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In this commentary I would like to offer some reflections on the Deleuzian concept of 'assemblage' (agencement) from the perspective of my grounding in 'governmentality studies' and, secondly, on the latter's central concern with the concept of the security 'apparatus' (dispositif). I would like to suggest that the two be thought of dialectically, both as concepts and as actually-existing things in the world. After outlining my use to date of these concepts, and their deployment in my research into colonial India, I will counterpoise Giorgio Agamben's and Giles Deleuze's reflections on Michel FoucauIt's use of the term dispositif/apparatus. Deleuze's obvious and acknowledged indebtedness to Foucault's work, but his explicit re-rendering of the Foucauldian interest in order with the Deleuzian conceptualisation of dis-order, will be used to conclude with some methodological suggestions regarding how Deleuze and Foucault, agencement and dispositif, assemblages and apparatuses, can and should be thought together.

The social-ecological change in the Arctic is accelerated by the multifaceted effects of climate change and globalization. Among other things, this means changing human-ecosystem dynamics through altered availability, co-production, and governance of ecosystem services (ES). A group of species illustrative of this change are whales, migratory species that have played an important part in the culture and subsistence of Arctic communities for millennia. This study explores the changing human-nature interactions and whale ES governance by combining ES and interactive governance theories. A multi-method approach is applied to assess qualitatively the qualitative governability of whale ES in three Arctic coastal locations: Húsavík in Iceland, Andenes in Norway, and Disko Bay in Greenland. Based on a literature review, stakeholder mapping, observations, and analysis of 54 semi-structured stakeholder interviews, the study finds that whale ES governance involves multiple actors with differing preferences and values and that much of it happens outside of formal institutions, necessitating inclusive approaches to improve it. The study reveals some whale ES governance deficiencies and potentials, such as a mismatch between governance scales and a need for more formal governance practices based on scientific research and stakeholder inputs. Governance frameworks were present for provisioning whale ES related to whaling, but they were lacking for non-consumptive whale ES, such as whale watching. Addressing these issues can help to direct marine resource management toward sustainability by making it more inclusive, adaptive, and reflective of stakeholder needs and values. This goal could be advanced by applying the governance principles that view humans as an integral part of social-ecological systems, e.g., ecosystem stewardship and ecosystem-based management.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are often met with reluctance by affected stakeholders, and in some instances outright objection. Some argue that this is due to insufficient understanding of the functions of MPAs. Others suggest that it could be because of a perception that they are losing more than they are gaining. It is also possible that stakeholders are generally supportive of the idea but think that the MPA should be located elsewhere. We argue that it is images people have about what the MPA is and does that determine how they react. Drawing from three MPA case studies in Spain, we illustrate the importance of critical examination of stakeholders’ images and what they imply for the governance of MPAs.

Recent research on alternative food networks has highlighted the centrality of place embeddedness as a strategy in constructing alternatives to conventional agri-industrial food systems, and has illustrated the political nature of these strategic localisms. Recently, critical human geographers and sociologists have drawn on relational theory to criticise the localism of alternative food networks as representing a politics of place which is unreflexive or defensive. Furthermore, some readings of alternative food networks argue that they reproduce the very neoliberal subjectivities that they seek to oppose. This article argues that agri-food scholars should be aware of the ways in which their readings of alternative food networks can guide and reproduce alternative food network practice. Drawing on Gibson-Graham's technique of 'reading for difference', I argue for a reading of alternative food networks that sees difference beyond the discursive field of neoliberalism. The article explores recent debates around govern mentality as the mechanism through which neoliberal subjectivities are reproduced, and draws on a preliminary discussion of the alternative food network practice of the 100 Mile Diet in order to illustrate the arguments made.

High demand and prices in global markets for luxury seafood fished by coastal communities in low-income contexts causes overfishing. There are few alternatives for fishers to earn money, most institutions for controlling effort are weak, and markets are beyond the control of fishing states. The mismatch between desires for development and governance measures to enable that development is shared across many high-value low-income contexts. Using the sea cucumber fishery of Papua New Guinea as an example, this paper illustrates how the interactive governance framework provides a holistic approach to revealing governability limits and opportunities. Analysis of the system to be governed demonstrates that development for coastal communities is fundamental to the fishery as a motivating force and as a principle legitimising actions within the fishery and its management. This analysis highlights the fact that fisheries management is based on the assumption that an open fishery will lead to development, due to its economic value. However, money does not equal development. For this and other similar fisheries to increase development in coastal communities, issues not usually considered within the purview of the management of fisheries must be addressed, including gendered and intergenerational decision-making and income distribution, financial planning and government provision of infrastructure and services.

Inspired by governability and evolutionary governance theory, this paper studies innovative aquaculture technologies that aim to contribute to the transition toward a sustainable blue economy. By tracing path, inter-, and goal dependencies, we explore a case related to developing new production systems in the Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry. As further development using conventional production systems is deemed unsustainable, the government has incentivised technological innovation to alleviate environmental and spatial pressures limiting industry expansion. We describe the work behind enrolling one innovative technology into the coastal governance system. As we find, there are conflicts between the conditions in governance that technological innovations depend on for realisation versus the conditions the governance system depends on for governability. Through our relational approach, we display how innovation challenges governability and that achieving Blue Economy objectives may require considerable political and administrative reorganisation of the existing governance setup.

Protected areas (PAs) remain central to global conservation policy, yet their performance depends as much on governance quality as on ecological design. This paper examines the (in)governability of Greece’s protected area system by assessing how formal institutions align with contextual realities. A systematic review of forty-three peer-reviewed studies (1999–2020) is combined with analysis of recent governance-assessment tools to evaluate institutional fit, legitimacy, and equity. Frameworks such as the Site-level Assessment of Governance and Equity (SAGE) and the IUCN (2024) guidelines on Advancing Equitable Governance in area-based conservation provide practical metrics for participation, accountability, and fairness, offering a timely benchmark for the Greek case. The review shows that, despite substantial EU-driven legal reforms, Greece’s PA system continues to exhibit governance misfit, weak institutional integration, and persistent implementation gaps. Institutional misfit is understood here as a misalignment between formal governance arrangements and the social, ecological, and administrative contexts they are intended to regulate. Governability remains constrained by centralization, limited stakeholder participation, and fragile accountability mechanisms. By integrating classical theories of institutional fit and interactive governance with contemporary equity-based approaches, the study identifies the structural and contextual barriers that hinder effective and just conservation. The findings highlight the need for more legitimate, participatory, and context-sensitive governance arrangements to ensure that protected areas in Greece deliver both ecological and social outcomes.

There is no better time than now to take stock of the trajectory of “democratic innovations” in Western democracies, amidst the burgeoning clamour of democratic dissatisfaction and the populist threat to liberal democratic institutions. This article takes the opportunity to discuss the concept of democratic innovations, reflecting on what is truly so democratic about democratic innovations when these practices have also emerged in the unlikely places of authoritarian systems. To do so, it briefly revisits the normative assumptions of these democratic innovations, as well as discusses and assesses the conditions under which such novel institutional ideas function. At the same time, a look at democratic innovations in authoritarian systems uncovers a more nuanced discourse. By examining the contributions of democratic innovations beyond the usual democratic systems, this review article provides a thoughtful premise for reconsidering the rationale, motivation, and functions of democratic innovations that—in the end—might not be so different in democratic and non-democratic systems.

The recent global climate change discourse is a prominent example of a securitization of environmental issues. While the problem is often framed in the language of existentialism, crisis or even apocalypse, climate discourses rarely result in exceptional or extraordinary measures, but rather put forth a governmental scheme of piecemeal and technocratic solutions often associated with risk management. This article argues that this seeming paradox is no accident but follows from a politics of apocalypse that combines two logics – those of security and risk – which in critical security studies are often treated as two different animals. Drawing on the hegemony theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, however, this article shows that the two are inherently connected. In the same way as the Christian pastorate could not do without apocalyptic imageries, today's micro-politics of risk depends on a series of macro-securitizations that enable and legitimize the governmental machinery. This claim is backed up by an inquiry into current global discourses of global climate change regarding mitigation, adaptation and security implications. Although these discourses are often framed through the use of apocalyptic images, they rarely result in exceptional or extraordinary measures, but rather advance a governmental scheme of risk management. Tracing the relationship between security and risk in these discourses, we use the case of climate change to highlight the relevance of our theoretical argument.

Most studies on government coalitions in Latin American democracies consider the cabinet to be an organ of collective government and analyze legislative support for the president on the basis of the political party affiliation of the ministers. Given that the Argentinian case does not adjust to this perspective, by constructing the concept of cabinet trajectory, the article shows how two fundamental causes (i.e., the low degree of institutionalization of political parties and the centrality of the presidency) combined with two proximate causes (i.e., the context in which the head of state assumes and holds office, and the strategies he or she uses to govern) determine the makeup of the cabinet. The study concludes that the trade-off of cabinet posts for legislative votes does not exist in Argentina.