1. A computer-implemented method for accessing resource objects, comprising: receiving a request which involves performing an operation with respect to a resource object; wherein the requested resource object has multiple associations with other objects; wherein one or more data stores are used to store interrelationships among resource objects, authorization-related objects, and access permission information; wherein the authorization-related objects are configured to specify whether a requester should be granted or denied access to a requested object; querying the one or more data stores in order to determine which authorization-related objects are associated with the requested resource object; querying the one or more data stores in order to determine which permissions are associated with the determined authorization-related objects; performing a comparison between the determined permissions and the requester's access credential information; wherein the comparison is used to determine whether to permit authorization of the operation with respect to the resource object.