Op zoek naar rechtvaardige transities

Wie zijn de winnaars en wie zijn de verliezers bij een bepaalde transitie? Hoe worden de kosten en baten van een transitie verdeeld? Is deze verdeling wenselijk? En áls we ons hier als transitie-onderzoekers mee bezig moeten houden, wat moeten we dan doen? Dit essay onderzoekt hoe het concept van rechtvaardigheid transitie-zoekers kan helpen deze vraagstukken aan te pakken.

Lees verder in het Engels.

Questions questions around the societal desirability of dynamics and outcomes of processes of change are inherently connected to why transition professionals advocate a certain (direction of a) transition over another, but are barely asked. The answers and preferences often remain implicit, since normativity is perceived as a slippery slope not only in the academic field, but also in the practice of transition management. However, when dealing with transitions one is automatically entangled in moral and ethical questions, e.g. in terms of distributions of costs and benefits and the recognition of different voices.

This DRIFT essay is a first exploratory search into how the concept of justice can help transition scholars to grasp and adequately address the questions around the societal desirability of dynamics and outcomes of transitions. Putting justice more at the forefront of transition thinking and practice opens up and connects questions that address individual choices and behavior as well as systemic critique about issues of equity, social in- and exclusion, and democratic legitimacy. As such it functions as a mediating concept between social, economic and ecological issues in dealing with sustainability transitions. The concept of justice – with all its richness and limitations – can in the end contribute to rethink transitions as political struggles.

Citation
Steenbergen, F. van & Schipper, K. (2017). Struggling with justice in transitions [essay].

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Download the complete essay here.

Date
december 12, 2017