ABSTRACT
There have been few systematic assessments of the role of social institutions—rules, norms, and systems of authority and power—in creating and reconfiguring natural environments. In the desert grass and shrub lands of Rajasthan, India, where multiple, contending institutions govern village resources in a state of legal pluralism, the need for such research is pressing. The chapter considers the geographical vocabulary for institutional analysis and explores the possibility of more rigorous research into institutional and ecological interaction by emphasizing the role of authority in local political ecology. It introduces the Marwar region and the political and economic history leading to contemporary conditions of legal pluralism. The variation in landscape outcomes may be demonstrated through the analysis of a sample of institutional landscapes in the villages. The chapter shows the results of a controlled ecological comparison of four institutional forms to underline the conclusion that the form of authority influences producer decisions and leads to regular and distinguishable environmental patterns.
