Editing Political ecology (section)

=== Actor-oriented power perspectives ===
According to the actor-oriented power perspectives, power is exercised by actors which are contrary to the presumption of power being perceived as a force likely to pass individuals with no consciousness. [[Fredrik Engelstad|Fredrick Engelstad]], a Norwegian sociologist explained the concept of power as the combination of [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199680856.001.0001/acref-9780199680856-e-3606 relationality], [[causality]], and [[intentionality]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Engelstad|first=Fredrik|title=Om makt: teori og kritikk|publisher=Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.|year=1999|location=Oslo}}</ref> The implication of this is that actors are perceived as power carriers in a significant way by which through action a certain intention (intentionality) is achieved, action occurs between at least two actors (relationality), and intended results are produced by action (causality). Viewing the power perspective from the angle of actor-oriented, Dowding submitted that power is linked to the agency, and this does not take away the importance of structure.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dowding|first=Keith|date=2008|title=Agency and structure: interpreting power relationships|journal=Journal of Power|volume=1|issue=1|pages=21–36|doi=10.1080/17540290801943380|s2cid=145595686}}</ref> Rather, while seen actor's use of power as a constraint, it is also propelled by structures.

The contributions made by actor-oriented power theory were given by [[Max Weber]] in 1964, when he explained power to be people’s ability to the realization of their wills irrespective of the resistance posed by others. An instance given by [[Robert Dahl]] is the case where actor A exercises power over actor B by getting actor B to execute a task that actor B will otherwise not do.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dahl|first=Robert|date=1957|title=The concept of power|journal=Behavioral Science|volume=2|pages=2001–2015}}</ref> The extreme case of this is when some group of individuals is mandated to carry out the task contrary to their thought or will.

Svarstad, Benjaminsen, and Overå held that the theory of actor-oriented power help in providing conceptual distinctions with useful insight into the theoretical elements that are vital in studying political ecology.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Svarstad|first=Hanne|date=2002|title=Analysing conservation-environment discourses: the story of a biopiracy narrative.|journal=Forum for Development Studies|volume=29|issue=1|pages=63–92|doi=10.1080/08039410.2002.9666187|s2cid=129366241}}</ref> While there are actors who either exercise or try to put power into use in diverse ways, there are also actors who encounter resistance from their oppositions and other forces. An instance of these forces is resisting the fulfilment of actors' intentions by other opposition who are more powerful. It can also come in the form of institutional structural constraints emanating from the outcome of intended actions.

The use of power by actors who exercise [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3068206/ environmental interventions] and actors who resist such interventions are oftentimes the emphasis of scholars of political ecology. However, when environmental interventions result in [[environmental degradation]]s, scholars of political ecology throw their support to actors who resist such exercise of environmental interventions. Actors exercising environmental interventions include corporate organizations, governmental and non-governmental organizations<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bergius, M., Benjaminsen, T. A., and Widgren, M.|date=2018|title=Green economy, Scandinavian investments and agricultural modernization in Tanzania.|journal=Journal of Peasant Studies|volume=45|issue=4|pages=825–852|doi=10.1080/03066150.2016.1260554|s2cid=157964979|hdl=11250/2491376|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Büscher, B. and Ramutsindela, M.|date=2016|title=Green violence: rhino poaching and the war to save Southern Africa's Peace Parks|journal=African Affairs|volume=115|issue=458|pages=1–22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Igoe, J. and Croucher. B.|date=2007|title=Conservation, commerce, and communities: the story of community-based wildlife management areas in Tanzania's Northern tourist circuit|journal=Conservation and Society|volume=5|issue=4|pages=534–561}}</ref> while actors that resist them include groups such as peasants, fishermen, or pastoralists, by exercising counter-power using various kinds of resistance, or active involvement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rocheleau|first=Dianne|date=2015|title=Networked, rooted and territorial: green grabbing and resistance in Chiapas|journal=Journal of Peasant Studies|volume=42|issue=3–4|pages=695–723|doi=10.1080/03066150.2014.993622|s2cid=154521594}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Holmes|first=George|date=2007|title=Protection, politics, and protest: understanding resistance to conservation.|journal=Conservation and Society|volume=5|issue=2|pages=184–201}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wanvik, T.I. and Caine, K.|date=2017|title=Understanding indigenous strategic pragmatism: métis engagement with extractive industry developments in the Canadian North.|journal=The Extractive Industries and Society|volume=4|issue=3|pages=595–605|doi=10.1016/j.exis.2017.04.002|bibcode=2017ExIS....4..595W |hdl=1956/17409|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cavanagh, C. J. and Benjaminsen, T. A.|date=2015|title=Guerrilla agriculture? A biopolitical guide to illicit cultivation within an IUCN Category II protected area|journal=Journal of Peasant Studies|volume=42|issue=3–4|pages=725–745|doi=10.1080/03066150.2014.993623|s2cid=145062291}}</ref>