The papers in this volume highlight in various ways the complex articulations of local processes and global forces in tropical forest struggles. Taken together, they show how social science research has come of age, moving beyond the crude 'tragedy of the commons' and 'prisoner's dilemma' approaches of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Martin Doornbos is Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Social Studies. His current work includes issues of post-war rehabilitation and development, resource conflicts, and identity and power. Recent publications include Institutionalizing Development Policies and Resource Strategies in Eastern Africa and India: Developing Winners and Losers (Macmillan, 2000); Post-conflict Eritrea: Prospects for Reconstruction and Development, co-edited with Alemseged Tesfay (Red Sea Press, 1999); and Dynamics of State Formation: India and Europe Compared, co-edited with Sudipta Kaviraj (Sage Publications, 1997).

Ben White is Professor of Rural Sociology at the Institute of Social Studies. He has extensive research experience on processes of rural change, particularly in Indonesia. He is editor and contributor of Agrarian Transformations: Local Processes and the State in Southeast Asia (University of California Press, 1989), In the Shadow of Agriculture: Non-Farm Activities in the Javanese Economy, Past and Present (KIT Press, 1991) and author of Child Workers in Indonesia (Akatiga, 1998).