Towards epistemic diversity in sustainability transitions: an exploration of hybrid socio-technical systems

Abstract

A wealth of scholarly work has contributed to make visible and describe the place of indigenous peoples and knowledge in sustainability transitions. We follow suit, exploring if, and how, indigenous peoples and knowledges take part in the construction of hybrid socio-technical systems, i.e. socio-technical systems where heterogeneous knowledges already coexist and give rise to the emergence of specific and nuanced socio-technical patterns. We address the question: What are the types of interaction between techno-scientific and indigenous/local knowledges in socio-technical configurations aiming at sustainability? Our inquiry focuses on knowledge circulation patterns in hybrid socio-technical systems. Conceptually, we build on epistemic diversity and hybridisation as means to reflect on socio-technical systems. Empirically, we carry on a theory-driven literature review and ground a model on the backdrop of the MLP perspective. Results show that hybrid socio-technical systems present overlapping socio-technical assemblages coexisting in constructive tension. Such tension stems from the manyfold possible directionalities that take place in the social production of hybrid-oriented and non-hybrid-oriented performativity of knowledges. This paradoxical nature implies that each encounter performs a potential tension within the broader web of relations in the system. In terms of sustainability transitions, hybrid socio-technical systems pose particular knowledge governance challenges. Its paradoxical nature risks enabling contradictory, non-viable or illegitimate transition pathways towards sustainability.