Socioplastics 11966 Lateral Governance Begins with Shared Decisions
Institutions increasingly describe projects as partnerships while retaining the authority to define valid knowledge, set boundaries and approve outcomes. LateralGovernance distinguishes relations among positions with meaningful capacity to shape decisions from consultation organised under one superior authority. The distinction concerns jurisdiction as much as participation. A project may invite local accounts into a reporting template while leaving its sampling rules, project limits and final approval unchanged. The invitation creates a channel for contribution; governance depends on how decision rights are distributed through it. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s writing on Indigenous resurgence foregrounds political life grounded in Indigenous relationships, practices and authority. Deborah McGregor’s scholarship on Indigenous environmental governance examines knowledge systems, legal relationships and environmental justice. Their work arises from specific intellectual and political contexts. LateralGovernance must preserve that specificity rather than absorb Indigenous governance into generic network management. These writings direct attention to who defines the terms of relation, how responsibilities are established and what forms of authority a partnership recognises. An environmental programme could be examined through its invitation letter, terms of reference, research protocol, budget and record of decisions. Researchers would identify who establishes the study area, selects indicators, interprets evidence and can alter the programme. Interviews and document analysis could show how stated partnership arrangements function in practice. The method must be developed with the communities involved and respect their protocols, consent and control over knowledge. Its aim is to clarify institutional arrangements, not to claim authority to represent communities or determine their priorities. LateralGovernance makes the structure of collaboration available for evaluation. It asks whether participants can shape the questions, revise procedures and influence what follows from the findings. Shared decision-making has practical indicators: access to information, recognised jurisdiction, control over resources and routes for resolving disagreement. These indicators do not make every partnership equivalent or remove historical asymmetries. They help distinguish a consultative process from an arrangement in which authority is negotiated across positions. Governance becomes lateral where relations can change the decisions that organise the work.
REFERENCES
McGregor, D. (2014) “Traditional Knowledge and Water Governance: The Ethic of Responsibility”, AlterNative, 10(5), pp. 493–507.
Simpson, L.B. (2017) As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
CITE AS
Lloveras, A. (2026) Socioplastics, LAPIEZA-LAB, Madrid.
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