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Critical Mapping for Sustainable Food Design: Food Security, Equity, and Justice (Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment)
by Audrey G. Bennett Jennifer A. VokounThis book introduces critical mapping as a problematizing, reflective approach for analyzing systemic societal problems like food, scoping out existing solutions, and finding opportunities for sustainable design intervention.This book puts forth a framework entitled "wicked solutions" that can be applied to determine issues that designers should address to make real differences in the world and yield sustainable change. The book assesses the current role of design in attaining food security in a sustainable, equitable, and just manner. Accomplishing this goal is not simple; if it was, it would not be called a wicked problem. But this book shows how a particular repertoire of design tools can be deployed to find solutions and strategize the development of novel outcomes within a complex and interconnected terrain. To address the wicked problem of food insecurity, inequity, and injustice, this book highlights 73 peer-reviewed design outcomes that epitomize sustainable food design. This includes local and regional sustainable design outcomes funded or supported by public or private institutions and local and widespread design outcomes created by citizens. In doing so, this book sets the stage for an evidence-driven and evidence-informed design future that facilitates the designers’ visualization of wicked solutions to complex social problems, such as food insecurity. Drawing on an array of case studies from across the world, from urban rooftop farms and community cookers to mobile apps and food design cards, this book provides vitally important information about existing sustainable food design outcomes in a way that is organized, accessible, and informative.This book will be of great interest to academics and professionals working in the field of design and sustainable food systems. Students interested in learning about food and sustainability from across design studies, food studies, innovation and entrepreneurship, urban studies, and global development will also find this book of great use.
Critical Mapping for Sustainable Food Design: Food Security, Equity, and Justice (Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment)
by Audrey G. Bennett Jennifer A. VokounThis book introduces critical mapping as a problematizing, reflective approach for analyzing systemic societal problems like food, scoping out existing solutions, and finding opportunities for sustainable design intervention.This book puts forth a framework entitled "wicked solutions" that can be applied to determine issues that designers should address to make real differences in the world and yield sustainable change. The book assesses the current role of design in attaining food security in a sustainable, equitable, and just manner. Accomplishing this goal is not simple; if it was, it would not be called a wicked problem. But this book shows how a particular repertoire of design tools can be deployed to find solutions and strategize the development of novel outcomes within a complex and interconnected terrain. To address the wicked problem of food insecurity, inequity, and injustice, this book highlights 73 peer-reviewed design outcomes that epitomize sustainable food design. This includes local and regional sustainable design outcomes funded or supported by public or private institutions and local and widespread design outcomes created by citizens. In doing so, this book sets the stage for an evidence-driven and evidence-informed design future that facilitates the designers’ visualization of wicked solutions to complex social problems, such as food insecurity. Drawing on an array of case studies from across the world, from urban rooftop farms and community cookers to mobile apps and food design cards, this book provides vitally important information about existing sustainable food design outcomes in a way that is organized, accessible, and informative.This book will be of great interest to academics and professionals working in the field of design and sustainable food systems. Students interested in learning about food and sustainability from across design studies, food studies, innovation and entrepreneurship, urban studies, and global development will also find this book of great use.
Critical Materials and Sustainability Transition
by Arda Işıldar Eric D. van Hullebusch Donald HuisinghCritical minerals play a vital role in the ongoing energy transition, which aims to shift global energy systems towards more sustainable and low-carbon alternatives. These minerals, also known as critical minerals, are essential components in various clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems. They possess unique properties that enable efficient energy generation, storage, and transmission. For instance, neodymium, a rare earth element, is crucial for the production of high-performance magnets used in wind turbines and electric motors. Lithium, another critical mineral, is a key component in rechargeable batteries powering electric vehicles and energy storage solutions. As the demand for clean energy technologies continues to rise, securing a sustainable and reliable supply of critical minerals becomes increasingly important to support the global energy transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In this book, we investigate various aspects of critical mineral governance in the context of sustainability transition. We give perspectives around the critical metal requirements of sustainability transition in a forward-looking manner. We discuss the answers to the following questions: What role do the critical raw materials play in the transition to a sustainable economy and energy systems transformation? What are the bottlenecks in achieving a sustainable critical material supply? How do the critical minerals enable renewable energy transition and sustainable development? What is their role in the sustainability transition? How is mineral criticality assessed? And how critical are minerals? What are some regional differences in terms of critical mineral availability, processing capacity, and the supply chain? What strategy should be followed in deciding between primary raw materials and secondary raw materials in supplying critical raw materials for the transition to a sustainable economy? What is the (known) critical material budget, and how does it fit with the climate pledges? The authors of the chapters of this book take a multi-perspective approach and provide insights from industrial ecology, environmental engineering, and sustainable management of natural resources. The information provided will help readers to understand critical metal requirements of present and future key technologies and will help societies to develop and implement sustainable supply strategies.
Critical Materials and Sustainability Transition
Critical minerals play a vital role in the ongoing energy transition, which aims to shift global energy systems towards more sustainable and low-carbon alternatives. These minerals, also known as critical minerals, are essential components in various clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems. They possess unique properties that enable efficient energy generation, storage, and transmission. For instance, neodymium, a rare earth element, is crucial for the production of high-performance magnets used in wind turbines and electric motors. Lithium, another critical mineral, is a key component in rechargeable batteries powering electric vehicles and energy storage solutions. As the demand for clean energy technologies continues to rise, securing a sustainable and reliable supply of critical minerals becomes increasingly important to support the global energy transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. In this book, we investigate various aspects of critical mineral governance in the context of sustainability transition. We give perspectives around the critical metal requirements of sustainability transition in a forward-looking manner. We discuss the answers to the following questions: What role do the critical raw materials play in the transition to a sustainable economy and energy systems transformation? What are the bottlenecks in achieving a sustainable critical material supply? How do the critical minerals enable renewable energy transition and sustainable development? What is their role in the sustainability transition? How is mineral criticality assessed? And how critical are minerals? What are some regional differences in terms of critical mineral availability, processing capacity, and the supply chain? What strategy should be followed in deciding between primary raw materials and secondary raw materials in supplying critical raw materials for the transition to a sustainable economy? What is the (known) critical material budget, and how does it fit with the climate pledges? The authors of the chapters of this book take a multi-perspective approach and provide insights from industrial ecology, environmental engineering, and sustainable management of natural resources. The information provided will help readers to understand critical metal requirements of present and future key technologies and will help societies to develop and implement sustainable supply strategies.
Critical Metals Handbook (Wiley Works)
by Gus GunnMankind is using a greater variety of metals in greater quantities than ever before. As a result there is increasing global concern over the long-term availability of secure and adequate supplies of the metals needed by society. Critical metals, which are those of growing economic importance that might be susceptible to future scarcity, are a particular worry. For many of these we have little information on how they are concentrated in the Earth’s crust, how to extract them from their ores, and how to use, recycle and dispose of them effectively and safely. Published with the British Geological Survey, the Critical Metals Handbook brings together a wealth of knowledge on critical metals and provides a foundation for improving the future security and sustainability of critical metal supplies. Written by international experts, it provides a unique source of authoritative information on diverse aspects of the critical metals, including geology, deposits, processing, applications, recycling, environmental issues and markets. It is aimed at a broad non-specialist audience, including professionals and academics working in the exploration and mining sectors, in mining finance and investment, and in mineral processing and manufacturing. It will also be a valuable reference for policy makers concerned with resource management, land-use planning, eco-efficiency, recycling and related fields.
Critical Metals Handbook (Wiley Works)
by Gus GunnMankind is using a greater variety of metals in greater quantities than ever before. As a result there is increasing global concern over the long-term availability of secure and adequate supplies of the metals needed by society. Critical metals, which are those of growing economic importance that might be susceptible to future scarcity, are a particular worry. For many of these we have little information on how they are concentrated in the Earth’s crust, how to extract them from their ores, and how to use, recycle and dispose of them effectively and safely. Published with the British Geological Survey, the Critical Metals Handbook brings together a wealth of knowledge on critical metals and provides a foundation for improving the future security and sustainability of critical metal supplies. Written by international experts, it provides a unique source of authoritative information on diverse aspects of the critical metals, including geology, deposits, processing, applications, recycling, environmental issues and markets. It is aimed at a broad non-specialist audience, including professionals and academics working in the exploration and mining sectors, in mining finance and investment, and in mineral processing and manufacturing. It will also be a valuable reference for policy makers concerned with resource management, land-use planning, eco-efficiency, recycling and related fields.
Critical Minerals, the Climate Crisis and the Tech Imperium (Archimedes #65)
by Sophia KalantzakosThis book examines the latest manifestations of resource competition. The energy transition and the digitalization of the global economy are both accelerating even as geopolitics driven by Sino-American hyper-competition become increasingly contentious. The volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, policy makers, institutional stakeholders, and industry experts to analyze not only the transition itself, but also the implications that the need for uninterrupted access to unprecedented levels of raw materials generates. By framing the challenges ahead for global society, governance, industry, international power politics, and the environment, the book asks hard questions about the choices that need to be made to reach net zero by mid-century. Moreover, it sheds light on different facets of the growing risks to what have been global interdependent supply chains in a way that is nuanced, balanced, and practical, thus pushing back on some of the most sensational headlines that breed confusion and may lead policymakers to make more narrow and less effective decisions. The volume is an outcome of “Rich Rocks, the Climate Crisis and the Tech-imperium” a Summer Institute at Caltech and the Huntington that took place in July 2021.
Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship: Challenging Dominant Discourses (Routledge Rethinking Entrepreneurship Research)
by Caroline Essers Pascal Dey Deirdre Tedmanson Karen VerduynEntrepreneurship is largely considered to be a positive force, driving venture creation and economic growth. Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship questions the accepted norms and dominant assumptions of scholarship on the matter, and reveals how they can actually obscure important questions of identity, ideology and inequality. The book’s distinguished authors and editors explore how entrepreneurship study can privilege certain forms of economic action, whilst labelling other, more collective forms of organization and exchange as problematic. Demystifying the archetypal vision of the white, male entrepreneur, this book gives voice to other entrepreneurial subjectivities and engages with the tensions, paradoxes and ambiguities at the heart of the topic. This challenging collection seeks to further the momentum for alternate analyses of the field, and to promote the growing voice of critical entrepreneurship studies. It is a useful tool for researchers, advanced students and policy-makers.
Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship: Challenging Dominant Discourses (Routledge Rethinking Entrepreneurship Research)
by Caroline Essers Pascal Dey Deirdre Tedmanson Karen VerduynEntrepreneurship is largely considered to be a positive force, driving venture creation and economic growth. Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship questions the accepted norms and dominant assumptions of scholarship on the matter, and reveals how they can actually obscure important questions of identity, ideology and inequality. The book’s distinguished authors and editors explore how entrepreneurship study can privilege certain forms of economic action, whilst labelling other, more collective forms of organization and exchange as problematic. Demystifying the archetypal vision of the white, male entrepreneur, this book gives voice to other entrepreneurial subjectivities and engages with the tensions, paradoxes and ambiguities at the heart of the topic. This challenging collection seeks to further the momentum for alternate analyses of the field, and to promote the growing voice of critical entrepreneurship studies. It is a useful tool for researchers, advanced students and policy-makers.
Critical Perspectives on Food Sovereignty: Global Agrarian Transformations, Volume 2 (Critical Agrarian Studies)
by Marc EdelmanThis volume is a pioneering contribution to the study of food politics and critical agrarian studies, where food sovereignty has emerged as a pivotal concept over the past few decades, with a wide variety of social movements, on-the-ground experiments, and policy innovations flying under its broad banner. Despite its large and growing popularity, the history, theoretical foundations, and political program of food sovereignty have only occasionally received in-depth analysis and critical scrutiny. This collection brings together both longstanding scholars in critical agrarian studies, such as Philip McMichael, Bina Agarwal, Henry Bernstein, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, and Marc Edelman, as well as a dynamic roster of early- and mid-career researchers. The ultimate aim is to advance this important frontier of research and organizing, and put food sovereignty on stronger footing as a mobilizing frame, a policy objective, and a plan of action for the human future.This volume was published as part one of the special double issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Journal of Peasant Studies.
Critical Perspectives on Food Sovereignty: Global Agrarian Transformations, Volume 2 (Critical Agrarian Studies)
by Marc Edelman, James C. Scott, Amita Baviskar, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Deniz Kandiyoti, Eric Holt-Giménez, Tony Weis, Wendy WolfordThis volume is a pioneering contribution to the study of food politics and critical agrarian studies, where food sovereignty has emerged as a pivotal concept over the past few decades, with a wide variety of social movements, on-the-ground experiments, and policy innovations flying under its broad banner. Despite its large and growing popularity, the history, theoretical foundations, and political program of food sovereignty have only occasionally received in-depth analysis and critical scrutiny. This collection brings together both longstanding scholars in critical agrarian studies, such as Philip McMichael, Bina Agarwal, Henry Bernstein, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, and Marc Edelman, as well as a dynamic roster of early- and mid-career researchers. The ultimate aim is to advance this important frontier of research and organizing, and put food sovereignty on stronger footing as a mobilizing frame, a policy objective, and a plan of action for the human future.This volume was published as part one of the special double issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Journal of Peasant Studies.
Critical Phenomena in Loop Models (Springer Theses)
by Adam NahumWhen close to a continuous phase transition, many physical systems can usefully be mapped to ensembles of fluctuating loops, which might represent for example polymer rings, or line defects in a lattice magnet, or worldlines of quantum particles.'Loop models' provide a unifying geometric language for problems of this kind.This thesis aims to extend this language in two directions. The first part of the thesis tackles ensembles of loops in three dimensions, and relates them to the statistical properties of line defects in disordered media and to critical phenomena in two-dimensional quantum magnets. The second part concerns two-dimensional loop models that lie outside the standard paradigms: new types of critical point are found, and new results given for the universal properties of polymer collapse transitions in two dimensions.All of these problems are shown to be related to sigma models on complex or real projective space, CP^{n−1} or RP^{n−1} -- in some cases in a 'replica' limit -- and this thesis is also an in-depth investigation of critical behaviour in these field theories.
Critical Phenomena in Natural Sciences: Chaos, Fractals, Selforganization and Disorder: Concepts and Tools (Springer Series in Synergetics)
by Didier SornetteConcepts, methods and techniques of statistical physics in the study of correlated, as well as uncorrelated, phenomena are being applied ever increasingly in the natural sciences, biology and economics in an attempt to understand and model the large variability and risks of phenomena. This is the first textbook written by a well-known expert that provides a modern up-to-date introduction for workers outside statistical physics.
Critical Phenomena in Natural Sciences: Chaos, Fractals, Selforganization and Disorder: Concepts and Tools (Springer Series in Synergetics)
by Didier SornetteA modern up-to-date introduction for readers outside statistical physics. It puts emphasis on a clear understanding of concepts and methods and provides the tools that can be of immediate use in applications.
Critical Point Theory and Hamiltonian Systems (Applied Mathematical Sciences #74)
by Jean MawhinFACHGEB The last decade has seen a tremendous development in critical point theory in infinite dimensional spaces and its application to nonlinear boundary value problems. In particular, striking results were obtained in the classical problem of periodic solutions of Hamiltonian systems. This book provides a systematic presentation of the most basic tools of critical point theory: minimization, convex functions and Fenchel transform, dual least action principle, Ekeland variational principle, minimax methods, Lusternik- Schirelmann theory for Z2 and S1 symmetries, Morse theory for possibly degenerate critical points and non-degenerate critical manifolds. Each technique is illustrated by applications to the discussion of the existence, multiplicity, and bifurcation of the periodic solutions of Hamiltonian systems. Among the treated questions are the periodic solutions with fixed period or fixed energy of autonomous systems, the existence of subharmonics in the non-autonomous case, the asymptotically linear Hamiltonian systems, free and forced superlinear problems. Application of those results to the equations of mechanical pendulum, to Josephson systems of solid state physics and to questions from celestial mechanics are given. The aim of the book is to introduce a reader familiar to more classical techniques of ordinary differential equations to the powerful approach of modern critical point theory. The style of the exposition has been adapted to this goal. The new topological tools are introduced in a progressive but detailed way and immediately applied to differential equation problems. The abstract tools can also be applied to partial differential equations and the reader will also find the basic references in this direction in the bibliography of more than 500 items which concludes the book. ERSCHEIN
Critical Point Theory for Lagrangian Systems (Progress in Mathematics #293)
by Marco MazzucchelliLagrangian systems constitute a very important and old class in dynamics. Their origin dates back to the end of the eighteenth century, with Joseph-Louis Lagrange’s reformulation of classical mechanics. The main feature of Lagrangian dynamics is its variational flavor: orbits are extremal points of an action functional. The development of critical point theory in the twentieth century provided a powerful machinery to investigate existence and multiplicity questions for orbits of Lagrangian systems. This monograph gives a modern account of the application of critical point theory, and more specifically Morse theory, to Lagrangian dynamics, with particular emphasis toward existence and multiplicity of periodic orbits of non-autonomous and time-periodic systems.
Critical Political Ecology: The Politics of Environmental Science
by Timothy ForsythCritical Political Ecology brings political debate to the science of ecology. As political controversies multiply over the science underlying environmental debates, there is an increasing need to understand the relationship between environmental science and politics. In this timely and wide-ranging volume, Tim Forsyth uses an innovative approach to apply political analysis to ecology, and demonstrates how more politicised approaches to science can be used in environmental decision-making.Critical Political Ecology examines:*how social and political factors frame environmental science, and how science in turn shapes politics*how new thinking in philosophy and sociology of science can provide fresh insights into the biophysical causes and impacts of environmental problems*how policy and decision-makers can acknowledge the political influences on science and achieve more effective public participation and governance.
Critical Political Ecology: The Politics of Environmental Science
by Timothy ForsythCritical Political Ecology brings political debate to the science of ecology. As political controversies multiply over the science underlying environmental debates, there is an increasing need to understand the relationship between environmental science and politics. In this timely and wide-ranging volume, Tim Forsyth uses an innovative approach to apply political analysis to ecology, and demonstrates how more politicised approaches to science can be used in environmental decision-making.Critical Political Ecology examines:*how social and political factors frame environmental science, and how science in turn shapes politics*how new thinking in philosophy and sociology of science can provide fresh insights into the biophysical causes and impacts of environmental problems*how policy and decision-makers can acknowledge the political influences on science and achieve more effective public participation and governance.
Critical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability: Philosophical and Ethical Approaches (Routledge Environmental Ethics)
by Gabriela-Lucia SabauCritical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability contributes to the growing discussion surrounding the concept of sustainability, using a critical realist approach within a transdisciplinary theoretical framework to examine how sustainability objectively occurs in the natural world and in society. The book develops an ethical theory of sustainability as an objective value, rooted not in humans’ subjective preferences but in the holistic web of relationships, interdependencies, and obligations existing among living things on Earth, a web believed to have maintained life on Earth over the last 3.7 billion years. It proposes three pillars of sustainability ethics: contentment for the human existence given to us; justice (beyond distributive justice); and meaningful freedom (within ecological and moral limits). Using abductive reasoning, the book infers that there is an out-of-this-world Sustainer behind the Earth’s sustainability acting as a metaphysical source of all being and value. It argues that sustainability value, accepted as a shared understanding of the common good, must guide individual decisions and socio-economic development efforts as a matter of deliberate choice, as well as be built on the awareness that there are non-negotiable, pre-established conditions for our planet’s sustainability. This book will be of interest to students and scholars across fields of inquiry, including sustainability, sustainable development, environmental philosophy and ethics, philosophy of science, and ecological economics, and to whoever may wonder why seasons exists and why humans have creative minds.
Critical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability: Philosophical and Ethical Approaches (Routledge Environmental Ethics)
by Gabriela-Lucia SabauCritical Realism and the Objective Value of Sustainability contributes to the growing discussion surrounding the concept of sustainability, using a critical realist approach within a transdisciplinary theoretical framework to examine how sustainability objectively occurs in the natural world and in society. The book develops an ethical theory of sustainability as an objective value, rooted not in humans’ subjective preferences but in the holistic web of relationships, interdependencies, and obligations existing among living things on Earth, a web believed to have maintained life on Earth over the last 3.7 billion years. It proposes three pillars of sustainability ethics: contentment for the human existence given to us; justice (beyond distributive justice); and meaningful freedom (within ecological and moral limits). Using abductive reasoning, the book infers that there is an out-of-this-world Sustainer behind the Earth’s sustainability acting as a metaphysical source of all being and value. It argues that sustainability value, accepted as a shared understanding of the common good, must guide individual decisions and socio-economic development efforts as a matter of deliberate choice, as well as be built on the awareness that there are non-negotiable, pre-established conditions for our planet’s sustainability. This book will be of interest to students and scholars across fields of inquiry, including sustainability, sustainable development, environmental philosophy and ethics, philosophy of science, and ecological economics, and to whoever may wonder why seasons exists and why humans have creative minds.
Critical Risk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics
by Stuart Lane Matthew Kearnes Francisco KlauserRisk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics offers a collection of essays, written by a wide variety of international researchers in risk research, about what it means to do risk research, and about how – and with what effects – risk research is practiced, articulated and exploited. This approach is based upon the core assumption that: to make a difference in the study of risk, we must move beyond what we usually do, challenging the core assumptions, scientific, economic and social, about how we study, frame, exploit and govern risk. Hence, through a series of essays, the book aims to challenge the current ways in which risk-problems are approached and presented, both conceptually by academics and through the framings that are encoded in the technologies and socio-political and institutional practices used to manage risk. In addressing these questions, the book does not attempt to offer a model of how risk research 'should' be done. Rather, the book provides, through illustration, a challenge to the ways in which risk research is framed as 'problem-solving.' The book's ultimate objective aims to increase critical debate between different disciplines, approaches, concepts and problems.
Critical Risk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics
by Stuart Lane Francisco Klauser Matthew B. KearnesRisk Research: Practices, Politics and Ethics offers a collection of essays, written by a wide variety of international researchers in risk research, about what it means to do risk research, and about how – and with what effects – risk research is practiced, articulated and exploited. This approach is based upon the core assumption that: to make a difference in the study of risk, we must move beyond what we usually do, challenging the core assumptions, scientific, economic and social, about how we study, frame, exploit and govern risk. Hence, through a series of essays, the book aims to challenge the current ways in which risk-problems are approached and presented, both conceptually by academics and through the framings that are encoded in the technologies and socio-political and institutional practices used to manage risk. In addressing these questions, the book does not attempt to offer a model of how risk research 'should' be done. Rather, the book provides, through illustration, a challenge to the ways in which risk research is framed as 'problem-solving.' The book's ultimate objective aims to increase critical debate between different disciplines, approaches, concepts and problems.
The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability #12)
by Ralph Tench Brian Jones William SunEuropean approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are supposed to be largely different from those in other continents like America, Asia, and Africa. Yet, European approaches to CSR are not a single and static one, but vary across and within national states and shift over time. This edited volume aims at exploring the uniqueness and complexity of European CSR approaches, perspectives, and practices through a critical lens. It contributes to existing understanding of European CSR by addressing the frontier CSR issues in the current state at the EU, national and institutional levels. Specifically, the volume critically examines the macro-level CSR frameworks, policies, and trends and their impact on CSR practices at the micro-level, including the roles of EU and national governments in shaping the CSR landscape in similar and different ways. It also analyses how various stakeholder groups and business sectors and firms across major European countries perceive, interpret and approach CSR in a dynamic way. Contributors of this book are experts mainly from Western and Eastern European countries and thus provide rich experiences, fresh insights, and deep understanding of the critical state of CSR in Europe.
The Critical State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability #12)
by Ralph Tench Brian Jones William SunEuropean approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are supposed to be largely different from those in other continents like America, Asia, and Africa. Yet, European approaches to CSR are not a single and static one, but vary across and within national states and shift over time. This edited volume aims at exploring the uniqueness and complexity of European CSR approaches, perspectives, and practices through a critical lens. It contributes to existing understanding of European CSR by addressing the frontier CSR issues in the current state at the EU, national and institutional levels. Specifically, the volume critically examines the macro-level CSR frameworks, policies, and trends and their impact on CSR practices at the micro-level, including the roles of EU and national governments in shaping the CSR landscape in similar and different ways. It also analyses how various stakeholder groups and business sectors and firms across major European countries perceive, interpret and approach CSR in a dynamic way. Contributors of this book are experts mainly from Western and Eastern European countries and thus provide rich experiences, fresh insights, and deep understanding of the critical state of CSR in Europe.
Critical Sustainability Sciences: Intercultural and Emancipatory Perspectives (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Stephan Rist Patrick Bottazzi Johanna JacobiThis book explores Critical Sustainability Sciences, a new field of scientific inquiry into sustainability issues. It builds on a highly novel integration of elements from relational ontologies, critical theory, political ecology, and intercultural philosophy in support of emancipatory perspectives on sustainability and development. The book Critical Sustainability Sciences begins by uncovering the weaknesses of mainstream sustainability science and debates on sustainable development. The new field of Critical Sustainability Sciences has grown out of a deep engagement with relational ontologies, which helps to overcome the dualist ontology underlying mainstream notions of sustainability and development. Dualist ontologies reinforce problematic anthropocentric divisions, for example, between humans and nature, subjects and objects, mind and matter, body and soul, etc. Examples from indigenous peoples in Bolivia, India, and Ghana – as well as integrative movements in Chile, Brazil, and Europe – show that relational conceptions of life, rooted in ecosophy and cosmosophy, can provide an intercultural philosophical foundation for Critical Sustainability Sciences. The book concludes by describing three key topics for exploration in Critical Sustainability Sciences: societal reorganization in view of emancipatory, existential, and cognitive self-determination; living labor and commons; and the development of new comprehensive relational scientific paradigms. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of emancipatory and intercultural approaches to sustainability and development.