Assessing transitions through socio-technical configuration analysis – a methodological framework and a case study in the water sector
(2022) In Research Policy 51(1).- Abstract
Classic accounts of transitions research have predominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from methodological nationalism and a lack of generalizability beyond spatial and sectoral boundaries. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology – socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) – to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STCA provides a configurational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get aligned into “configurations that work”, allowing for the... (More)
Classic accounts of transitions research have predominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from methodological nationalism and a lack of generalizability beyond spatial and sectoral boundaries. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology – socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) – to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STCA provides a configurational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get aligned into “configurations that work”, allowing for the identification of differentiated transition trajectories at and across spatial and sectoral contexts. The methodology's value is illustrated with the empirical case of an ongoing shift from centralized to more modular infrastructure configurations in the global water sector. Building on this illustration, we outline potential contributions of STCA to configurational theorizing in transition studies, sketching the contours of what we believe could become a generative epistemological approach for this field.
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- author
- Heiberg, Jonas LU ; Truffer, Bernhard and Binz, Christian LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-01-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Discourse, Geography of transitions, Modular water technologies, Socio-technical alignments, Socio-technical configuration analysis
- in
- Research Policy
- volume
- 51
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 104363
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85115405975
- ISSN
- 0048-7333
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104363
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2021
- id
- 0eeca3d1-5e8e-4cb0-88c4-91449daaade3
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-19 08:53:50
- date last changed
- 2024-01-20 16:36:54
@article{0eeca3d1-5e8e-4cb0-88c4-91449daaade3,
abstract = {{<p>Classic accounts of transitions research have predominantly built on reconstructions of historical transition processes and in-depth case studies to identify and conceptualize socio-technical change. While such approaches have substantively improved our understanding of transitions, they often suffer from methodological nationalism and a lack of generalizability beyond spatial and sectoral boundaries. To address this gap, we propose a novel methodology – socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) – to map and measure socio-technical alignment processes across time and space. STCA provides a configurational and dynamic perspective on how social and technical elements get aligned into “configurations that work”, allowing for the identification of differentiated transition trajectories at and across spatial and sectoral contexts. The methodology's value is illustrated with the empirical case of an ongoing shift from centralized to more modular infrastructure configurations in the global water sector. Building on this illustration, we outline potential contributions of STCA to configurational theorizing in transition studies, sketching the contours of what we believe could become a generative epistemological approach for this field.</p>}},
author = {{Heiberg, Jonas and Truffer, Bernhard and Binz, Christian}},
issn = {{0048-7333}},
keywords = {{Discourse; Geography of transitions; Modular water technologies; Socio-technical alignments; Socio-technical configuration analysis}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Research Policy}},
title = {{Assessing transitions through socio-technical configuration analysis – a methodological framework and a case study in the water sector}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104363}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.respol.2021.104363}},
volume = {{51}},
year = {{2022}},
}