Abstract

The environmental crisis, increased inequality and an aging population are likely to increase the demand for welfare services in the OECD countries. Economic growth has long been seen as a solution to these problems. However, this is no longer the case. Very few countries have managed to decouple economic performance from ecological footprints and greenhouse gas emissions. Even where this has been achieved, the rates of emission-decline are too slow to match the Paris climate targets. Consequently, interdisciplinary research is key to probe how welfare systems may cope with these challenges, and how welfare provision and economic growth may be decoupled. By drawing on the basic human needs approach and a unique set of data, we explore the social and ecological performances of OECD countries relative to their economic performances. While high-income countries display diminishing welfare returns as economic performance is not improving the satisfaction of health-related needs, the lower-income countries might yield significant surplus if moving to the level of moderate-income countries. However, the satisfaction of autonomy-related needs is so far strongly coupled to economic performance and thus much harder to achieve in an ecologically sustainable way.

Paulsson, Alexander / Koch, Max / Fritz, Martin (2024): Diminishing returns of growth? Economic performance, needs satisfaction and ecological impacts of OECD welfare states. In: Critical Social Policy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183231218971

The article “Dachas rooting at the European Periphery” by Lilian Pungas (2023) has been published by Arts of the Working Class.

Read the article here.



Dennis Eversberg contributes to the conference “Societal prerequisites for a succesful transformation” that took place on 12. Dezember 2023 at the Federal Chancellery of Germany. By presenting findings of the flumen research, he spoke about “attitudes and mentalities – how people glance at societal change”.

Numerous researchers were invitied to the conference in order to exchange with colleagues and representatives of the Federal Chancellery as well as of the ministries on main questions of a social-ecologic transformation.

Lilian Pungas was invited to present her flumen research at the Bioeconomy Forum 2023 on December 5, 2023 in the thematic block “Beyond renunciation and promise? Futures of the bioeconomy”. In her presentation “Sufficiency-oriented examples of the bioeconomy – lessons learned from the periphery?”, she addressed sufficiency, degrowth and socio-ecological transformation in relation to the bioeconomy, referring to sub-topics and actors of current bioeconomy strategies that have so far remained invisible. With her case study, she also illustrated that a sufficiency-oriented bioeconomy is usually linked to the question of the good life. Finally, she also emphasized that (eco-)feminist debates and criticism have not been sufficiently (if at all) taken into account in the current German bioeconomy.

Her presentation can be downloaded from the Bioeconomy Forum website.

_{German version translated with DeepL.com (free version)}

Fritz, Martin / Eversberg, Dennis (2023): Mentalities, classes and the four lines of conflict in the social-ecological transformation, In: European Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-023-00457-2

Abstract

In this article, we argue that current societal struggles about whether and how eco-social policy and politics should be implemented to tackle the interlinked challenges of climate change and inequality are an expression of the main societal conflict of our times: the social-ecological transformation conflict. We identify four lines of conflict in the social-ecological transformation and explore how they are related to classes and mentalities. In the theoretical part, we conceptualize classes in social space and mentalities through a Bourdieusian relational approach. We also discuss the location of the four lines of conflict in social space. In the empirical part, we analyze survey data from Germany. Firstly, we find eight mentalities among respondents reflecting their views on various eco-social topics. Secondly, we construct the social space with socio-economic variables for the economic and cultural capital of the respondents. Thirdly, we plot the mentalities in the social space. The results show that the cultural middle class is in favor of eco-social policy, while the upper class and the economic middle class prefer green growth and ecological modernization. The lower-class fractions are skeptical of any transformation because they distrust institutions and cannot bear the transformation costs.

Dennis Eversberg, Jana Holz, and Matthias Schmelzer contributed a chapter to the “Handbook on Alternative Global Development” edited by Franklin Obeng-Odoom. Challenging the dominant and mainstream views in global development, this pioneering Handbook questions the entirety of the development process in order to outline holistic political economies of development, discontents, and alternatives

Abstract of the chapter “Bioeconomy: a solution to the challenges of a post-fossil future?”

“Bioeconomy” is one of the buzzwords that come up time and again in debates on the future of modern societies in the face of climate disaster. The core vision of its proponents is that decarbonization of the economy can be achieved by replacing the linear throughput of fossil resources with ’circular’ flows of biological and renewable resources. The article argues that bioeconomy strategies in their dominant form, as promoted by governments, industry, and international organization, can best be characterized as a problematic or false solution that cannot ultimately address real problems of societal fossil-fuel dependency and its social-ecological repercussions. To substantiate this, the article discusses the origins and history of the bioeconomy debate and presents key insights of various strands of social scientific research on the bioeconomy and their respective contributions to a critical understanding of its implications and impacts.

Eversberg, Dennis / Holz, Jana / Schmelzer, Matthias (2023): Bioeconomy: a solution to the challenges of a post-fossil future? In: Obeng-Odoom, Franklin (Ed.), Handbook on Alternative Global Development, 334-351. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839109959.

Abstract

We are increasingly witnessing the social and ecological crises of our time becoming entangled and amplifying each other. The current policy responses from national states and international governance bodies remain within the dominant framework of economic growth-centred strategies. In this editorial, we argue that a new paradigm of sustainable welfare is needed, which includes eco-social policies addressing social and ecological sustainability concerns in integrated ways. We first demonstrate how social and ecological problems are interconnected and why green growth approaches fail to tackle them. As an alternative, and as a pointer to a social security system that can help people navigate the dire straits of increasing eco-social risks, we present the foundations and principles of sustainable welfare, and discuss how this, according to Kuhn, can be understood as a new social policy paradigm. In the second part of this editorial, we introduce the papers brought together in this special issue. The cutting-edge research of the contributing authors includes theoretical and conceptual advances, empirical case studies from different European countries, and transnational studies. Each paper discusses the implications of its findings for European social security systems.

Martin Fritz / Jayeon Lee (2023): Introduction to the special issue: Tackling inequality and providing sustainable welfare through eco-social policies. European Journal of Social Security, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231213796

Within the Scientific Coffee “Human-Forest-Relationships” we present:

22 November 2023 

13-15 CET / 14-16 EEST

Input: Mónica Hernández Morcillo (Senior Researcher on Forest, People and Innovation, Eberswalde University of Sustainable Development, Germany)

Title: „A Regenerative Approach to Forestry: Insights from the Indigenous Culture Kogi“

zoom-link: https://uni-jena-de.zoom.us/j/61027392103, Meeting-ID: 610 2739 2103, code: 513063

Abstract: 

Today, as the multiple planetary crises converge irrupting our daily life and threatening our existence, we are increasingly becoming aware of our interdependence with nature. A core cause of the unprecedented degradation of the planet lies in our perceptions as separated from nature. As the changing environment emerges, we are faced with the urgent challenge of finding new ways of inhabiting and regenerating the planet. Yet, most of the current efforts are dedicated to researching and transforming the external world of policies, economies, or ecosystems, overlooking other important sources of knowledge. In this context, to reach new answers, an exchange between indigenous and scientific knowledge as well a transferences from global South to global North is urgently needed. The Kogi are one of the last civilisations on the American continent to have their cultural and spiritual identity at a quasi pre-Columbian level to this day. They hold a deep understanding of the interrelationships in nature that we, with our scientific methods are beginning to understand. This enables them to assess the effects of human interventions in nature and makes them an invaluable ally in the search for effective and motivating sustainable pathways for the future of forestry.

Biography:

Dr. Mónica Hernández Morcillo is a sustainability scientist counting with ample experience coordinating international environmental projects with a focus on biodiversity conservation, forestry innovations, and rural development. Before being appointed as Senior Researcher at the Department of Bioeconomics in the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde, she worked at the Humboldt University and at the Brandenburg Academy of Science managing various EU-FP7 and Horizon 2020 research projects. Previously she worked as Project Officer at United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Center, in Cambridge (UK) and Nairobi (Kenya). There she coordinated the UN high-level report to advance the biodiversity agenda with contributions of 25 UN Agencies and other International Organizations. Previous to this experience she led a restoration project in Pacaya Samiria, the largest protected area of the Peruvian Amazon to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem functions while enhancing the well-being of 27 indigenous communities living in the buffer zone. She has been as well involved in the IPBES consultations for the Regional German Assessments of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Currently, she is habilitating at Leuphana University developing a regenerative approach to forestry. To this aim, she closely works with indigenous communities from Colombia and México to exchange regenerative practices in forestry.

She holds two Master’s degrees in Forestry Engineering and International Development and a PhD from Copenhagen University on Knowledge Synthesis Methods for integrated assessments of socio-ecological systems. Her technical background provides her with excellent knowledge of sustainable forest management, participatory governance, and analysis of geospatial information. Her extensive hands-on experience handling international projects equips her with solid capabilities to manage complex organizational tasks and coordinate large partnerships while successfully achieving midterm milestones and final goals.”

***

Scientific Coffee “Human-Forest-Relationships”

Let’s sit and talk in the scientific café! The “Scientific Coffee HFR” sessions give room for open and relaxed discussions on current research subjects related to human and society relations to forests. It warmly welcomes all interested in forest-related research to join online sessions.

Each session lasts approximately two hours. It starts with a 30-minutes presentation of a guest speaker. After the presentation, with coffee or tea and cookies at hand, participants have plenty of room for an open discussion and exchange.

The “Scientific Coffee HFR” takes place two to three times per semester on Wednesday afternoons.

Guest speakers wanted!

If you are interested in contributing to the “Scientific Coffee HFR”, please contact either judith.kiss(at)uni-jena.de or tuulikki.halla(at)uef.fi with info on your subject (title and short abstract) and a preferred Wednesday (13-15 CET / 14-16 EET).

The idea for a scientific coffee HFR came up during a cooperation between Finnish and German researchers in 2021. The Finnish research project Human-Forest Relationships in Societal Change and the German research group Mentalities im Flux (flumen) organized the workshop “Contested Society-Nature-Relations. Forest related Emotions, Practices & Conflicts in Times of Societal Change” in May 2021. The first “Scientific Coffee HFR” session was held in September 2021.

The “Scientific Coffee HFR” is organized by:

• Human-Forest Relationship Research Club of the Finnish Society of Forest Science
• The research group “Mentalities in Flux” (flumen) Research Project

First Symposium on Sociological Forest Research in Germany

On December 01, 9:30-17:00 flumen is hosting the first sociological forest symposium in Jena.

We have received many exciting submissions that promise a diverse programme of talks, pitches and a keynote. The symposium will bring together sociologists from German-speaking countries who work on interesting forest topics (or who have an interest in forests).

We would like to use the symposium to strengthen networking and exchange and to anchor sociological forest research in the research landscape. Currently, we plan to use the symposium as a kick-off event to build up a network on forest sociology. We envision regular (online) events and exchange. We would like to start this with a first online meeting in January 2024. If interested: jana.holz@uni-jena.de

Click here for the programme

Organisers:

Jana Holz (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Institute of Sociology, flumen),

Ronja Mikoleit (Social Change Unit of the Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg),

Anna Saave (Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Agricultural Economics, BioMaterialities)

Ronja Schröder (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Institute for Social Sciences, AG Social Theory)

Registration:
Unfortunately, due to capacity reasons, registrations for the event are already closed.

How do climate change beliefs and religiosity relate to each other? This question is addressed in the article.

Martin Fritz & Yasemin El-Menouar (2023): Religiosity and climate change beliefs in Europe, in: Alice Barth / Felix Leßke / Rebekka Atakan / Manuela Schmidt / Yvonne Scheit (Hg.), Multivariate scaling methods and the reconstruction of social spaces. Papers in honor of Jörg Blasius, 83-105. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Verlag Barbara Budrich. https://shop.budrich.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/9783847418566.pdf (open access)