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Towards what futures? The political dimensions of sustainable development and resilience Passed

Wednesday September 22, 2021 13:30 - 14:40 G

Workshop leaders: David Olsson, Mikael Granberg
Presenters: Elisa Rieger, Kaniska Singh, Mikael Granberg

  • Emerging political considerations in climate change adaptation Mikael Granberg
  • Sustainable Energy Landscape Strategies - Feasibility, Fusion and Alternative Futures, Elisa Rieger
  • Resilient- Society ‘for’ Sustainable Development? - Deconstructing the ‘problem representation’ within Disaster Management Policies in India Kaniska Singh

Panel description

Different concepts used in political and policy processes can be understood as the interstices, where the formulation of possible futures takes place. Two such concepts with great relevance over later years (1980s and onwards) is sustainable development and, with increasing importance lately, resilience. This panel focuses on two issues related to the formulation of possible futures through these concepts. The first issue concerns how the concepts are used, with what connotations and impacts in political and policy processes? These concepts are not neutral but pliable constructions that can be used for different political purposes. Concepts with mainly positive connotation such as sustainable development and resilience can be very powerful political concepts as they, through their lack of precision and flexibility, can facilitate political agreements without the mess of agreeing on detailed measures etc. At the same time these properties also mean that they are less efficient when it comes to implementation in administrative settings. The second issue has to do with the value rationalities and power relations underpinning the mainstream conceptualizations of sustainable development and resilience. In the research literature several competing conceptualizations of sustainable development and resilience have emerged. Explicitly or implicitly, these entail different priorities in terms of values and norms. Each conceptualization is also based on distinctive assumptions about what is need to reach what is defined as positive futures. In light of this, it becomes important to discuss questions such as: where are we currently going? Why? Is this development desirable? For whom? Who gains and who loses from this, and by which mechanisms of power?

Lecturers

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David Olsson Workshop leader

Senior Lecturer in Political Science
Karlstad University

Profile image for Mikael Granberg

Mikael Granberg Workshop leader

Professor in political science
CSR/Karlstad University

Elisa Rieger Presenter

Karl-Franzens-University Graz

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Kaniska Singh Presenter

IIT Bombay

Profile image for Mikael Granberg

Mikael Granberg Presenter

Professor in political science
CSR/Karlstad University