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Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective

Frank W. Geels
- 01 May 2010 - 
- Vol. 39, Iss: 4, pp 495-510
TLDR
In this article, the authors discuss seven social science ontologies (rational choice, evolution theory, structuralism, interpretivism, functionalism, conflict and power struggle, relationism), their assumptions on agency and causal mechanisms, and their views on socio-technical transitions and environmental sustainability.
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This article is published in Research Policy.The article was published on 2010-05-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1355 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Social theory & Reflexivity.

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Citations
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Sustainability transitions: an emerging field of research and its prospects

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the intellectual contours of this emerging field by conducting a review of basic conceptual frameworks, together with bibliographical analysis of 540 journal articles in the field.
Journal ArticleDOI

The multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions: Responses to seven criticisms

TL;DR: The multi-level perspective (MLP) has emerged as a fruitful middle-range framework for analysing socio-technical transitions to sustainability as discussed by the authors. But the MLP also received constructive criticisms.
Journal ArticleDOI

What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability

TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify effective protection as having three properties in wider transition processes: shielding, nurturing and empowerment, and argue that analysis of these properties needs to be complemented with particular attention for the politics involved in their construction.

Comfort, cleanliness and conveniencethe social organization ofnormality

TL;DR: Shove as discussed by the authors investigated the evolution of these changes, as well as the social meaning of the practices themselves, concluding that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces, and that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption.
Journal ArticleDOI

An agenda for sustainability transitions research: State of the art and future directions

TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide 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.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Dynamic capabilities and strategic management

TL;DR: The dynamic capabilities framework as mentioned in this paper analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change, and suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technology change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm.
Posted Content

An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed an evolutionary theory of the capabilities and behavior of business firms operating in a market environment, including both general discussion and the manipulation of specific simulation models consistent with that theory.
Journal ArticleDOI

Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a fully specified model of long-run growth in which knowledge is assumed to be an input in production that has increasing marginal productivity, which is essentially a competitive equilibrium model with endogenous technological change.
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Frequently Asked Questions (11)
Q1. What are the contributions in "Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective" ?

Using recent criticisms and suggestions regarding the multi-level perspective as stepping stones, the article aims to enhance the reflexivity in transition debates regarding social theories. To that end, the article discusses seven social science ontologies ( rational choice, evolution theory, structuralism, interpretivism, ccepted 1 January 2010 vailable online 21 February 2010 

Because new vintages are gradually added to the existing capital stock, technological change is conceptualized as an incremental process with time lags. 

Early SMT scholars highlighted the mobilization of resources (members, money, expertise) as the main mechanism for increasing the pressure (McCarthy and Zald, 1977). 

But the creation of fit between variations and election environments is also seen as an enacted and multiimensional process that not only involves markets, but also social, olitical and cultural dimensions. 

The strategy planning school has little to say about transitions, because it assumes stable conditions where plans can be made and administered. 

functionalism makes it difficult to investigate interactions between niches and regimes, which are crucial in the MLP. 

For sustainability transitions, structural-functionalism argues hat societies, especially policy makers, should set overarching nvironmental goals (e.g. the Kyoto Protocol, Millennium Develpment Goals). 

The MLP has been criticized for being functionalist (Smith et l., 2005; Genus and Coles, 2008), although more via labelling than ubstantiated argument (see also footnote 7). 

On the one hand, it may be rational to postpone ‘green’ invest-4 Policym p t t B r c f o t F i p d22e o l e c c fi n u m t l a a l i ( m s t ( t d m t a a2t e e “ s s t i tc s a i s c aents because of future uncertainties in government regulations, rice fluctuations, the degree to which environmental concerns ranslate into a willingness to pay more for green products, and he emergence of ‘green’ markets (Rugman and Verbeke, 1998). 

The MLP already makes crossovers to the conflict ontology, because power and politics form an important dimension of selection environments that usually stabilize existing regimes (through corporatist networks and favourable regulations) and hinder the breakthrough of niche-innovations. 

A broader approach to transitions focuses on shifts in technoeconomic paradigms (TEP) that span the entire economy (Freeman and Perez, 1988).