Week 6 Flashcards
Of what is just sustainability transition a combination?
Just transition, sustainability transition, environmental justice
What processes does sustainability transition aim to do?
Processes of transformative change that aim to:
- enable quality of life of present and future generations within ecological boundaries
- enable them not only to survive but also to thrive and flourish
- eliminate injustices that are trigggered or exacerbated by unsustainability and its underlying causes
Power theories vs. (9)
Contestations
self-interested vs collective goals
structures vs agency
power over vs power to
centred vs diffused
consensual vs conflictual
constraining vs enabling
quanitity vs quality
power = knowledge power/= knowledge
empowerment vs disempowerment
3 faces of power
- beyond ruling elites
- agenda setting power
- pregerence shaping power
(de)/(re) centralization
Centred vs diffused
decentralization in one place can lead to recentralization elsewhere
Panopticon
Constraining vs enabling
overseeing building where you can not see the guard: bigbrother vibes
Types of power exercises (3)
reinforce: (re)produce existing and new structures and institutions)
countervailing: challenge and dismantle existing structures
prefigurative: prefigure new ways of doing
Together it is transformative power
Transition management
survival of the fittest, the x curve
power(lessness)
the perception of powerlesness is a greater impediment to change than the power of vested interest
The x curve
build up
break down
choas and non-linear
setting the state of transition and direction and speed
steps are not mutually exclusive or objectively quanitfied
X curve is a powerful tool for
understanding systems
awareness and priority setting
supporting decision-making experiments
manage learning and institutional change
Types of knowledge
system knowledge: on the system
normative knowledge: on the goals
transformative knowledge: critically thinking on path dependency and governance
action-oriented (x-curve beginning)
3 dimensions of Leftwich definition of politics
materialities of transition politics
the dispersed nature of agency and power
the importance of historical and spatial context
Steps of breakdown
optimization
destabilization
chaos
breakdown
phase out
Steps of build up
experimentation
acceleration
emergence
institutionalization
stabilization
Beginning x curve break down
getting locked in in incremental optimatization
external pressures that destabilize the system
path dependency
Beginning x curve build up
alternative ways of thinking (shielding)
creating external pressures
niche regimes are already the institutionalization
Beginning x curve build up
alternative ways of thinking
creating external pressures
increase in acceptance and visibility
Steps in applying the x curve (9)
- defining system boundaries
- discuss future vision
- identifying transitions
- reflect on transition dynamics
- recap
- identify interventions
- reflect on interventions
- main takeaways and follow up
X curve main characteristics
- simplicity
- versality
- framing chaos as inherent to transitions (does not need to be avoided)
Materialities of transition politics
Transition involves socio-human relaities as well as technical tools and artifacts.
Located at dispersed geographies and every day social practices
Locating dispersed agency and power
Power is not concentrated at one level
- relational
- dispositional
- structural
- innovative
- transformative
- constitutive
–> nich-regime interaction is needed to speed up transition
Contextualizing political processes
The importance of historical and spatial context.
Strong state is needed:
- committed elites embedded in strong public institutions
- relative autonomy from capitalist economic interest
- promote innovation and hand out subsidies
power over vs power to
Relational power: you can only use power that you are relationally constituted to
Not mutually exclusive
power over: coercion and manipulation
power to: resistance and empowerment
power with: cooperation and learning
Centered vs diffused
first face: elite ruling group
second: elite agenda setting
third: preference shaping
Diffused: decentralized power that leads to more equality. A more unconscious power
Consensual vs conflictual
Be aware of conflicts that may be hidden behing seemingly consensual processes or the other way around.
- Power struggles and opression are manifested in consensual processes
- Conflictual processes are not necessarily oppressive and may help to challenge structures of domination and oppression
Constraining vs enabling
Lies the power more to the agent side (enabling) or the structure side (constraining and enabling)
Quantity vs quality
2 destinctions:
- resources that are mobilized
- different nature of power
–> reinforcive, countervailing, prefigurative/innovative, transformative (combination)
empowerment vs disempowerment
empowerment often comes with the unintended consequences of disempowerment
power = knowledge, power =/ knowledge
knowledge defines power or power defines knowledge
is there knowledge that is completely free of power?
Markard: 4 frameworks to understand transition
TM: theory + governance
SNM: shielding, nurturing, empowerment
TIS: link to sectoral and national IS, identifying drivers and barriers
MLP: pressure on regimes, opportunties, landscape
5 concepts in modelling of transition
Multi-level mechanism
Geographical sensitivity
Multi-phase dynamics
Co-evolutionary development
Social learning
Rational of policy transitions with types of system failures
- transformational failure: direction
- demand articulation failure: insufficiently developed market
- policy coordination failure: more communication/coordination
- reflexivity failure: inflexible and maladaptive systems
