Corporate Networks in Global Regimes and Their Implications for Sustainability Transitions - An Analysis of the Global Water Sector
(2021) EKHS34 20211Department of Economic History
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Sustainability transition research investigates why the necessary change towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production has not yet been achieved and how it can be accelerated. Taking into account the complexity of the globalised dynamics underlying today's sustainability challenges, it has been suggested that the existence of global regimes limits the possibilities for change, as they lead to rigidity and path dependency in socio-technical systems. By asking the research question of how corporate network structures influence the transformative capacity of a global regime, this thesis aims to shed light on the role of actor networks within these global regimes. To this end, a case study of the global water sector is... (More)
- Sustainability transition research investigates why the necessary change towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production has not yet been achieved and how it can be accelerated. Taking into account the complexity of the globalised dynamics underlying today's sustainability challenges, it has been suggested that the existence of global regimes limits the possibilities for change, as they lead to rigidity and path dependency in socio-technical systems. By asking the research question of how corporate network structures influence the transformative capacity of a global regime, this thesis aims to shed light on the role of actor networks within these global regimes. To this end, a case study of the global water sector is conducted, characterising its global regime structure by analysing the subsidiary network of the most influential water companies using Social Network Analysis. In doing so, a strong global regime is revealed in which a hierarchical international actor network diffuses dominant rationalities across the globe, weakening the water sector's capacity for transformation. By identifying regions that are both unsuitable and conducive to more sustainable alternatives, this thesis not only contributes to the theoretical and empirical understanding of global regimes, but also provides insights into where, in which countries and at which scales, policy efforts are most effective to transform unsustainable regimes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9067473
- author
- Lesch, Djamila LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- EKHS34 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9067473
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-09 12:05:28
- date last changed
- 2021-11-09 12:05:28
@misc{9067473,
abstract = {{Sustainability transition research investigates why the necessary change towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production has not yet been achieved and how it can be accelerated. Taking into account the complexity of the globalised dynamics underlying today's sustainability challenges, it has been suggested that the existence of global regimes limits the possibilities for change, as they lead to rigidity and path dependency in socio-technical systems. By asking the research question of how corporate network structures influence the transformative capacity of a global regime, this thesis aims to shed light on the role of actor networks within these global regimes. To this end, a case study of the global water sector is conducted, characterising its global regime structure by analysing the subsidiary network of the most influential water companies using Social Network Analysis. In doing so, a strong global regime is revealed in which a hierarchical international actor network diffuses dominant rationalities across the globe, weakening the water sector's capacity for transformation. By identifying regions that are both unsuitable and conducive to more sustainable alternatives, this thesis not only contributes to the theoretical and empirical understanding of global regimes, but also provides insights into where, in which countries and at which scales, policy efforts are most effective to transform unsustainable regimes.}},
author = {{Lesch, Djamila}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Corporate Networks in Global Regimes and Their Implications for Sustainability Transitions - An Analysis of the Global Water Sector}},
year = {{2021}},
}