Societal Transition Research Articles

The right to information about future climate regulations

ABSTRACT To realize the climate transition and other large societal transitions in a fair way, expectations should be considered. However, the literature has only focused on the claims that already existing expectations bring about, without indicating which rights there are to be actively provided with expectations. This article addresses this gap by investigating the rights of private agents, individuals and companies, to be informed about future climate regulations. It argues that private agents have an interest in being informed because this enables them to make and execute plans. Its value depends on how general the relevant regulations are and the costs of processing the information and responding to it. This interest grounds duties on the part of governments to provide information about the general directions of future policies because of their capacities to inform about the regulations they will introduce and their special responsibilities towards the agents over whom they exercise a right to rule. When future regulations are uncertain, they should provide information about the likelihood of the possible scenarios and the circumstances on which this depends and introduce an element of stability in future policies, which should be balanced with the value of flexibility.

Policy entrepreneurship for transformative governance

AbstractScholarship is growing on societal transitions, describing radical societal change involving multiple sectors and scales, and transformative governance, describing how public, private, and civil society actors use tools of policy to pursue this fundamental change, aiming to build resiliency and sustainability. Much of this literature has a systems‐level focus and does not closely examine how governance participants, working individually or collectively, can steer a jurisdiction toward or away from transformativeness. This paper offers a corrective, integrating policy entrepreneurship scholarship with transformative governance research to advance understanding of how human agency underpins societal change. Drawing on accounts from 50 interviewees across eight case studies of US cities grappling with flooding hazards, we show how policy entrepreneurship can boost the political and economic resources that city officials rely upon to help propel radical shifts towards greater social, economic, and environmental equity.

Rethinking internationalization of higher education for society from an outside-in perspective

ABSTRACT Amid increasing criticism of the internationalization of higher education (IoHE) for its Anglo-centric tendencies, there has been discussion of the need to reconsider the rationales for and approaches to IoHE. Specifically it has been argued that there is an urgent need to focus IOHE more sharply on addressing the many complex and persistent issues faced by local and global communities. As part of the discussion, a new model of IoHE, ‘internationalisation of higher education for society’ (IHES) has been proposed by prominent scholars in the field. This paper seeks to make a positive contribution to the discussion of IHES. Our aim is to refine the concept by integrating an ‘outside-in’ perspective, a viewpoint currently missing from the existing conceptualization of IHES. The paper answers three unique research questions: 1) What are the implications of contemporary societal transitions for IoHE? 2) How can universities use their internationalization activities to more effectively facilitate societal transformations? 3) What are the implications of reforming the rationales of IoHE from the perspective of university–society relations? We highlight that collaborations in higher education between East Asian and Nordic countries offer an optimal platform to explore and promote the potential of a new paradigm of IoHE.

The Ambivalence of Far-Right Women: Hate, Trauma, Gender, and Neoliberalism in Contemporary Japan.

While far-right movements are commonly associated with masculinity and women are in the minority, it is notable that they often play significant roles within these movements. To deepen our understanding of the motivations behind women's participation, this study challenges Blee's argument that women's motivations for participating are shaped by their interactions with other members. By using the psychosocial method devised by Hollway and Jefferson and developed by Gadd, the present study argues that women's pre-participation experiences can play a vital part in drawing them to the movements. Through analyzing the life stories of six far-right women in Japan and conducting an in-depth case study of three of them, the study aims to uncover a wide range of experiences that may initially appear unrelated to far-right ideology but ultimately led these subjects to become involved in far-right movements. It highlights the importance of paying attention to their complex subjectivities, which are formed by the interplay between their unique trajectories and societal transitions concerning gender norms, particularly within the era of neoliberal "emancipation." The study finds that the duality of far-right movements, which combine conservatism with deviance, enables some women to express paradoxical desires that they experience in response to living through a transitional era.

Supporting students to become agents of change: Introducing and evaluating the Transition Cycle approach to teaching transformative skills

Human societies are dealing with urgent and daunting societal transition challenges, such as those posed by climate change, inequality, pandemics, and digitalization. In all these cases, we know that they must fundamentally change the way they do and think about things, and urgently so, but do not know how. Uncertainty about the direction of change and resistance to change are ubiquitous. Future generations must be equipped with capabilities for dealing with these challenges. However, there is an apparent mismatch between the skills currently taught and the skills needed to address complexity, uncertainty, and resistance. Using relevant existing frameworks and experiences we created and taught a course focusing on fostering these skills. For this purpose we developed the Transition Cycle, an original educational approach in which students work on a societal transition challenge in four distinct but related phases: imagine, connect, act, and assess. In this paper, we introduce and evaluate the Transition Cycle and its underlying concepts, basic components, implementation in the course, and learning outcomes. We conclude by reviewing lessons learned and raising questions for future research and experimentation.

Anticonformists catalyze societal transitions and facilitate the expression of evolving preferences.

The world is grappling with emerging, urgent, large-scale problems, such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and pandemics, which demand immediate and coordinated action. Social processes like conformity and social norms can either help maintain behaviors (e.g. cooperation in groups) or drive rapid societal change (e.g. rapid rooftop solar uptake), even without comprehensive policy measures. While the role of individual heterogeneity in such processes is well studied, there is limited work on the expression of individuals' preferences and the role of anticonformists-individuals who value acting differently from others-especially in dynamic environments. We introduce anticonformists into a game-theoretical collective decision-making framework that includes a complex network of agents with heterogeneous preferences about two alternative options. We study how anticonformists' presence changes the population's ability to express evolving personal preferences. We find that anticonformists facilitate the expression of preferences, even when they diverge from prevailing norms, breaking the "spiral of silence" whereby individuals do not act on their preferences when they believe others disapprove. Centrally placed anticonformists reduce by five-fold the number of anticonformists needed for a population to express its preferences. In dynamic environments where a previously unpopular choice becomes preferred, anticonformists catalyze social tipping and reduce the "cultural lag," even beyond the role of committed minorities-that is, individuals with a commitment to a specific cause. This research highlights the role of dissenting voices in shaping collective behavior, including their potential to catalyze the adoption of new technologies as they become favorable and to enrich democracy by facilitating the expression of views.

Principles of an economic sociology of innovation

AbstractAlthough innovation is a core element of capitalist dynamics, it turns out that, to date, there is no coherent Economic Sociology of innovation, leaving the discipline oblivious to explaining fundamental economic dynamics. Nor has the enormous importance of novelty and innovation in current societal transitions evoked a corresponding research program in Economic Sociology, meaning that Economic Sociology struggles to grasp contemporary societal change. The article reviews the rather disparate diversity of approaches that could speak to a remedy, stepwise assembling and integrating them to establish the principles of an Economic Sociology approach to innovation. First, resonating with ‘embeddedness’ as the core paradigm of Economic Sociology, it spells out the embeddedness of innovation processes in social institutions. Next, it reviews innovation in relation to the diversity of normative, cultural‐cognitive, regulative, and relational institutions, carving out the relevance of the combination of institutions in ‘fields.’ It then determines ‘valuation’ as the overarching mechanism of how institutional frameworks interact with innovation processes. Eventually, discussing ‘institutional work’ as a major property of institutional frameworks, it raises awareness for the mechanisms of the ‘co‐evolution’ of institutions and innovations.

A heterotopic reading of heritage: The Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho, Macau

Postcolonial Macau is keen to celebrate its colonial legacy to preserve its cultural distinctiveness. This study explores the reordering of a Portuguese colonial site, the Village of Our Lady in Ka Ho, into an architectural heritage in the broader postcolonial context. Employing the Foucauldian concept of ‘other spaces’, specifically ‘utopia’ and ‘heterotopia’, the study argues for the heterotopic nature of heritage. It identifies the discourses and material representations of heritage, their construction and their mirroring of mainstream social ideals. Heritage as heterotopia is a conceptual entity that informs and is realised with material objects. The discourse takes heritage spaces as mediums for performances through symbolic loading on material objects to demonstrate the space's otherness. In addition, colonial nostalgia emerges as a dominant narrative in shaping urban identity. The primary proposition of this research is that heritage is made through othering, and the otherness of heritage is presented through performing. Heritage‐making transforms the site from a ‘heterotopia of deviation’ to a ‘heterotopia of performance’, which reveals the societal transition from early modernity that advocates for scientific knowledge to postmodernity that embraces neoliberalism, and then to the arriving era of post‐postmodernity based on performatism.

Phenomenological exploration of young adults’ recreational cannabis use experiences and associated leisure meanings

Societal normalization and decriminalization of cannabis use challenge its traditional characterizations as deviant leisure. This study investigated cannabis users’ understandings of their consumption in/as leisure by utilizing hermeneutic phenomenology based on 16 in-depth interviews with young adults living in the U.S. states with legalized recreational cannabis. Findings suggest that young adults view recreational cannabis use as leisure due to the related state of mind (e.g., experiencing flow, relaxation, meditative state), consumption time patterns (e.g., reserving use as a reward for free, post-obligations time), leisure activity characteristics (e.g., an intrinsic act of getting high, accompanying other leisure pursuits), and pleasure associated with use (e.g., enjoyment, humor, social facilitator, sensory enhancement). This study contributes novel insights regarding normative leisure meanings associated with cannabis, which can be leveraged strategically in public health and drug education efforts. These findings are timely during the societal transition from criminalization to normalization and commercialization trends concerning cannabis.

Institutional conditions for governments working on sustainability transitions

Abstract The literature on societal transitions offers many policy recommendations. The implicit assumption is that the civil servants can follow these recommendations and design policies to accelerate transitions. This article shows that governmental transformation is needed to enable civil servants to act upon these, which is currently far from straightforward due to institutional constraints. We used a research-by-design approach with four design groups of civil servants working on transitions within a Dutch ministry. By studying how they interacted and designed alternative scenarios for resolving real-life, deeply rooted institutional constraints, we identified twelve preliminary institutional conditions for a government working on sustainability transitions. The institutional conditions relate to working with uncertainty, implementing operational management, implementing interdependent stewardship, and detaching from the current system.

Green innovative procurement in the municipality sector: A dual case study from Norway

ABSTRACT With its substantial spending power, the public sector can contribute to green societal transitions through the adaptation of green public procurement (GPP). Albeit described as having extensive potential, GPP is also associated with several organizational challenges and somewhat elusive effects. This article discusses the potential and challenges relating to GPP and how ‘successful projects’ can provide a better understanding of how the elements of the GPP process comes together, especially in relation to innovation. This is done by introducing a schematic model for GPP with innovation, through which two successful Norwegian municipality GPP projects are unpacked. Using data from the National Programme for Innovative Procurement (LUP) and in-depth document analysis, the authors demonstrate the complexity and interaction of GPP with innovation with regards to both processes and outcome, and how this is conditioned by geographical context and dynamics. They conclude that both cases, albeit having different green foci (i.e. building with wood and safer production of drinking water), combine different multi-actor organizational structures, built around dialogue and the fostering of trust between actors. In addition, both cases showcase radical innovation obtained through GPP, with the potential of scaling up these innovations, pending the continued capacity of the involved market actors.

The AI spectrum under the doctrine of necessity: Towards the flexibility of the future legal praxis

Society is rapidly changing into an implicitus one. The main factor leading to this societal transition is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), influencing all aspects of anthropocentric legal order. The deep concern to safeguard fundamental human rights under unforeseeable circumstances threatening hypostasis, leads those who are involved in the legal praxis to reorganize the legal system to ensure its functional continuity. To this purpose, a reliable extra-legal tool, such as the doctrine of necessity, is proposed, to validate the issue of AI development that falls outside the purview of any legal process, though, being necessary for society prosperity.

Efficient Decoupled Electrolytic Water Splitting in Acid through Pseudocapacitive TiO2.

Water electrolysis remains a key component in the societal transition to green energy. Membrane electrolyzers are the state-of-the-art technology for water electrolysis, relying on 80°C operation in highly alkaline electrolytes, which is undesirable for many of the myriad end-use cases for electrolytic water splitting. Herein, an alternative water electrolysis process, decoupled electrolysis, is described which performed in mild acidic conditions with excellent efficiencies. Decoupled electrolysis sequentially performs the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), at the same catalyst. Here, H+ ions generated from the OER are stored through pseudocapacitive (redox) charge storage, and released to drive the HER. Here, decoupled electrolysis is demonstrated using cheap, abundant, TiO2 for the first time. To achieve decoupled acid electrolysis, ultra-small anatase TiO2 particles (4.5nm diameter) are prepared. These ultra-small TiO2 particles supported on a carbon felt electrode show a highly electrochemical surface area with a capacitance of 375Fg-1. When these electrodes are tested for decoupled water splitting an overall energy efficiency of 52.4% is observed, with excellent stability over 3000 cycles of testing. This technology can provide a viable alternative to membrane electrolyzers-eliminating the need for highly alkaline electrolytes and elevated temperatures.

Incorporating transition design in the education of an established design subject to empower design students with systems thinking

AbstractDesigners’ roles are at a turning point of transforming design from an expert-driven design process within an assumed social and economic order to design practices that advocate design-led societal transition toward more sustainable futures. Design education should be adapted accordingly. Introducing the transition design concept into established design education promotes the sustainable society transition by involving more systems thinking from designers in various sectors. This study reports on a pilot practice and reflection on introducing the transition design concept to design students.

Age–period–cohort analysis of the global burden of visual impairment according to major causes: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BackgroundCataract, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are major causes of visual impairment. As these are age-related conditions, the prevalence of associated visual impairment is anticipated to increase as the...

Andragogy – Dynamic Past, Challenging Present and Uncertain Future

This paper explores the development and current state of andragogy as a scientific discipline in Serbia, with a particular focus on its professionalisation at the University of Belgrade. Despite periods of crisis and societal transitions, andragogy has demonstrated remarkable resilience, remaining relevant and influential in the educational landscape. The current study program at the Department of Andragogy at the University of Belgrade is depicted at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. By analysing master’s and doctoral theses, and published scientific papers, the paper provides insights into the prevalent issues and topics in the field. The findings underscore the impact and relevance of andragogy in Serbia and suggest its future prospects. Upholding its core principles and holistic approach, andragogy can play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the past and the present, leading to the revitalisation of adult education and shaping the trajectory of the discipline itself in Serbia and beyond.

Historical Mortality Dynamics on the Baja California Peninsula : Marriage, Mining Booms, Migration, and Infectious Disease.

Historical demographic research shows that the factors influencing mortality risk are labile across time and space. This is particularly true for datasets that span societal transitions. Here, we seek to understand how marriage, migration, and the local economy influenced mortality dynamics in a rapidly changing environment characterized by high in-migration and male-biased sex ratios. Mortality records were extracted from a compendium of historical vital records for the Baja California peninsula (Mexico). Our sample consists of 1,201 mortality records spanning AD 1835-1900. Findings from Cox proportional hazard models indicate that (1) marriage was associated with a protective effect for both sexes; (2) residing in a mining town was associated with higher mortality for men, but not women; (3) migration was associated with decreased mortality risk for women, but not men; and (4) the risk of mortality increased in the face of infectious disease, but decreased over time. Despite the early initiation of reproduction for women, marriage had a protective effect, likely because marriage linked women to resources. Although mining boomtowns were associated with elevated risk factors generally, only men experienced greater mortality risk, likely due to dangerous working conditions that women did not experience. Last, female, but not male, migrants experienced greater longevity, possibly because exposure to harsh labor conditions eroded the protective effect of selection bias for men. Together, these results shed light on an understudied historical population and broaden our understanding of demographic dynamics in preindustrial settings.

National specialization and diversification in the bioeconomy: Insights from biobased technologies in chemical and pharmaceutical sectors

Facilitating the transformation of innovation systems is a vital endeavor within the global quest to diminish the detrimental environmental consequences of economic activities. Against this background, scholars and policymakers emphasize the potentials of a societal transition towards a ‘bioeconomy’. In this paper, we study the technological specialization of countries in biobased technologies relating to chemicals and pharmaceuticals, which are key constituents for a future bioeconomy. By identifying these technologies in patent and publication data, we analyse specialization and diversification processes for 15 countries from 1997 to 2019. We find that countries that already had a relative advantage in biobased technologies are more likely to develop new specializations in technologies that relate to the bioeconomy. Beyond that, countries' specialization in biobased technologies varies between basic research (scientific publications) and applied research (patents). Our study also shows that greater technological complexity tends to limit specialization in biobased publications, highlighting the need for targeted policy interventions supporting the bioeconomy.

Healthy people, soils, and ecosystems: uncovering primary drivers in the adoption of regenerative agriculture by US farmers and ranchers

As regenerative agriculture grows in popularity, policy and decision-makers have become interested in its practices. Yet, little is known about those factors driving its adoption among farmers and ranchers. To better understand these drivers, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 farmers and ranchers across the United States (US) who self-identified as practitioners of regenerative agriculture. In doing so, we asked about relational values, which reflect one’s perspectives around the links between humans and nature. We also asked about economic and environmental drivers for adoption. In the analysis, we used qualitative coding to identify the range of values and factors driving adoption across our sample. We found that 1) improving the health of people, soils, and ecosystems - through farming practices and related social configurations - was a primary driver for adoption, 2) that relative economic privilege, particularly across two extremes - privileged idealism and less privileged necessity - correlated with most drivers for adoption, 3) that a shift away from industrial agriculture was at once a moral, economic, and environmental imperative for many practitioners, and 4) a systems view of social-ecological relationships was seen as a key to adoption and societal transitions. While our sample represents only a narrow segment of the regenerative agriculture movement in the US, our findings can serve as a useful starting point for understanding the drivers for its adoption. Our findings may also inform conversations on regenerative agriculture’s potential to support food-related sustainability transitions. The discussion situates our work amidst sustainable agriculture and social movement studies, questions of equity in food systems transitions, and the benefits of studying values in developing policy-relevant solutions.

Transforming research to better support societal transition to a sustainable trajectory

Abstract Non-technical summary This commentary argues that the current academic and societal pursuit of ‘solutions’ to sustainability challenges fails to acknowledge how change normally occurs in complex adaptive systems, that is, socio-economic systems and the Earth system, relevant for societal development. Such systems seldom evolve through isolated changes or ‘solutions’ but, rather, through numerous small adjustments of component parts. It is the interactions between these small adjustments that lead to system change. Thus, we argue the need for altered expectations in relation to, and a new narrative describing, the anticipated role of research in the pursuit of a more sustainable societal development trajectory. Technical summary The commentary argues for seeking multiple adjustments rather than seeking ‘solutions’ to our current planetary crises. Based on the belief that many of these adjustments may already lie dormant across academic departments, the University of Copenhagen conducted a series of ‘Transformation Labs’ in 2023 with the purpose of identifying the potential socio-economic and technical adjustments that, in combination, may catalyze societal transformation toward sustainability as well as potential barriers for their societal implementation. Here, we reflect on the learnings from the exercise and argue that both current funding practices and university training should be modified to support this altered narrative. In addition, interactions between research institutions and the beyond-academic world should be strengthened. Social media summary For reaching a sustainable trajectory, research needs to focus on multiple adjustments rather than fixed solutions.