Naming the unnamed: relational values as knowledge and power
November 1, 2024 - W. Pape, Timothy
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EmailJournal or Book Title: ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY
Abstract: he concept of relational values, which came to prominence in the 2010s, proposes a way of attributing value to naturebeyond traditional notions of instrumental and intrinsic valuations. This third semantic domain of value has attracted significantattention within academia, and at academia's interface with policy and management. Consequently, this attention has led to researchthat analytically employs the concept to help name the specific relational values that are relevant to certain individuals and communities.This double-naming process, i.e., relational values as an overarching concept and the naming of specific relational values within it,yields substantial new knowledge regarding human-nature relationships, which, according to Foucauldian theory, means that thisknowledge is exerting power. In this paper, I propose the term relational-values apparatus for the assemblage of heterogeneous entitiesand associations that produce knowledge regarding human-nature relationships utilizing the concept of relational values. By namingand explaining this power-exerting apparatus, the concept of relational values becomes more transparent and useful as a tool formanaging complex social-ecological systems.
Type of Publication: Article
