Thomas Hickmann
Docent | Biträdande universitetslektor
Democratising Sustainability Transformations : Assessing the Transformative Potential of Democratic Practices in Environmental Governance
Författare
Summary, in English
Many democracies find it difficult to act swiftly on problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss. This is reflected in long-standing debates in research and policy about whether democratic practices are capable of fostering timely, large-scale transformations towards sustainability. Drawing on an integrative review of scholarly literature from 2011 to early 2021 on sustainability transformations and the democracy-environment nexus, this article synthesises existing research on prospects and pitfalls for democratising sustainability transformations. We advance a new typology for understanding various combinations of democratic/authoritarian practices and of transformations towards/away from sustainability. We then explore the role of democratic practices in accelerating or obstructing five key dimensions of sustainability transformations: institutional, social, economic, technological, and epistemic. Across all dimensions we find substantial evidence that democratic practices can foster transformations towards sustainability, and we conclude by outlining a set of associated policy recommendations.
Avdelning/ar
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- Statsvetenskapliga institutionen
Publiceringsår
2022
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Earth System Governance
Volym
11
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Elsevier
Ämne
- Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalization Studies)
Nyckelord
- Earth system governance
- Ecological democracy
- Environmental democracy
- Environmental governance
- Sustainability transformations
- Transformative governance
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 2589-8116