A Theory of Transformative Agency in Linked Social-Ecological Systems

By Frances Westley, Ola Tjornbo, Lisen Schultz, P. Olsson, Carl Folke, B. Crona, Ö. Bodin. 2013

635 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We reviewed the literature on leadership in linked social-ecological systems and combined it with the literature on institutional entrepreneurship in complex adaptive systems to develop a new theory of transformative agency in linked social- ecological systems. Although there is evidence of the importance of strategic agency in introducing innovation and transforming approaches to management and governance of such systems, there is no coherent theory to explain the wide diversity of strategies identified. Using Holling's adaptive cycle as a model of phases present in innovation and transformation of resilient social- ecological systems, overlaid by Dorado's model of opportunity context (opaque, hazy, transparent) in complex adaptive systems, we propose a more coherent theory of strategic agency, which links particular strategies, on the part of transformative agents, to phases of system change.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Management Science and Operations Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/de2f43f326c48d615af0c68fe097785ebd6c8e3b

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In Global and Planetary Change

In Management Science and Operations Research

Citations in the corpus

Sustainability transformations: a resilience perspective (2014, background): “Focusing on agency is particularly important for understanding the disruptiveness of innovation and how the scaling-up of innovations, technological and social, can have a large-scale impact (Westley et al. 2013).”
Transformational change: governance interventions for climate change adaptation from a continuous change perspective (2017, background): “…projected climate risks (IPCC 2012; Kates, Travis, and Wilbanks 2012; Pelling 2010; Park, Howden, and Crimp 2012; Rickards and Howden 2012; O’Brien 2012; Olsson, Galaz, and Boonstra 2014; Westley et al. 2013; Pelling, O’Brien, and Matyas 2014; Ferguson, Brown, and Deletic 2013; Moore et al. 2014).”
Transformative social innovation for sustainable rural development: An analytical framework to assist community-based initiatives (2020, background): “Scholars highlight social innovation as being key in triggering an ongoing process of change and renewal, thus promoting an adaptive governance system (Baker and Mehmood, 2015; Biggs et al., 2010; Spijker and Parra, 2018; Westley et al., 2013).”
Collaborative environmental governance: Achieving collective action in social-ecological systems (2017, background): “Managing collaborative environmental governance initiatives therefore presents public managers with novel leadership challenges (24, 25).”
Resilience and entrepreneurship: a systematic literature review (2017, background): “…(2017), ManuelNavarrete and Pelling (2015), Martin et al. (2015), Moon et al. (2014), Moore and Westley (2011), Morisse and Ingram (2016), Olsson et al. (2004), Sonnino and Griggs-Trevarthen (2013), Steiner and Atterton (2015), Westley et al. (2011, 2013), Williams and Vorley (2014) Table AI.”
Designing transformative spaces for sustainability in social-ecological systems (2018, background): “It is also critical to appreciate the role of human agency and the shifting or expanding roles of the diverse types of actors mobilizing these transformations (Westley et al. 2013).”
Systemic perspectives on scaling agricultural innovations. A review (2016, background): “2014; Wu 2013) and socio-ecological systems approaches (Foran et al. 2014; Sinclair et al. 2014; Westley et al. 2013).”
Food as Commons or Commodity? Exploring the Links between Normative Valuations and Agency in Food Transition (2017, background): “The MLP theory was initially applied to explain socio-technical transitions in domains that were not so deeply rooted in people’s vital needs and culture, such as energy [139], transport or natural resources [140-141], so agency in transition could be downplayed as an explanatory driver of transitio”