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Global socio-technical regimes

Fuenfschilling, Lea LU and Binz, Christian LU (2018) In Research Policy 47(4). p.735-749
Abstract

This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies' socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative 'global' regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional... (More)

This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies' socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative 'global' regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese wastewater sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure expansion were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China's national context, but equally (or even more critically) by the dominant rationality of the water sector's global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Geography of transitions, Globalization, Institutional change, Socio-technical regime
in
Research Policy
volume
47
issue
4
pages
735 - 749
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85042557561
ISSN
0048-7333
DOI
10.1016/j.respol.2018.02.003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5f7277b1-c483-439c-87f2-a82f89682e72
date added to LUP
2018-03-09 08:33:50
date last changed
2024-01-14 16:23:31
@article{5f7277b1-c483-439c-87f2-a82f89682e72,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper addresses the question why socio-technical transitions follow similar trajectories in various parts of the world, even though the relevant material preconditions and institutional contexts vary greatly between different regions and countries. It takes a critical stance on the implicit methodological nationalism in transition studies' socio-technical regime concept and proposes an alternative 'global' regime perspective that embraces the increasingly multi-scalar actor networks and institutional rationalities, which influence transition dynamics beyond national or regional borders. By drawing on globalization theories from sociology and human geography, we show that socio-technical systems often develop institutional rationalities that are diffused via international networks and thus become influential in various places around the world. In so doing, we shed light on the multi-scalar interrelatedness of institutional structures and actors in socio-technical systems and elaborate on the implications for the conceptualization of transition dynamics. The paper illustrates this with the case study of an unsuccessful transition in the Chinese wastewater sector. Recent studies indicate that key decisions on wastewater infrastructure expansion were not only influenced by path-dependencies stemming from China's national context, but equally (or even more critically) by the dominant rationality of the water sector's global socio-technical regime. We conclude by discussing the contours of a new research agenda around the notion of global socio-technical regimes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Fuenfschilling, Lea and Binz, Christian}},
  issn         = {{0048-7333}},
  keywords     = {{Geography of transitions; Globalization; Institutional change; Socio-technical regime}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{735--749}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Research Policy}},
  title        = {{Global socio-technical regimes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.02.003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.respol.2018.02.003}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}