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Making sense of sufficiency : Entries, practices and politics
No full textThe affluent groups and societies in the world have made material consumption part of their lifestyle. Today, overconsumption has come to constitute an acute environmental problem, both with regards to the natural resources needed to satisfy our ever-growing wants, and to the mountains of waste it leaves behind. Starting from a global justice perspective and from an understanding of sustainability as keeping within the planetary boundaries, this thesis argues that it is urgent that affluent individuals, groups and societies develop a sense of sufficiency, of “good and enough”. Focusing on sufficiency in the area of material consumption, this thesis explores paths that could be taken to strengthen sufficiency as an idea and value within a consumerist society and culture, and aims to answer the overarching question of how an affluent society might orient itself towards sufficiency. Against the background framework of political ecology, relational geography and sustainable consumption literature, sufficiency is framed as a question of responsibility – the responsibility of the affluent individuals, groups and societies in the world to refrain from taking more than their fair share, or, in other words, to withdraw from their excess environmental space. Two cases of sufficiency-related practice in Sweden are studied: one of individuals who actively and voluntarily reduce their consumption to only the basics over the period of one year, and one of individuals using the ‘’KonMari Method’’ to declutter their homes. The thesis shows that the difference between these practices in regard to consumption is a question of intentionality: The buy-nothing practitioners intentionally want to stop consuming, whereas the majority of the KonMariers – as a result of their practice – eventually cease to want to consume, despite the absence of this as an original driver. These results point to the importance of looking at different kinds of entry into more sufficient consumption practices, and at the motivations behind them when it comes to policies aimed at reducing material consumption. The findings further serve to create an understanding for how a sense of sufficiency might develop in an affluent context. Based on literature discussing a framework for a politics of sufficiency and on interviews with public officials and civil society representatives working with sustainable consumption at different levels in Sweden, this thesis further explores the obstacles to and potential for orienting an affluent society towards sufficiency. Certain potential for a more sufficiency-oriented future is identified, not least in terms of a cultural shift and elements of “sufficiency thinking” among the informants. However, the thesis stresses the importance of rethinking our understanding of limits, being outspoken about what the existence of planetary boundaries implies in terms of limiting resource use and defining clear goals that respect those boundaries and emphasize societal values at the basis of ‘the good life’, such as well-being, health and ecological sustainability.Rika grupper och samhällen i världen har gjort materiell konsumtion till en del av sin livsstil. Idag har överkonsumtion kommit att utgöra ett akut miljöproblem, både i fråga om de naturresurser som krävs för att tillgodose våra ständigt växande behov och det avfall som den ger upphov till. Med utgångspunkt i ett globalt rättviseperspektiv och i en förståelse av hållbarhet som innebär att hålla sig inom de planetära gränserna, argumenterar denna avhandling för nödvändigheten i att rika individer, grupper och samhällen utvecklar en känsla av tillräcklighet, av "bra och nog" (good and enough). I avhandlingen undersöks olika vägar som kan tas för att stärka tillräcklighet som idé och värde i ett samhälle präglat av en konsumtionskultur. Avhandlingen syftar till att besvara den övergripande frågan om hur ett välmående samhälle kan styra mot tillräcklighet, med specifikt fokus på materiell konsumtion. Mot bakgrund av ett teoretiskt ramverk av politisk ekologi, relationell geografi och hållbar konsumtion, definieras tillräcklighet här som en fråga om ansvar. Det är ett ansvar som åligger rika individer, grupper och samhällen i världen, och som handlar om att avstå från att ta mer än sin beskärda del, eller, med andra ord, att minska sin negativa miljöpåverkan genom att dra sig tillbaka ifrån det alltför stora miljöutrymme som de upptar idag. I avhandlingen studeras två grupper som på olika sätt praktiserar tillräcklighet: dels individer som frivilligt har minskat sin konsumtion till det basala under ett ”köpfritt år”, och dels individer som har använt sig av ”KonMari-metoden” för att rensa i sina hem. Avhandlingen visar att skillnaden mellan dessa praktiker när det gäller konsumtion är en fråga om avsiktlighet: Den köpfria gruppen vill avsiktligt sluta konsumera, medan majoriteten av KonMari-gruppen så småningom upphör att vilja konsumera i samma utsträckning som tidigare, som en följd av sin praktik. Dessa resultat pekar på vikten av att titta på olika typer av ingångar i mer tillräckliga konsumtionspraktiker och anledningarna bakom dem när det kommer till att ta fram åtgärder som har som mål att minska den materiella konsumtionen. Resultaten bidrar också till att skapa en förståelse för hur en känsla av tillräcklighet kan utvecklas. Baserat på litteratur som diskuterar centrala element i en ”tillräcklighetspolitik” och på intervjuer med offentliga tjänstemän och företrädare för det civila samhället som arbetar med hållbar konsumtion på olika nivåer i Sverige, undersöks hinder och potential för att styra samhället mot tillräcklighet. Viss potential identifieras, inte minst när det gäller förändring av kultur och normer samt ett ”tillräcklighetstänk” bland informanterna. Avhandlingen betonar dock vikten av att ompröva vår förståelse av gränser, visa tydlighet i fråga om vad de planetära gränserna betyder när det kommer till att begränsa resursanvändning, samt att formulera tydliga mål som respekterar de gränserna och utgår från värden som ligger till grund för ‘det goda livet’, så som välmående, hälsa och ekologisk hållbarhet.QC 20191218</p
Tar vi vårt ansvar? En granskning av Sveriges politik för global utveckling
No full textThis thesis deals with the theories of ecological and environmental justice and applies them onto Swedish politics. Confronting the divide in the literature between anthropocentric and ecocentric perspectives, its aim is to seek points of agreement within this important field of environmental politics. In the theoretical discussion, definitions are made of the concepts sustainability, justice and responsibility. These definitions try to link ecological and environmental justice arguments with a focus on the global level. The object of analysis is the former Swedish governments? bill ?Common responsibility: Swedish politics for global development? which was accepted in 2003. The aim for the politics presented in the government bill is to work for a sustainable and just global development. The comparison between the governments? definitions of sustainability, justice and responsibility and the ones made out from ecological and environmental justice theory shows that the Swedish politics for global development lacks some important elements to be wished for from an ecological/environmental justice perspective. Most importantly, the responsibilities of the rich countries and individuals when it comes to dealing with the roots of environmental problems are largely overseen
Vad räknas som mjuk balansering? Om Venezuelas ambitioner att minska amerikanskt inflytande
Get PDFThis thesis deals with the concept of soft balancing, traditionally defined as the diplomatic means of restraining a dominant state's ability to exercise its military power. As the dominant power in today's unipolar system, the United States, and other states? behaviour towards it, is the focus of analysis. The aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of developing the concept of soft balancing so as to include strategies to restrain also the political and economic capabilities of a dominant power. The thesis also considers the possibilities of soft balancing that small states ? to a large extent overlooked in existing theories on the subject - can possess. As a state with policies that aim to reduce the U.S. influence in Latin America, Venezuela under socialist president Hugo Chávez is a highly interesting state to study in the light of this new perspective on soft balancing. The analysis of its foreign policies shows that a developed definition of soft balancing, that includes efforts to restrain the U.S. possibilities of ?laying down the law? politically and economically, has good potential for explaining Venezuela's and other small states? behaviours in the unipolar system
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Spark Joy and Slow Consumption : An Empirical Study of the Impact of the KonMari Method on Acquisition and Wellbeing
Get PDFIn the context of resisting throwaway culture and aiming for a sufficiency-based circular economy, it is vital that consumption is slowed down—both in terms of reduced acquisition and reduction of the volumes of material resources moving through the system. To date it has been difficult to engage mainstream consumers with sustainable consumption practices, including sufficiency, but we suggest that the recent growth in popularity of decluttering, self-care and other wellbeing movements, exemplified here by Marie Kondo’s globally successful method for tidying up, may help. We review the topics of sufficiency and wellbeing, the potential of material interaction or ritualised reflection for behavioural transformation, our interpretation of consumption “moments” and the KonMari decluttering method before introducing the empirical study which took place in Sweden and the UK and Ireland. Participants were recruited through Facebook groups, with around 300 surveyed and 12 interviewed in each geography, and the interviews were qualitatively coded and analysed. Findings were surprisingly similar, highlighting a significant shift reported by participants in their approach to consumption following their introduction to and practice of the method, in particular a more reflective and restrained approach with regard to the acquisition of new things. Taking into account initial increases in disposal, the method of reporting findings and dangers of rebound, we cannot conclude that KonMari is a straightforward route to reduced consumption. Nevertheless for those who have embraced the ritual and created a more desirable home environment by discovering what “sparks joy” for them, it seems that a change in the meaning of material acquisition or possession and a slowing down of consumption through a reduction in shopping can be an unintended result.</p
Planeten, klimatet & framtiden : vad kan vi göra?
No full textVarför har vi en klimatkris? Och vad kan vi göra åt den? Den här boken förklarar på ett lättbegripligt sätt hur vi människor påverkar klimatet och planeten, och vad vi tillsammans kan göra annorlunda. Boken blandar fakta och filosofiska frågor med tips och inspiration för hur man kan påverka och förändra, och tar barnens frågor och oro inför framtiden på allvar.Boken ger också hopp - genom förståelse för varför vi har hamnat där vi är idag och vad vi behöver förändra hittar vi handlingskraft och engagemang. Fokus ligger på vuxenvärldens ansvar och hur barnen kan påverka de vuxna att göra saker annorlunda för en hållbar framtid där vi tar bättre hand om vår planet.</p
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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