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What we (don't) know about polarisation over forestry : Navigating concepts of polarisation in forest policy research

Skovgaard, Jakob LU ; Zelli, Fariborz LU orcid ; Wyatt, Stephen ; Hickmann, Thomas LU orcid ; Johansson, Maria LU orcid ; Krause, Torsten LU ; Smith, Henrik G. LU orcid ; Terskaia, Anna LU and Wallin, Ida LU (2026) In Forest Policy and Economics 192.
Abstract

Polarisation is increasingly invoked in debates about forest management and environmental politics, yet the concept is often used inconsistently. This commentary provides a framework that can be applied to major scholarly concepts of polarisation, with the goal of helping scholars navigate these concepts and identifying crucial avenues of future research on polarisation in forestry. It distinguishes concepts of polarisation along three analytical dimensions: essence, object, and locus/actors. In terms of essence, polarisation may be understood either as a state of affairs, in which positions are distributed toward opposing ends of a spectrum, or as a process through which actors, groups or discourses move further apart over time.... (More)

Polarisation is increasingly invoked in debates about forest management and environmental politics, yet the concept is often used inconsistently. This commentary provides a framework that can be applied to major scholarly concepts of polarisation, with the goal of helping scholars navigate these concepts and identifying crucial avenues of future research on polarisation in forestry. It distinguishes concepts of polarisation along three analytical dimensions: essence, object, and locus/actors. In terms of essence, polarisation may be understood either as a state of affairs, in which positions are distributed toward opposing ends of a spectrum, or as a process through which actors, groups or discourses move further apart over time. Second, polarisation may concern specific empirical issues, such as forest management, or more fundamental objects of contention, including interests, values, perceptions, identities, ideologies, frames and discourses. Third, polarisation may occur among and between individuals, groups, elites and publics, and may be located at national or local levels. The commentary concludes that future forestry research should examine causal relations between forms of polarisation, critically assess claims about polarisation and the consequences of such claims, and situate polarisation within broader forms of public debate.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
Conceptualisation, Forestry, Polarisation
in
Forest Policy and Economics
volume
192
article number
103904
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105051576976
ISSN
1389-9341
DOI
10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103904
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
id
9f823b3d-e1d7-4c90-a380-db364198a66d
date added to LUP
2026-10-04 12:30:34
date last changed
2026-10-08 12:49:25
@misc{9f823b3d-e1d7-4c90-a380-db364198a66d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Polarisation is increasingly invoked in debates about forest management and environmental politics, yet the concept is often used inconsistently. This commentary provides a framework that can be applied to major scholarly concepts of polarisation, with the goal of helping scholars navigate these concepts and identifying crucial avenues of future research on polarisation in forestry. It distinguishes concepts of polarisation along three analytical dimensions: essence, object, and locus/actors. In terms of essence, polarisation may be understood either as a state of affairs, in which positions are distributed toward opposing ends of a spectrum, or as a process through which actors, groups or discourses move further apart over time. Second, polarisation may concern specific empirical issues, such as forest management, or more fundamental objects of contention, including interests, values, perceptions, identities, ideologies, frames and discourses. Third, polarisation may occur among and between individuals, groups, elites and publics, and may be located at national or local levels. The commentary concludes that future forestry research should examine causal relations between forms of polarisation, critically assess claims about polarisation and the consequences of such claims, and situate polarisation within broader forms of public debate.</p>}},
  author       = {{Skovgaard, Jakob and Zelli, Fariborz and Wyatt, Stephen and Hickmann, Thomas and Johansson, Maria and Krause, Torsten and Smith, Henrik G. and Terskaia, Anna and Wallin, Ida}},
  issn         = {{1389-9341}},
  keywords     = {{Conceptualisation; Forestry; Polarisation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Forest Policy and Economics}},
  title        = {{What we (don't) know about polarisation over forestry : Navigating concepts of polarisation in forest policy research}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103904}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103904}},
  volume       = {{192}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}