entry entitled "Contested rural development" (Geiser/Ramakumar)
(2) the role of rediscovered actors in development (migrants, private sector) --> project entitled "Migration and development revisited", starting in 2010 only (Thieme/Ghimire)
(3) the mediating dimension of institutions in enabling or hindering access to resources --> see the separate project entry entitled "Livelihood futures in resource scarce areas" (Müller-Böker/Shahbaz/Sharma)
