The Experimental Turn in Environmental Sociology: Pragmatism and New Forms of Governance

Overdevest, Christine; Bleicher, Alena; Groß, Matthias

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8730-0_16

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As the pragmatists claimed, the lack of directionality in-biological or social-evolution should be seen as providing a basis for human agency and freedom. For instance, McLaughlin (2011) has argued that multilinear, evolutionary theories of social change are consistent with newly emerging concepts of adaptive management and experimentalist approaches to environmental governance (Overdevest et al 2010), which seek to open rather than short-circuit moral and political debate by refusing to put either the means or the ends of environmental policy beyond dispute. These approaches will require environmental sociologists to reexamine the moral and methodological complexities of collective decision making in relation to environmental issues (Dietz 1994).…”

Section: Rejecting Foundationalismmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Second Darwinian Revolution: Steps Toward a New Evolutionary Environmental Sociology

McLaughlin¹

2012

Nature and Culture

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Three decades after Dunlap's (1978, 1980) pioneering work, the promise and potential of environmental sociology remain unrealized. Despite the proliferation of theoretical frameworks and empirical foci, a "new ecological paradigm" capable of theorizing the interactions between social structures, human agency, and biophysical environments has yet to emerge. I explore this impasse by tracing the parallels between the Darwinian revolution and recent shifts in metatheoretical assumptions within environmental and mainstream sociology and related disciplines. These parallels suggest that the social sciences are in the midst of a second Darwinian revolution. A fuller appreciation of this intellectual convergence can provide the first steps toward a new evolutionary environmental sociology.

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Section: Rejecting Foundationalismmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Second Darwinian Revolution: Steps Toward a New Evolutionary Environmental Sociology

McLaughlin¹

2012

Nature and Culture

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“…Manipulating certain features in a strictly controlled environment helps to identify causal links. In parts of the social sciences, this orientation toward experimentation is a more recent development (Overdevest et al, 2010). Building on the natural sciences approach, social sciences today have developed additional experimental methodologies, adapted to their specific challenges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using research methods courses to teach students about sustainable development – a three-phase model for a transformative learning experience

Müller

Bäumer

Silberer

et al. 2020

IJSHE

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Purpose Learning about sustainable development in dedicated curricula can be beneficial for students’ personal and professional development and societies alike. However, for various reasons the implementation of sustainable development modules in existing curricula can be difficult in many fields of study. This paper aims to propose an alternative route to give students the chance to learn about sustainable development without the need to change the structure of their study program. Design/methodology/approach The current paper elaborates on the idea that many fields of study have mandatory courses on empirical research methods and these courses can function as a platform to teach applied empirical research methods in combination with education on sustainable development. A three-phase model is proposed to implement sustainable development topics in existing curricula, taking students’ current methodological competency level into account. Findings The proposed model provides a chance to combine education on sustainability with thorough training in scientific research methods. Example projects and evaluation results from an existing social science curriculum and its integration into a real-world laboratory on sustainable energy use illustrate the different phases and their goals. Originality/value The model offers the opportunity to implement education on sustainability into existing curricula without the need for difficult structural changes. It extends students’ learning on sustainability without impairing their learning of research methods. A discussion of the model’s limitations and boundary conditions helps to understand its potential use cases and challenges.

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“…As the employee is placed in situations where current knowledge no longer applies, the employee must therefore potentially face 'knowledge thresholds' (Rother, 2013, p.7), which is the active non-knowledge mobilization encountered at step 5. Such dynamics emulate in laboratory experiments real-world experimentation (Gross 2010b;Overdevest et al, 2010). Rother (2010, pp.136-37) states that 'experimentation, discovery, and learning' dynamics reflect a scientific approach where target conditions are akin to hypothesis testing.…”

Section: Dynamic Model Of Knowledge Mobilization and Ignorance Mobilimentioning

confidence: 99%

It takes two to tango: knowledge mobilization and ignorance mobilization in science research and innovation

Gaudet

2013

Prometheus

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The main goal of this paper is to propose a dynamic mapping for knowledge and ignorance mobilization in science research and innovation. An underlying argument is that ‘knowledge mobilization’ science policy agendas in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom fail to capture a critical element of science and innovation: ignorance mobilization. The latter draws attention to dynamics upstream of knowledge in science research and innovation. Although perhaps less visible, there is ample evidence that researchers value, actively produce, and thereby mobilize ignorance. For example, scientists and policymakers routinely mobilize knowledge gaps (cf. ignorance) in the process of establishing and securing research funding to argue the relevance of a scientific paper or a presentation, and to launch new research projects. Ignorance here is non-pejorative and by and large points to the borders and the limits of scientific knowing – what is known to be unknown. In addition, processes leading to the intentional or unintentional consideration or bracketing out of what is known to be unknown are intertwined with, yet remain distinct from, knowledge mobilization dynamics. The concepts of knowledge mobilization and of ignorance mobilization, respectively, are understood to be the use of knowledge or ignorance towards the achievement of goals. The value of this paper lies in its conceptualization of the mobilization of knowledge as related to the mobilization of ignorance within a complex, dynamic and symbiotic relationship in science research and innovation: it takes two to tango.

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The Experimental Turn in Environmental Sociology: Pragmatism and New Forms of Governance

Cited by 37 publications

References 14 publications

The Second Darwinian Revolution: Steps Toward a New Evolutionary Environmental Sociology

The Second Darwinian Revolution: Steps Toward a New Evolutionary Environmental Sociology

Using research methods courses to teach students about sustainable development – a three-phase model for a transformative learning experience

It takes two to tango: knowledge mobilization and ignorance mobilization in science research and innovation

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