Publications in the Understanding Sustainability category:

STEPS pathways poster

A printable A4 poster with a simple summary of some key ideas based on the STEPS Centre’s pathways approach to sustainability. Download (PDF)

Power in Practice: Insights from Technography and Actor-Network Theory for Agricultural Sustainability

STEPS Working Paper 100 October 2017 In this paper, we use conceptual insights from two distinct traditions within the social studies of science and technology, namely actor-network theory (ANT) and…

Configurations of agency and power in the academic discourse on the Green Revolution in East Africa

STEPS Working Paper 97 In this paper I perform a discourse analysis of the academic literature on the Green Revolution (GR) in East Africa, governed by two questions: what form…

Double coupling: modeling subjectivity and asymmetric organization in social-ecological systems

Ecology and Society 20(3): 26 Social-ecological organization is a multidimensional phenomenon that combines material and symbolic processes. However, the coupling between social and ecological subsystem is often conceptualized as purely material,…

Defying Control: Aspects of caring engagement between divergent knowledge practices

STEPS Working Paper by Saurabh Arora arguing for more caring forms of engagement between different knowledge practices, and against notions of control as embodied in the idea of the ‘Anthropocene’.

Sustainability in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Nexus Network for supporting transdisciplinary research

Final report of the Nexus Network, a network funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to support transdisciplinary research on Nexus and sustainability issues.

The Politics of Sustainability and Development

This review examines the relationships between politics, sustainability, and development. Following an overview of sustainability thinking across different traditions, the politics of resources and the influence of scarcity narratives on…

How to cultivate sustainable developments in makerspaces

This report provides an overview of a workshop on Makerspaces held in London, which involved around 80 participants from the UK and Europe.

Accelerating Sustainability: Why Political Economy Matters

IDS Evidence Report 152 by Ian Scoones and Hubert Schmitz Accelerating sustainability is a challenge that defines our era and is a central theme of Institute of Development Studies research….