"Sustainability Research: Role of Social Movements, Institutionalization & Resource Mobilization"

Abstract

How does research on sustainability evolve over time? Is there a trend of convergence or divergence in sustainability research? Using social network methodology to analyze co-citation and keyword overlap among research articles on sustainability, we find a small world network (i.e., a network with many clusters but short average path length) in sustainability research but the small world index has decreased over time. To explain this evolutionary pattern, we integrate social movement theory, institutional theory, and the sociology of science and identify key factors influencing the development of sustainability research. We discuss the implications of our findings for future sustainability research as well as studies on the rise of interdisciplinary academic fields.