| Abstract |
Since the end of the 20th century, the engineering field, like many other sectors, has been faced with society's new preoccupations. Eco-design strives to reduce the harmful effect of industrial production and mass consumption on the environment. It makes use of tools and methods which, besides being built on technical and scientific foundations, borrow a vocabulary from economics and management science ("cost-benefits", "needs", "stakeholders", etc.) and puts a fundamental category-"value"-, back on the agenda. This research endeavors to show how these foundational concepts "contaminate" the tools colonized by an economical imaginary. Researchers' and scientists' attempts to modify or overturn the existing order come up against a blind spot: the definition of value in the engineering field and, more specifically in sustainable development, finds its theoretical origins in the political economics of the 18th century, more precisely in the neoclassical economy of the 19th century. Through a narrative review methodology, we first argue that eco-design have not broken away from the ideology of orthodox economics, where riches are reduced to a simple monetary expression, and the social and environmental consequences are evaluated in terms of cost/benefits in the light of a rational instrumentality. Then, to illustrate these propositions, we base our arguments on the analysis of three tools used to develop ideas of sustainable development/innovation: Life Cycle Assessment; the Value Mapping tool, and the Triple Layered Business Model Canvas. (c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |