Copyright © 2019 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Neudert, R., A. Salzer, N. Allahverdiyeva, J. Etzold, and V. Beckmann. 2019. Archetypes of common village pasture problems in the South Caucasus: insights from comparative case studies in Georgia and Azerbaijan. Ecology and Society 24(3):5. https://doi. org/10.5751/ES-10921-240305 Research, part of a Special Feature on Archetype Analysis in Sustainability Research Archetypes of common village pasture problems in the South Caucasus: insights from comparative case studies in Georgia and Azerbaijan Regina Neudert 1 , Anja Salzer 1 , Naiba Allahverdiyeva 2,3 , Jonathan Etzold 1 and Volker Beckmann 1 ABSTRACT. Complex social-ecological systems (SES), especially systems with common pool resources, often exhibit system dynamics characterized by emergence, where system properties cannot be fully explained by input variables. This causes challenges when it comes to explaining resource use problems because problem dynamics can differ from case to case despite similar input variables. Archetype analysis with its focus on identifying building blocks of nature-society relations might provide a means to tackle emergence and complexity in the analysis of resource use problems in SES. Using data from inter- and transdisciplinary research investigating comparative case studies on common village pasture management in the Caucasus region, we use the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes that place particular emphasis on recognizing recurrent structures and internal dynamics. We apply three system archetypes, the Tragedy of the Commons, Shifting the Burden, and Success to the Successful, to different aspects of interlinked management problems that occur repeatedly in the case study data. Using SES variables characterizing the cases, we discuss variable combinations that may trigger specific dynamics. Moreover, we explore interlinkages between archetypical problems and discuss possible solutions based on self-governance. We find that the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes resulted in consistent explanations of problem dynamics leading to important additional insights into root causes and internal archetypical dynamics compared with existing knowledge. Regarding problem solutions and policy recommendations, we show that viewing archetypical problems as interlinked in their actual case-study context leads to different recommendations than when each archetype is viewed on its own. Key Words: archetypes; common management; common pool resources; comparative case studies; degradation; pasture; rangeland management; rangelands; system archetypes; system dynamics; Tragedy of the Commons INTRODUCTION Complex social-ecological systems (SES) often exhibit system dynamics characterized by emergence, where system properties, like state or output variables, cannot be fully explained by input variables (Trosper 2005). Systems encompassing common pool resources are particularly complex because the SES involves multiple users and nested governance structures. Following the work of Ostrom (1990), a multitude of case studies have been conducted to analyze problems, patterns, and determinants of sustainable use in common pool resource systems. Whereas the SES framework (Ostrom 2009) already provides guidance on analyzing all components of a system in a structured way in order to make case-specific data comparable, approaches for meta- analyses and building explanatory models lag behind. Emergence and complexity cause particular challenges for unravelling resource use problems and their causes because problem dynamics might differ from case to case despite similar input variables. Thus, a stronger focus on the system itself and its dynamics is necessary while input variables might be relegated to important factors. The archetype approach with a focus on system dynamics might thus provide a means to tackle emergence and complexity in the analysis of resource use problems in SES. The archetype approach aims to identify “building blocks of society-nature interaction that reappear in multiple case studies” (Eisenack, Lüdeke, and Kropp 2006:1, unpublished manuscript, https://www.uni- oldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/wire/fachgebiete/envdev/download/ arch-eisenack3.pdf). In keeping with this understanding, archetypes can explain the outcomes of particular factor combinations. Several archetypes might occur simultaneously in one case or represent rival outcomes of slightly different factor combinations. Therefore, the archetype approach can bridge the gap between case-specific constellations and grand theory by allowing a medium level of abstraction and multiple constellations of attributes and outcomes (Eisenack et al. 2019). Thus, the complexity of problems can be taken into account without the need to find a “one size fits all” explanation. Approaches to identify archetypes have been conducted for different units of analysis and using qualitative or quantitative methods (Václavik et al. 2013, Oberlack et al. 2016, Hartel et al. 2018, Oberlack and Eisenack 2018, Vidal Merino et al. 2018; see also Oberlack et al. 2019 for further references). We use the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes that aim at recognizing recurrent structures and internal dynamics of a system (Senge 2006). Instead of describing linear causal relationships, system researchers focus on feedback loops producing and explaining particular characteristics of the system. Thus, the approach is especially suited to tackling characteristics of emergence. System archetypes are defined as basic, recurrent patterns of feedback loops in the system that can produce similar dynamics in different contexts (Wolstenholme 2004, Senge 2006). Until now, up to 10 system archetypes are described in the literature (Kim and Anderson 1998), among them, e.g., Tragedy of the Commons, Drifting Goals, or Fixes that Fail. These have already been applied to explain different environment and resource-related problems in social-ecological systems (e.g., Prusty et al. 2014, Brzezina et al. 2017), and also to land use changes (Banson et al. 2016, Turner et al. 2016, Tenza et al. 2017). These authors mainly analyzed single case studies, while multiple and comparative case studies using system archetypes have not been, to the best of our knowledge, yet conducted. Thus, none of 1 Faculty of Law and Economics & Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Germany, 2 Department of Farm Management, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany, 3 Department of Economics and Finance Theory, Azerbaijan State Agrarian University, Ganja, Azerbaijan