Xoves 11 : 16:00 a 18:00
Aitor Alonso Rodríguez
- Title: Power out front: The role of power in the Sustainability Transition.
- Abstract: Sustainability Transition Research (STR) has been paying increasing attention to power as an important concept to understand the social dynamics underlying transitions. At the same time, the sustainable transition is being seeing as a good opportunity to democratize our governance through public participation. However, STR lacks an operational, mechanism-focused account of how different forms of public participation interact with cultural-institutional hegemony to transform or reproduce power relations and thereby shape transition pathways. To answer, the thesis studies the interaction between power and public participation through a historical analysis of Ence. The goal is to see how different grassroots initiatives interacted with incumbent actors to position the company where is today. In addition, an empirical case study - CoBlue project - analyse how an institutionally embedded public participation process may mobilized expectations, thus impacting in agency and the relations of power.The dissertation contributes to the literature by deepening our understanding of power and public participation in STR. Furthermore, the thesis contributes to policymaking by advancing knowledge on the role of public participation in sustainability transitions, thus enabling clear explanations for policymakers to understand which participation designs are desirable for which problems and how to structure them.
Ana García Quintana
- Title: Controversies, diets and restless consumption.
- Abstract: This thesis examines the dynamics enabling or constraining food consumption changes toward sustainable transitions, framing this shift as a socio-technical issue where consumption becomes a site for public participation. The research investigates consumer responsibilization processes and their contestation as socio-material dynamics shaping transformation pathways. With food systems contributing to five of seven transgressed planetary boundaries, dietary changes are positioned as accessible individual actions for ecological transition, constructing consumers as responsible "citizen-consumers." However, this responsibilization process-which transfers institutional duties to individuals-faces significant contestation regarding both its legitimacy and the scientific information underpinning it. Employing issue-mapping methodology, a digital adaptation of controversy mapping combining quantitative and qualitative strategies, the study maps actor networks and analyzes multiple, contested responsibilization framings.
Lugar das presentacións: Auditorio del edificio de Benito Corbal (Sótano 1)