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Understanding social-ecological systems (SESs) is an important part of ecosystem-based management (EBM). One of the main decision support frameworks to develop scientific advice for EBM is integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs). Human dimensions in SESs are primarily captured through indicators derived from three social sciences: economics, anthropology, and sociology. The breadth of social sciences and humanities (SSH) research is much greater than those three fields, but they are generally underused in natural science-based decision support processes such as IEAs. Greater contributions of SSHs can enhance IEAs through various direct (e.g. to develop indicators) and indirect ways (e.g. to establish and maintain ethical practices). We examine a wider range of SSH disciplines and conclude that scientific advice processes that inform EBM can benefit from broader integration of SSH theories and methods through themes of contextualizing, facilitating, communicating, evaluating, and anticipating. We see this an opportunity to both widen the vocabulary used to describe social scientists and those who work in humanities in IEAs, and apply the underlying worldviews used to conduct SSH research to fundamentally enhance the IEA process and to further progress in EBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the crucial period between 1902 and 1910 in South Africa's political history. It focuses on the particular roles played by a small group of elite politicians in the formation of union, including Generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, J.X. Merriman, and a group of men known as the 'kindergarten.' This group undertook an imaginative process that resulted in the political construction of the Union of South Africa. They came to believe in a pan-South African ideal that would unify white English- and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. They pursued this goal in order to consolidate white power, create a new white nation, and strengthen South Africa politically and economically. In the process, they also hoped to maintain control over what was perceived to be an inferior and encroaching black majority. Dans cet article, nous etudions la periode critique de l'histoire politique de l'Afrique du Sud entre les annees 1902 et 1910. Nous nous concentrons plus specialement sur le role que jouerent un petit nombre de l'elite politique dans la creation d'une union, dont les membres incluaient les generaux Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, J.X. Merriman de meme qu'un groupe d'hommes surnomme le <> (Kindergarten). Ce groupe mit en oeuvre un processus original ayant pour but la construction politique de l'Union de l'Afrique du Sud. Ils en vinrent a croire a un ideal pan-sud africain qui unirait les sud-africains blancs anglophones avec ceux qui parlaient l'afrikaan. Ils poursuivirent ce but afin de consolider la puissance blanche, de creer une nouvelle nation blanche et de renforcer l'Afrique du Sud politiquement et economiquement. En ce faisant, ils esperaient continuer a maintenir le controle sur une population noire majoritaire et envahissante qu'ils jugeaient inferieure., Between 1902 and 1910, a political and social transformation occurred among elite South Africans. In 1902, few could have imagined that South Africa would unite as a country within eight [...]