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A Wealth of Worths: Critical Details in the Cultivation of Norwegian Seaweed
No full textIn recent years, the blue bioeconomy has been promoted as an economy that can deliver economic growth while being sustainable. Yet, it has also been subjected to critique. This article engages with the question of how to perform a scholarly critique of the blue bioeconomy by studying the Norwegian seaweed cultivation industry. Seaweed cultivation has been attributed with the potential to be environmentally beneficial and to generate enormous economic growth. Inspired by the “good economy”, the article problematises the good of Norwegian seaweed cultivation by investigating alternative ways of relating normative and economic value than the one currently dominating the industry. Through ethnographic studies of the manual processing procedures on a small seaweed farm, the article shows how these processing procedures enact the good of cultivated seaweed as residing in its processing rather than in the biological substance. The article also shows how this manual processing generates a wealth of registers of valuing, which value both seaweed and the beings in its environment for more than their commercial potential. Finally, the article argues for attending to details and uses them to commence a critical dialogue about what is and ought to be good of good economies
A Climate for Investors. Climate Scenarios in the Network for Greening the Financial System
No full textA growing body of scholarly contributions has shown how environmental issues are being “financialised”, as financial actors problematise the environment and the climate as a question of financial valuation. But what effects are their valuation processes having on financial and economic knowledge? By considering the case of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), I show how central bank economists are trying to create a “climate for investors” out of climate change, defining climate scenarios that give banks incentives to finance low-carbon activities and thus encourage the transition to a “good global economy”. I argue that NGFS economists are doing boundary work that treads a path, carefully highlighting certain threats of climate change for an audience of investors, without losing their legitimacy or running the risk of appearing to be political actors. In doing so, these central bank economists are also transforming their understanding of what makes up national economies
Empowerment and adult education: A multi-level perspective
No full textEmpowerment, as a goal of adult education, seeks to support people to critically reflect on structural settings and to take constructive action towards social equality and social change. This article analyses empowerment and adult education from a micro-, meso-, and macro-level perspective. The key assumption is that these levels cannot be considered in isolation. Drawing on Freire (2014) and Sen (1993), the article outlines how empowerment can be fostered through adult education at each level, while also analysing the interdependencies between them. We propose a heuristic model that identifies seven characteristics for assessing the promotion of empowerment through adult education, providing a foundation for empirical research: (1) knowledge and abilities, (2) active agency, (3) cultural realities, (4) pedagogical self-conception, (5) dialogic spaces, (6) representation of interests, and (7) educational mandate
‘Good Riddance’: Sorting out ‘Bad’ Residues from the Swedish Biofuel Economy
No full textThis article examines the reclassification of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) in Sweden's biofuel sector and its broader implications for the ‘good economy’. Initially classified as a residue, PFAD was subject to minimal sustainability oversight, in line with the practice of transforming waste into valuable, sustainable products. However, due to its association with the controversial palm oil industry, PFAD was reclassified as a co-product, subjecting it to stricter scrutiny. Using the concept of ‘de-scription’, this study explores how this reclassification alters PFAD’s sustainability profile, highlighting how classification systems act as valuation tools. It also shows how a subtractive logic (ridding) can help maintain a favourable economic image. The research challenges the assumption that biofuel residues are inherently sustainable and critiques the minimalist regulatory approach of residual governance, which allows materials classified as residues to escape rigorous oversight
Making a ‘Good Investment’: Value under Construction in Early-Stage Impact Investing
No full textThis article is an inquiry into value under construction. By unfolding the context of early-stage impact investing I examine how investors qualify and give value to environmental aspirations. I trace the role of the investor in shaping what a ‘good investment’ is and highlight the close connection between judging value and constructing value. Earlier studies have emphasised how investors spur financialised forms of valuation and impose financial frames onto the companies they engage with. However, more than financial logic is in play when things are made valuable in finance. The findings of this article illustrate how making something valuable is entwined with making something ‘good’. I show how the qualitative and moral judgements of investors shape what is valued of environmental aims in significant ways. The qualifications constrict what is considered environmental solutions and draw boundaries between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ aspirations. the article contributes a holistic lens onto how things are made valuable in the economy
The Additive Environment and the Good Economy of Infrastructures: Valuing Roadworks through Eco-Comparison
No full textInfrastructures have been increasingly challenged by ecological concerns. Yet they are supported by industries whose ability to seize upon such concerns should not be underestimated. This article focuses on a French business association of roadworks companies that has developed an eco-comparator. The software aims to valorize certain techniques for road construction and maintenance, by demonstrating that they amount to reduced “environmental impacts.” A number of features of this valuation instrument are used by the industry as part of a broader repertoire of ecological justification. I analyze this argumentative endeavor as strengthening a form of “good economy” (Asdal et al. 2023), in the sense of a certain understanding of the good relationships between economy, society, the state, and the environment. The software enacts a version of the environment that I describe as “additive”: a reservoir of greenhouse gases, energy, and materials that is external to infrastructures, and in which the consequences of economic activities are not to be subjected to constraining thresholds, but only compared and mitigated. As the French central administrations have reduced their involvement in road policies, this additive environment is used by the industry to claim its own ability to relevantly address ecological concerns, while questioning that of the state
En flexibel undervisningsgrupp växer fram
No full textAtt anpassa elevernas lärmiljö så att den fungerar för så många som möjligt är en utmaning i skolvardagen. Variationen av elever i dagens skola gör att det ibland behövs lika många anpassningar som det finns elever i klassen. Går det att anpassa undervisningen så att den kan möta elevers olika behov i skolan och samtidigt vara en tillgänglig vuxen? I ett lokalt utvecklingsprojekt tog vår skola sig an utmaningen och såg det som en möjlighet att förändra och förbättra sättet att arbeta med eleverna