Local knowledge and conflict resolution in rural communities of Bangladesh

Abstract

Conflicts may arise surrounding issues of natural resource management within rural communities in Bangladesh. In addition to rivalry among factions, conflicts emerge centering on issues of access to different resources. Although conflict is sometimes inevitable, local people hold certain knowledge that can help them resolve such conflicts at the community level. Development practitioners are currently developing various consensusbuilding models that relate to sustainable natural resource management in order to resolve community-level conflicts. These interventions by the outsiders are inadequate in many respects because they are based on limited insight into the concerned culture as well as they largely ignore local knowledge that is embedded. The responses of the communities toward conflict resolution need to be taken into account by the development practitioners if they intend to achieve a clearer understanding of the issues involved. This paper focuses on the above issues according to the experiences of the community members of Charan Village from Bangladesh.