Dam removal in the United States is an increasingly attractive option for advocates of river restoration. We argue that dam removal in New England (United States) is a useful lens for examining state actors’ capabilities to govern environmental processes. Our analytical framework builds off and integrates strategic-relational approaches (SRAs) to state power and those approaches more concerned with “peopling” the state through state agents’ everyday encounters with civil society. The complex suite of issues—ranging from safety and the environmental benefits of free-flowing rivers to historical preservation and cultural heritage—characterizing dam removal and similar restoration efforts challenge state agents to become more multidimensional in environmental governance. Our research reveals that some state agencies in New England have been more effective than others at adopting these novel roles and managing environmental conflicts. Our research also suggests we view the “state” as a complex collective of relations and actors that exerts power over nature–society relations in strategic and often contradictory ways. Our empirical findings, coupled to more nuanced theories of state–nature relations, direct attention to how state power is unevenly distributed within environmental governance arrangements. These findings also suggest that consideration of environmental interventions directed by state agents has the potential to contribute to a progressive and ecologically mindful set of political commitments.

在美国，大坝拆除对于河流修复的倡导者来说是一个越来越有吸引力的选择。我们认为，新英格兰（美国）的大坝拆除是检验国家行为者治理环境过程能力的有用视角。我们的分析框架建立并整合了国家权力的战略关系方法 (SRA)，以及这些方法更关注通过国家代理人与公民社会的日常接触来“人民”国家。一系列复杂的问题——从自由流动的河流的安全和环境效益到历史保护和文化遗产——表征了大坝拆除和类似的修复工作，挑战国家机构在环境治理中变得更加多维。我们的研究表明，新英格兰的一些州机构在采取这些新角色和管理环境冲突方面比其他机构更有效。我们的研究还表明，我们将“国家”视为一个复杂的关系和行为体集合，它们以战略性且通常是矛盾的方式对自然-社会关系施加权力。我们的实证研究结果，再加上更细致的国家-自然关系理论，直接关注国家权力在环境治理安排中的分配不均问题。这些发现还表明，考虑由国家代理人指导的环境干预措施有可能有助于制定一套渐进的、注重生态的政治承诺。我们的研究还表明，我们将“国家”视为一个复杂的关系和行为体集合，它们以战略性且通常是矛盾的方式对自然-社会关系施加权力。我们的实证研究结果，再加上更细致的国家-自然关系理论，直接关注国家权力在环境治理安排中的分配不均问题。这些发现还表明，考虑由国家代理人指导的环境干预措施有可能有助于制定一套渐进的、注重生态的政治承诺。我们的研究还表明，我们将“国家”视为一个复杂的关系和行为体集合，它们以战略性且通常是矛盾的方式对自然-社会关系施加权力。我们的实证研究结果，再加上更细致的国家-自然关系理论，直接关注国家权力在环境治理安排中的分配不均问题。这些发现还表明，考虑由国家代理人指导的环境干预措施有可能有助于制定一套渐进的、注重生态的政治承诺。直接关注国家权力如何在环境治理安排中分配不均。这些发现还表明，考虑由国家代理人指导的环境干预措施有可能有助于制定一套渐进的、注重生态的政治承诺。直接关注国家权力如何在环境治理安排中分配不均。这些发现还表明，考虑由国家代理人指导的环境干预措施有可能有助于制定一套渐进的、注重生态的政治承诺。