| 1. |
- Abrahamsson, Sebastian, 1979-
(författare)
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A defense of waste : the case of municipal food recycling in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2325-1042. ; 9:1, s. 107-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article is an empirical analysis of food waste management and food recycling in Sweden. Currently, across Sweden, attempts are being made to achieve a circular economy whereby food wastes are transformed into resources. Food waste is used to produce biogas and bio fertilizer, and the enactment of food waste as a resource turns the waste into a raw material over which waste management organizations compete. Against this backdrop, the article interferes with research in ‘waste studies’ that highlight transformation of waste into something valuable, and proposes instead to ‘defend’ waste against the CE. The paper contributes to ‘waste studies’ and research on the circular economy by cautioning about the risks involved both in the establishment of a circular economy, and the treatment of waste as valuable. The empirical material used draws on a research project in which interviews were carried out with ‘waste workers’ in Swedish waste management organizations.
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| 2. |
- Berg, Monika, 1979-
(författare)
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The valuation of a mine – values, facts and contested notions of sustainability in the prospecting for new mines
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2325-1042. ; 10:3, s. 294-307
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the current technology-based transition strategy, prospecting for new mines has increased, and the extractive damage involved in mining is justified as a means of protecting the climate. The mining permit process involves fundamental trade-offs between values and goals (environmental, social, and economic) relating to global security and local livelihoods, as well as conflicting understandings of sustainability. These value conflicts and dilemmas lie at the heart of sustainable transformation. Drawing on pragmatic sociology and the orders of worth established by Boltanski and Thévenot, this paper illustrates that competing standpoints claim legitimacy by referring to different modes of judging what is good, right, and sustainable. The analysis shows that institutionalized ideals about legitimate forms of proof constrain and limit the possible ways of justifying a position, and this shapes the way nature is valued, as well as how contestation is formulated. When critics adopt legitimate forms of justification, they might win the case, but at the same time, strengthen the dominance of specific ways of ascribing value. The paper concludes that active engagement with diverging ways of ascribing worth, and thus different forms of proof, may enable governance that leads to more just and sustainable futures.
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| 3. |
- Bertilsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Indigenous peoples and inclusion in the green climate fund
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 9:3, s. 233-242
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we explore Indigenous peoples' engagement and inclusion in the Green Climate Fund. We rely on the distinction between simple inclusion and a deeper recognition of Indigenous peoples' contributions, described as epistemic belonging. We analyse how organizational interdependencies, i.e. the exchange and valuation of resources between actors, and how the potential conflicts between contributions from different actors may influence to what degree Indigenous peoples can achieve epistemic belonging. To illustrate this we have analysed the struggles and tensions around the establishment of the Indigenous People Policy (IPP) of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the practical use of the IPP in funding proposal discussions and decisions. We conclude that Indigenous peoples' contributions are valued as long as they do not challenge other important GCF interests. Conflicts between contributions from different actors lead to a prioritization of recourses provided by accredited entities that help the GCF to develop, implement and manage climate projects. Hence, Indigenous peoples' contributions become subordinated which provides an obstacle to full epistemic belonging.
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| 4. |
- Bissmont, Mimmi, 1972-
(författare)
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The practice of household waste minimisation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 6:4, s. 355-363
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents a study of Swedish waste minimisation bloggers, often called zero waste bloggers. Through the lens of practice theory, the study shows that household waste is an unintended consequence of maintaining shared practices. The studied bloggers choose to maintain shared practices such as dressing well and buying takeaway lunch, but still manage to reduce their household waste. Waste reduction is acted out by altering some of the activities of which practices are made up by, such as applying the circular wardrobe and bringing their own food container. This becomes possible as the households reflect on their own consumption practices and thereby perceive opportunities to reduce their waste. Apart from lacking opportunities, waste minimisation is challenged by firmly established norms, such as shopping and the perception that recycling is good enough. Activities may also be challenged by other actors who inevitably get involved as activities change. This study suggests that if waste prevention is to become a shared practice more opportunities for waste prevention need to be normalised.
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| 5. |
- Bjarnadóttir, Sóllilja, et al.
(författare)
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When trusting the state is not enough: broader institutional trust and public support for energy transition policies
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - 2325-1042. ; , s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Existing research shows that public attitudes toward climate policies reflect political trust. Support for some policies may reflect not only trust in the state and its institutions, narrowly defined, but also other institutions. In this paper, we show how a broader measure of institutional trust that includes the state but reaches beyond it matters for public opinion toward energy transition policies, including just transition policies assisting workers who lose their jobs because of new environmental policies. Using data from Iceland, we find that trust in both state and non-state institutions correlates with attitudes toward three key energy transition policies: taxation of fossil fuels, subsidies for renewable energy, and just transition support for workers. More narrowly defined political trust, in contrast, correlates only with attitudes towards taxes. These results suggest that support for climate action, including a just energy transition, reflects overarching trust towards different institutions, including but not limited to the state.
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| 6. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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A reflexive look at reflexivity in environmental sociology
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 3:1, s. 6-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reflexivity is a central concept in environmental sociology, as in environmental social science in general. The concept is often connected to topics such as modernity, governance, expertise, and consumption. Reflexivity is presented as a means for taking constructive steps towards sustainability as it recognizes complexity, uncertainty, dilemmas, and ambivalence. Critical discussion of the conceptual meaning and usage of reflexivity is therefore needed. Is it a useful theoretical concept for understanding various sustainability issues? Is ‘more reflexivity’ relevant and useful advice that environmental sociologists can give in communicating with other disciplines, policymakers, and practitioners? This article explores the conceptual meaning of reflexivity and assesses its relevance for environmental sociology. In particular, it reviews its usages in three research fields; expertise, governance, and citizen-consumers. The paper furthermore discusses the spatial and temporal boundaries of reflexivity. It concludes by discussing how the concept can be a useful analytical concept in environmental sociology, at the same time as it warns against an exaggerated and unreflexive use of the concept.
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| 7. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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A sociology of environmental representation
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - Oxon, United Kingdom : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 2:4, s. 355-364
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The environment cannot plead its own case but must be represented. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on the concept of representation and demonstrate its relevance for environmental sociology. Drawing on Pitkin’s classic work on representation, we discuss representation as both ‘acting for’ and ‘standing for’. We also make a distinction between actors (representatives) and devices used as representations (e.g. descriptions, graphs and images), while discussing the intertwinement of these two aspects in representative practices. This paper stresses the performativity dimension and social embeddedness of representative practices. It sheds light on different meanings and implications of environmental representation, examining issues of claimmaking and what it means to represent the environment in various instances. Given the complex, durable and transboundary character of many topical environmental problems, the paper argues that it is essential to recognize and understand environmental representation in all its variety. It is moreover argued that a sociological elaboration of the concept of representation provides a basis for understanding the conditions for environmental politics, governance, management and
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| 8. |
- Boström, Magnus, 1972-
(författare)
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The social life of mass and excess consumption
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 6:3, s. 268-278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article uses social science theory and literature to theorize mass and excess consumption. The purpose is to contribute a conceptual framework for studying how institutions and mechanisms of social life drive and reproduce patterns of mass/excess consumption, and to discuss the potential for bottom-up transformative processes to move us away from excess consumption. The article discusses material and non-material institutions and focuses in particular on how mechanisms in social life reproduce patterns of mass/excess consumption. The concept of social life is divided into four dimensions. The social-relational dimension includes everyday interaction rituals of consumption and relationship confirmation, as well as social comparison, including the role played by identity and social status. The temporal dimension stresses novelty and rapidity. The spatial dimension focuses on sites of mass/excess consumption such as the home and the shopping mall. The cognitive dimension deals with normalization of mass/excess consumption as well as mass ignorance of its social and ecological consequences. Bottom-up processes of transformative change and their potential to challenge patterns of excess consumption are analysed through the lens of transformative learning.
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| 9. |
- Ekman, Linus, 1985-
(författare)
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What sewage sludge is and conflicts in Swedish circular economy policymaking
- 2022
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 8:3, s. 292-301
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recycling nutrients from renewable sources, like sewage sludge, has been promoted as a step towards a circular economy by decreasing extraction and dependency on inorganic fertilizers. Implementation, however, is often controversial. In 2018, a Swedish governmental inquiry was commissioned to propose a complete ban on land application of sewage sludge to reduce soil pollution and increase phosphorus recovery. In 2020, the inquiry suggested two pathways, one to ban all land application, and one where agricultural land use should continuously be allowed. This paper is based on interviews with experts tied to the inquiry where they reference to sewage sludge, related objects, and future management. The inquiry’s inability to propose a coherent suggestion is analysed inspired by the concept of multiple ontology. Several ontological versions of sewage sludge emerge that unveil tensions between concepts of danger and cleanliness, pollution and naturalness, often captured in previous studies of waste. Some versions of sewage sludge conflict, which can explain the difficulty to establish an ontologically singular knowledge base for a transformation of sewage sludge from waste to resource. Though most of the experts agree that circular economy and nutrient recycling are good things, policymaking is caught in an ontological conundrum.
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| 10. |
- Gustafsson, Karin M, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Early-career scientists in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change : A moderate or radical path towards a deliberative future?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Sociology. - : Routledge. - 2325-1042. ; 6:3, s. 242-253
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been criticized for having a limited impact on policy decisions and actions. To enhance the IPCC’s impact, it has been argued that the organization needs to adopt a more inclusive assessment process. However, what that means in terms of institutional changes is contested. Two main strands are discernible in the literature: studies advocating for moderate versus radical changes. In light of these two possible pathways, this study analyzes how the new role of Chapter Scientist shapes the conditions for socialization and what implications this may have for the future direction of the IPCC’s deliberative capacity. By identifying the norms and logic that guide inclusion in the role of Chapter Scientists, the study sheds light on which path the organization is moving. The study shows how the IPCC sustains a moderate path of inclusion and deliberation, as well as illustrates how the introduction of the role of Chapter Scientists could open up the organization to more radical institutional changes, which some view as essential.
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