University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Moving Outside or Inside? Objectification and Reflexivity in the Governance of Socio-Technical Systems

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 08:51 authored by Adrian SmithAdrian Smith, Andrew StirlingAndrew Stirling
Two contrasting, ideal-typical conceptualizations of the relations between governance and socio-technical change are developed, based on different considerations of the roles and links between social appraisal and social commitment in governance. 'Governance on the outside' objectifies the socio-technical and is managerial in approach. 'Governance on the inside' is more reflexive about the role of governance in co-constituting the socio-technical and, consequently, more overtly political. Each conceptualization lends itself to contrasting strategies for dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity and power. Both forms exist to varying degrees in specific instances of socio-technical governance. Tensions between imperfect attempts to reconcile contradictions between the two drive governance dynamics. This paper develops a conceptual framework to help understand these dynamics.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning

ISSN

1523-908X

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3-4

Volume

9

Page range

351-373

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC