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Enacting Transitions—The Combined Effect of Multiple Niches in Whole System Reconfiguration

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  • Sibylle Bui

    (Ecodéveloppement, INRAE, 84000 Avignon, France
    Groupe de Recherche en Droit Economie et Gestion, CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur, 06560 Valbonne, France)

Abstract

The environmental and social issues caused by agricultural and food distribution practices call for a profound reconfiguration of the agri-food system. This paper is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the way such a reconfiguration may be fostered. Building on recent developments of transition studies that analyze whole system reconfigurations, it proposes a pragmatist, whole system approach to examine the socio-political dimension of sustainability transitions. Based on the ethnographic and longitudinal study of a unique case of (territorial) agroecological transition in France, it identifies the mechanisms involved in a transition and the way actors enacted them. It characterizes required prior, incremental system changes, and stresses the role of multiple niches that influence simultaneously the various components of the agri-food system. From an action-oriented perspective, these results suggest that transitions may be fostered by: (1) supporting the diffusion of an alternative technological paradigm within the regime that niches may be congruent with; (2) stimulating the development of a diversity of radical innovations related to the various dimensions of the agri-food system and fostering their interactions with the regime; and (3) moving from a technology-driven approach of innovation towards an emphasis on organizational innovations that foster the rebalancing of power relations.

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  • Sibylle Bui, 2021. "Enacting Transitions—The Combined Effect of Multiple Niches in Whole System Reconfiguration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6135-:d:565108
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