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Environmental expertise for social transformation: roles and responsibilities for social science

Lidskog, Rolf ; Standring, Adam and White, James LU (2022) In Environmental Sociology 8(3). p.255-266
Abstract
What role should social science play in the work for transforming society towards sustainability? The background for this question is that despite massive investments in environmental research and the accumulation of data on the human impact on the environment, action remains insufficient. The severity of the current situation has led to the conclusion that moderate change is not enough; there is a need for a fundamental transformative change of society. How social science expertise should contribute to this is a fundamental epistemic and normative question and is the point of departure for this paper. This paper aims to develop a theory of social scientific environmental expertise. It first gives a broad account of expertise and its... (More)
What role should social science play in the work for transforming society towards sustainability? The background for this question is that despite massive investments in environmental research and the accumulation of data on the human impact on the environment, action remains insufficient. The severity of the current situation has led to the conclusion that moderate change is not enough; there is a need for a fundamental transformative change of society. How social science expertise should contribute to this is a fundamental epistemic and normative question and is the point of departure for this paper. This paper aims to develop a theory of social scientific environmental expertise. It first gives a broad account of expertise and its current landscape. It then develops a pluralistic approach, where expertise can take many forms, but should be reflexive, critical, and constructive. Finally, it stresses the crucial role that social science expertise has to play in the work for transformative change, not least to broaden environmental problems and their complexities, so that society is better equipped to undergo sustainable transformation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Environmental Sociology
volume
8
issue
3
pages
255 - 266
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85126001817
ISSN
2325-1042
DOI
10.1080/23251042.2022.2048237
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
37c3c819-c96e-4e5f-878b-587a6f6f13c2
date added to LUP
2023-03-03 12:46:41
date last changed
2023-03-06 09:52:06
@article{37c3c819-c96e-4e5f-878b-587a6f6f13c2,
  abstract     = {{What role should social science play in the work for transforming society towards sustainability? The background for this question is that despite massive investments in environmental research and the accumulation of data on the human impact on the environment, action remains insufficient. The severity of the current situation has led to the conclusion that moderate change is not enough; there is a need for a fundamental transformative change of society. How social science expertise should contribute to this is a fundamental epistemic and normative question and is the point of departure for this paper. This paper aims to develop a theory of social scientific environmental expertise. It first gives a broad account of expertise and its current landscape. It then develops a pluralistic approach, where expertise can take many forms, but should be reflexive, critical, and constructive. Finally, it stresses the crucial role that social science expertise has to play in the work for transformative change, not least to broaden environmental problems and their complexities, so that society is better equipped to undergo sustainable transformation.}},
  author       = {{Lidskog, Rolf and Standring, Adam and White, James}},
  issn         = {{2325-1042}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{255--266}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Environmental Sociology}},
  title        = {{Environmental expertise for social transformation: roles and responsibilities for social science}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2022.2048237}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/23251042.2022.2048237}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}