IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v29y2021i6p1249-1256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resourcification: A non‐essentialist theory of resources for sustainable development

Author

Listed:
  • Hervé Corvellec
  • Johan Hultman
  • Anne Jerneck
  • Susanne Arvidsson
  • Johan Ekroos
  • Niklas Wahlberg
  • Timothy W. Luke

Abstract

Overuse of resources is accelerating current negative trends in climate change, ecosystem destruction, and biodiversity loss. The ultimate outcome is that contemporary human society is reaching or exceeding the limits of planetary boundaries. It is therefore imperative to articulate a new theoretical understanding of resources and the ethical, political, and environmental conditions of their use. In this article, we take a radical departure from treating resources as having fixed, essential and ready to exploit qualities, and offer a non‐essentialist theory that considers that resources come into being as a result of social processes. We label this approach resourcification. This shift offers a new theoretical platform for developing a post‐sustainability understanding of the relationships of humans to humans, to other living creatures, and to the physical environment, one that is more suited to meeting the challenges of working with the sustainable development goals in the Anthropocene.

Suggested Citation

  • Hervé Corvellec & Johan Hultman & Anne Jerneck & Susanne Arvidsson & Johan Ekroos & Niklas Wahlberg & Timothy W. Luke, 2021. "Resourcification: A non‐essentialist theory of resources for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1249-1256, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:29:y:2021:i:6:p:1249-1256
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2222
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2222
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2222?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Godwell Nhamo & Shepherd Muchuru & Senia Nhamo, 2018. "Women's needs in new global sustainable development policy agendas," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 544-552, November.
    2. Thomas R. De Gregori, 1987. "Resources Are Not; They Become: An Institutional Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 1241-1263, September.
    3. Vikram Dayal & Anantha Duraiappah & Nandan Nawn (ed.), 2018. "Ecology, Economy and Society," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-10-5675-8, December.
    4. Tomás B. Ramos & Sandra Caeiro & Sara Moreno Pires & Nuno Videira, 2018. "How are new sustainable development approaches responding to societal challenges?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 117-121, March.
    5. Muhammad Wasif Zafar & Asif Saeed & Syed Anees Haider Zaidi & Abdul Waheed, 2021. "The linkages among natural resources, renewable energy consumption, and environmental quality: A path toward sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 353-362, March.
    6. Hans-Jürgen Burchardt & Kristina Dietz, 2014. "(Neo-)extractivism – a new challenge for development theory from Latin America," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 468-486, March.
    7. Hultman, Johan & Corvellec, Hervé & Jerneck, Anne & Arvidsson, Susanne & Ekroos, Johan & Gustafsson, Clara & Lundh Nilsson, Fay & Wahlberg, Niklas, 2021. "A resourcification manifesto: Understanding the social process of resources becoming resources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    8. Qaisar Iqbal & Noor Hazlina Ahmad, 2021. "Sustainable development: The colors of sustainable leadership in learning organization," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 108-119, January.
    9. Johan Rockström & Will Steffen & Kevin Noone & Åsa Persson & F. Stuart Chapin & Eric F. Lambin & Timothy M. Lenton & Marten Scheffer & Carl Folke & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Björn Nykvist & Cynthia , 2009. "A safe operating space for humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7263), pages 472-475, September.
    10. Regina Scheyvens & Glenn Banks & Emma Hughes, 2016. "The Private Sector and the SDGs: The Need to Move Beyond ‘Business as Usual’," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 371-382, November.
    11. Timothy W. Luke, 2005. "Neither sustainable nor development: reconsidering sustainability in development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(4), pages 228-238.
    12. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    13. Jyrki Luukkanen & Jari Kaivo‐oja & Noora Vähäkari & Tadhg O'Mahony & Mika Korkeakoski & Juha Panula‐Ontto & Jarmo Vehmas & Anh Nguyen Quoc, 2019. "Resource efficiency and green economic sustainability transition evaluation of green growth productivity gap and governance challenges in Cambodia," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 312-320, May.
    14. Sophia Imran & Khorshed Alam & Narelle Beaumont, 2014. "Reinterpreting the Definition of Sustainable Development for a More Ecocentric Reorientation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 134-144, March.
    15. Jason Hickel, 2019. "The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 873-884, September.
    16. Brennan Lowery & John Dagevos & Ratana Chuenpagdee & Kelly Vodden, 2020. "Storytelling for sustainable development in rural communities: An alternative approach," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1813-1826, November.
    17. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 2001. "The curse of natural resources," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 827-838, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Corvellec, Hervé & Paulsson, Alexander, 2023. "Resource shifting: Resourcification and de-resourcification for degrowth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hultman, Johan & Corvellec, Hervé & Jerneck, Anne & Arvidsson, Susanne & Ekroos, Johan & Gustafsson, Clara & Lundh Nilsson, Fay & Wahlberg, Niklas, 2021. "A resourcification manifesto: Understanding the social process of resources becoming resources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    2. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. Nessa Winston, 2022. "Sustainable community development: Integrating social and environmental sustainability for sustainable housing and communities," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 191-202, February.
    4. Juan Telleria & Jorge Garcia-Arias, 2022. "The fantasmatic narrative of ‘sustainable development’. A political analysis of the 2030 Global Development Agenda," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(1), pages 241-259, February.
    5. Pina Puntillo, 2023. "Circular economy business models: Towards achieving sustainable development goals in the waste management sector—Empirical evidence and theoretical implications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 941-954, March.
    6. Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea & Pegdéwendé Nestor Sawadogo, 2019. "Assessing the effects of combating illicit financial flows on domestic tax revenue mobilization in developing countries," CERDI Working papers halshs-02019073, HAL.
    7. Nelson, Ewan & Warren, Peter, 2020. "UK transport decoupling: On track for clean growth in transport?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 39-51.
    8. Rostami-Tabar, Bahman & Ali, Mohammad M. & Hong, Tao & Hyndman, Rob J. & Porter, Michael D. & Syntetos, Aris, 2022. "Forecasting for social good," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1245-1257.
    9. Sonja Novkovic, 2022. "Cooperative identity as a yardstick for transformative change," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 313-336, June.
    10. Chiara Mio & Silvia Panfilo & Benedetta Blundo, 2020. "Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3220-3245, December.
    11. Oier Imaz & Andoni Eizagirre, 2020. "Responsible Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals in Business: An Agenda for Cooperative Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.
    12. Edit Kővári & Katalin Formádi & Zsuzsanna Banász, 2023. "The Green Attitude of Four European Capitals of Culture’s Youth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    13. Sarah Cummings & Anastasia‐Alithia Seferiadis & Leah de Haan, 2020. "Getting down to business? Critical discourse analysis of perspectives on the private sector in sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 759-771, July.
    14. Petra Dobner & Jasper Finkeldey, 2022. "Natural Resources and the Tipping Points of Political Power—A Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.
    15. Kyoko Sasaki & Wendy Stubbs & Megan Farrelly, 2023. "The relationship between corporate purpose and the sustainable development goals in large Japanese companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2475-2489, September.
    16. Cook, David & Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur, 2021. "An appraisal of interlinkages between macro-economic indicators of economic well-being and the sustainable development goals," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    17. Virág, Doris & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Baumgart, André & Matej, Sarah & Krausmann, Fridolin & Min, Jihoon & Rao, Narasimha D. & Haberl, Helmut, 2022. "How much infrastructure is required to support decent mobility for all? An exploratory assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    18. Mariia Kostetckaia & Markus Hametner, 2022. "How Sustainable Development Goals interlinkages influence European Union countries’ progress towards the 2030 Agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 916-926, October.
    19. Xuantong Wang & James Hopeward & Ilcheong Yi & Mark W. McElroy & Paul C. Sutton, 2022. "Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals: A context sensitive indicator for sustainable use of water at the facility level," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1184-1199, October.
    20. Yeboah, Samuel & James Nyarkoh, Bright, 2022. "The Impact of Mining on the Ghanaian Economy: A Comprehensive Review (1992-2020)," MPRA Paper 117502, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 Jan 2023.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:29:y:2021:i:6:p:1249-1256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.