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Title Responsibility as a field: The circular economy of water, waste, and energy
ID_Doc 1689
Authors Savini, F; Giezen, M
Title Responsibility as a field: The circular economy of water, waste, and energy
Year 2020
Published Environment And Planning C-Politics And Space, 38, 5
DOI 10.1177/2399654420907622
Abstract Responsibilities are a central matter of concern of environmental politics because they underpin regulatory frameworks of utility services. Yet, in scholarship concerned with sustainability transitions and governance, responsibility is reductively understood as a legal obligation or allotted task. Building on an institutionalist perspective, this paper conceptualized responsibility as a field of contention where actors negotiate, contest, and articulate what we define as subjectivist and collectivist responsibilities. Defining and using the concept of 'fields of responsibility', the paper analyzes how responsibilities (mis)match and contradict in controversial policymaking around the 'circular economy': a wide policy program for restructuring water, energy, and waste utility services and infrastructures in Amsterdam region. In so doing, it reveals the logic of contemporary environmental governance: in approaching climate targets, actors actively take on responsibilities while at the same time maintaining a conservative view of their role and responsibilities. We call these phenomena over-stretching and under-reaching.
Author Keywords Responsibility; field; circular economy; subject; collectivity
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000515458800001
WoS Category Environmental Studies; Geography; Regional & Urban Planning; Public Administration
Research Area Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Geography; Public Administration
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