Paper short abstract:

The paper traces the stages of my collaboration with a group of biologists involved in conservation and resource management programs, in Argentina. It affirms the need to go beyond disciplinary boundaries and shows the limits of the distinction between basic and applied research.

Paper long abstract:

The paper is grounded in the research I have been conducting during the last 18 months, in the natural protected area Valdés Peninsula (Argentina). There, a group of biologists, committed to the management of a small multi-species artisanal fishery, turned their attention to the theory of Commons in 2000. Since then, they have adopted multidisciplinary methodologies of research.

First, I present a brief analysis of how they conducted this effort, without perceiving the need of a more reflexive analysis of the heuristic categories of their work.

Second, I describe the chance I had to join the researchers. This was possible due to their generous sharing of data,the habit of collaborating with researchers as well as non-academic experts and their engagement for a sustainable future of the local fishery. The definition of the overall research question was the first disagreement likely to arise in view of our collaboration: was it a matter of resource management to "improve the reality" or a larger matter of human-environment relations? This disagreement was already present between the biologists and some social scientists of the same research centre.

A cause of this divergence is the conflict between applied and non-applied research. The biologists' need of application encouraged me to change my analytical frame. However, I continue to feel that criticizing it might be my most challenging but important contribution.

Finally, I contextualize my experience and reflect about the main success of collaborations: the ability to reduce disciplinary boundaries and differences between basic and applied research.