ABSTRACT
Drawing on the problematisation of different levels in earlier chapters, this chapter illustrates that the local must be conceived of as constructed by historically developed practices and actions on all levels. The chapter traces the focus on local and small-scale communities in environmental research to origins in a historically drawn distinction between society and the environment, which may lead to incorrect characteristics being ascribed to people and places. The chapter illustrates that understanding the local level must instead include analysing it within the legislative and policy framework, historical development, sectors, and interests on multiple levels that impact it. This further implies that assumptions regarding conflict of interest being absent at the local level, or local inhabitants being more traditional or closer to nature, cannot be made, and that social relations ranging beyond the locality must be a topic of investigation.
