A Relational-Processual Analysis of Lake Urmia’s Degradation: A Socio-Ecological Perspective

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

2 PhD student in Sociology, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

This study adopts a relational-processual perspective and an ontological approach to critically rethink the human-lake relationship, analyzing the processes that have contributed to the socio-ecological degradation of Lake Urmia. Using the Social-Ecological System (SES) framework and critical ethnography, the research investigates the socio-ecological disabling processes affecting the lake. Inspired by Escobar's perspective, the study emphasizes that environmental issues often stem from dominant socio-organizational structures rooted in patriarchal, capitalist, and exploitative paradigms.
Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 environmental activists and local residents. Findings reveal how power relations have shaped perceptions, discourses, and claims of knowledge about development and ecological processes. The research highlights a crisis of hegemonic methods of understanding the world, particularly the dominance of instrumental rationality, which has weakened the necessary conditions for sustaining life around the lake.
Additionally, findings indicate that the lake's degradation resulted from conflicts over material practices and meaning-making. The study underscores the necessity of fundamental changes in how we conceptualize nature and development, requiring a reevaluation of the scientific paradigms and power strategies underpinning development discourses.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

 
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Journal of Society and the Environment
Volume 2, Issue 4
May 2025
Pages 121-158

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