| 1. |
- Fünfschilling, Lea, et al.
(författare)
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Global socio-technical regimes
- 2017
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions followsimilar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies’ socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative ‘global’ regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese water sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure build-up were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China’s national context, but equally (or even more critically) by an import of the dominant rationality of the water sector’s global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.
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| 2. |
- Fünfschilling, Lea, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation-as-Maintenance – A New Perspective on the Relation Between Innovations and Institutions
- 2020
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Ingår i: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. - New York : Academy of Management. - 0065-0668 .- 2151-6561.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Innovation is currently often seen as a panacea for all of today’s ‘grand challenges’, such as climate change and other persistent problems related to sustainability. Underlying this belief is the assumption that innovation, especially when radical enough, brings relevant change. In this paper, we problematize this assumption by shedding light on the role of innovation for maintenance and stability. Drawing on innovation studies and organizational institutionalism we suggest that the question of change versus maintenance is often a matter of level of analysis, which we go on to show through two empirical case studies of radical innovation. By conceptualizing innovation-as-maintenance, we offer a more nuanced discussion on the role of innovation for societal change and sustainability.
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| 3. |
- Fünfschilling, Lea, et al.
(författare)
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Neoliberalism and sustainable urban water sectors: A critical reflection of sector characteristics and empirical evidence
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy. - 1472-3425. ; 34:8, s. 1540-1555
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban water sectors in industrialised countries are increasingly facing a diverse range of challenges. Aging assets, environmental concerns and economic issues put pressure on the current governance and organisation of these sectors. In recent years, a plethora of neoliberal reforms have been initiated in various countries as efforts to counteract these developments. While rather successful in infrastructure sectors, such as energy or telecommunication, neoliberal reforms have proven difficult in many industrialised, urban water sectors. The article argues that this is related to distinct characteristics of the water sectors. Specificities include large-scale technologies, high externalities and the nature of the good. This article analyses these key characteristics of urban water sectors and shows their implications and challenges for neoliberal reforms by drawing on the privatisation of the English water sectors. The results show key trade-offs between economic and environmental issues, and less with social goals.
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| 4. |
- Fünfschilling, Lea, et al.
(författare)
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The interplay of institutions, actors and technologies in socio-technical systems – An analysis of transformations in the Australian urban water sector. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (103), 298-312.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Technological Forecasting & Social Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-1625. ; 103, s. 298-298
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Literature on socio-technical transitions has primarily emphasized the co-determination of institutions and technologies. In this paper, we want to focus on how actors play a mediating role between these two pillars of a socio-technical system. By introducing the theoretical concept of institutional work, we contribute to the conceptualization and empirical assessment of agency processes in socio-technical systems. We illustrate this approach by analyzing recent developments in the Australian urban water sector, where seawater desalination technology has experienced an unexpected, but rapid diffusion to all major cities, often interpreted as a reaction to a major multi-year drought. However, the drought broke and left all but one plant unused. This has led many commentators wonder how such a massive investment – which is likely to limit alternative development trajectories in the sector for the coming decades – could have happened so quickly and why other, potentially more sustainable technologies, have not been able to use the momentum of the crisis to break through. A comparative analysis between seawater desalination and its main rival wastewater recycling in regard to processes of institutional work provides valuable insight into how technology, actors and institutions mutually shaped each other.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Koehler, Jonathan, et al.
(författare)
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An agenda for sustainability transitions research: State of the art and future directions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-4224 .- 2210-4232. ; 31, s. 1-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research on sustainability transitions has expanded rapidly in the last ten years, diversified in terms of topics and geographical applications, and deepened with respect to theories and methods. This article provides an extensive review and an updated research agenda for the field, classified into nine main themes: understanding transitions; power, agency and politics; governing transitions; civil society, culture and social movements; businesses and industries; transitions in practice and everyday life; geography of transitions; ethical aspects; and methodologies. The review shows that the scope of sustainability transitions research has broadened and connections to established disciplines have grown stronger. At the same time, we see that the grand challenges related to sustainability remain unsolved, calling for continued efforts and an acceleration of ongoing transitions. Transition studies can play a key role in this regard by creating new perspectives, approaches and understanding and helping to move society in the direction of sustainability.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Runhaar, Hens, et al.
(författare)
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Endogenous regime change : Lessons from transition pathways in Dutch dairy farming
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-4224. ; 36, s. 137-150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability transitions are commonly considered impossible without regime change. Theoretical work on regime change has mainly focused on niches and landscapes and less on change ‘from within’. Empirical analysis helps theorising endogenous regime change. Conceptualising regimes as semi-coherent entities composed of multiple ‘institutional logics’, we analyse the endogenous regime change in Dutch dairy farming. Practices in this sector have become more and more market-driven. This dominant logic however was increasingly challenged by institutional logics centring round cultural identity and sustainability. Tensions particularly centred round the increased indoor housing of cows. The contestation of this practice eventually led to a first ‘crack’ in the regime, as it weakened the dominance of the market logic and enabled opportunities for more sustainability. Our case study shows that the presence of alternative institutional logics is necessary to crack the regime, but opportunities to patch it back together are similarly crucial to enable sustainability transitions.
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