popularresistance.org
A Field Guide To Institutional Capture - PopularResistance.Org
As a follow up to the Black Paper, we have long been watching transformative frameworks not only being captured, but harmonizing into a winner-take-all accumulation of data through intermediaries and compliance. What I learned from that research, and what is contained in this document describes patterns by which institutions — including multilateral bodies, NGOs, certification systems, and government agencies — publicly embrace transformative frameworks while systematically hollowing them out. The examples are drawn from REDD+, organic certification, fair trade, biodiversity offsets, indigenous data sovereignty frameworks, and other fields where the gap between stated intent and operational reality is well-documented.