Beyond the State’s Failure to Protect: The Case of Masungi and the Prospects for Resolving the Environmental Conflict

• Main Author: Contreras, Antonio P.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2024
• Subjects: protected area management; environmental conflict resolution; legibility; governmentality; transitional governmentality
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol24/iss2/2; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1532/viewcontent/RA_201.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Protected areas management is usually confronted with conflicting interests from various stakeholders and would, therefore, entail a search for a rational compromise. The Masungi Georeserve in Rizal Province, which is part of the 26,125.84 hectares that comprise the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL), captures the challenges inherent in environmental conflict resolution. This paper analyzes the situation in the Masungi Georeserve using a political ecological lens, particularly applying Michel Foucault’s theory of governmentality and James Scott’s theory of legibility. It is found that attempts of the State to enable governmentality and legibility have further contributed to the conflict. The main goal of the paper is to offer a framework for resolving the conflict that would serve the best interests of all stakeholders, even as it is also the best option for optimizing the ecological services provided by the Masungi Georeserve. The paper argues that the state’s legibility and governmentality projects have provided a less enabling landscape for environmental protection and offers Cullen’s theory of transitional governmentality as an alternative theoretical framework that could be used in imagining a solution.