Abstract
Sustainability transition research (STR) has failed to engage in any significant analyses or critiques of capitalism. This article argues that capitalism is not a ‘landscape’ factor, but rather permeates the workings of socio-technical systems in ways that must be recognised both for elaborating rigorous accounts of transition trajectories and for enhancing the capacity of STR to support future societal sustainability transitions. This argument is developed specifically in relation to the three challenges of STR: the analysis of the actual sustainability of sustainability transitions, the application of transition theory to cases in the Global South, and the move towards a forward-looking STR. The article identifies three main implications of this argument with respect to interdisciplinarity, the validity of current theoretical frameworks, and the practice of STR. Ultimately, the article invites STR scholars to be more openly reflexive not only about possible theoretical biases, but also regarding their own roles in society.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 241-250 |
| Journal | Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions |
| Volume | 35 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Funding
I give thanks to Marko Hekkert, Ellen Moors, Richard Lane and Koen Frenken for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. I presented some ideas discussed in this paper in a research seminar at the Innovation Studies Group of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University, and received very useful feedback on that occasion. This research was partly financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) through the research project number 016.Vidi.185.073 .
Keywords
- Capitalism
- Forward-looking sustainability transition research
- Sustainability transitions
- Sustainability transitions in the Global South
