Tom Hertz

Biographic Data

ID127000
NAMETom Hertz
GIVEN NAMESTom
FAMILY NAMEHertz
SIGNATUREHERTZ T
AFFILIATIONSStockholm Resilience Centre
ORCID0000-0002-3480-7545
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS28
TOTAL CITATIONS282
AUTHOR COUNT28
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2008
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX7

  • Transforming a world that never stands still

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Anja Klein et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2025

    Process-relational perspectives (PRP) have been put forward as a crucial contribution for conceptualizing radical transformations towards sustainability. This is because PRP conceptualize transformations as open processes. This openness is attributed, first, to processes and relations having performative power, which means that processes and relations are constitutive of elements. Second, PRP take processes and relations as continuously unfolding…

  • A meaningful performative experience: Using Forum Theatre as an ethical method in sustainability science

    Open AccessMartín Meráz García, Lena Bertemes Lalia et al.ARTICLESustainability Science2025References: 14

    Sustainability scientists have engaged in extensive discussions on ethical ways of doing research and argued on the importance of co-production approaches to counter knowledge extractivism. The specific issue of research fatigue, often associated with knowledge extractivism, and the possible methods to counter it, have however received less attention. This paper seeks to contribute to discussions on ethical ways of doing research by focusing on o…

  • Disentangling the entangled in productive ways: Modelling Social–ecological Systems From a Process-Relational Perspective

    Open AccessMaja Schlüter, Tom Hertz et al.ARTICLESustainability Science2025References: 12

    Process-relational perspectives have been proposed as new ways of conceptualising, analysing and engaging with social–ecological systems (SES) that are capable of dealing with intertwinedness and complexity. The application of PR perspectives in SES research, however, remains challenging and largely conceptual. We explore the possibilities of combining process-relational thought with agent-based modelling as a methodology for thinking with and ex…

  • Reimagining the liminal Cerrado: The Virtual Ancestral Future

    Open AccessTais Sonetti-González, Martín Meráz García et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2025

    This paper examines transformations in social-ecological system through the process-relational perspective (PRP), using the concepts of the “real-possible,” the existing reality, and the “actual-virtual” potentials that exist beyond current hegemonic thinking and practices—framed within the Latin American feminist concept of Nepantla, which refers to a liminal space of transition, ambiguity, and transformation where multiple perspectives, identit…

  • Knowledge that affects: An Assemblage Approach

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Tilman Hertz et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2025

    There is consensus in the field of sustainability science that co-production of knowledge is needed to generate knowledge that is useful for addressing matters of concern. The field has made important advances, particularly focusing on developing strategies and principles that ensure the effective co-production of knowledge. Although these lay necessary foundations, less attention has been paid to the question as to what exactly is meant to “happ…

  • Relational approaches to sustainability transformations: Walking together in a world of many worlds

    Open AccessWest, L Jamila Haider et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2024

    Transformations to sustainability require alternatives to the paradigms, practices, and policies that have generated social-ecological destruction and the Anthropocene. In sustainability science, several conceptual frameworks have been developed for transformations, including social-ecological, multi-level, transformative adaptation, and pathways approaches. There is a growing shift towards recognising transformations as ‘shared spaces’ involving…

  • From situated knowledges to situated modelling: A relational framework for simulation modelling

    Open AccessAnja Klein, Krystin Unverzagt et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2024

    In this paper we extend the use of a relational approach to simulation modelling, a widely used knowledge practice in sustainability science. Among modellers, there is awareness that model results can only be interpreted in view of the assumptions that inform model construction and analysis, but less systematic questioning of those assumptions. Moreover, current methodological discussions tend to focus on integrating social and ecological dynamic…

  • Exploring a process‐relational approach to qualitative research methods for sustainability science

    Open AccessMartín Meráz García, Caroline Abunge et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2024

    As sustainability scientists increasingly put forward the relevance of process‐relational approaches to make sense of social‐ecological phenomena, an inquiry on which methods would fit a process‐relational approach is necessary. This paper discusses how a process‐relational approach can be applied to traditional qualitative research methods, namely interviews and coding and the tensions associated with it. Process‐relational perspectives share co…

  • Navigating causal reasoning in sustainability science

    Open AccessMaja Schlüter, Tom Hertz et al.ARTICLEAMBIO2024References: 65

    When reasoning about causes of sustainability problems and possible solutions, sustainability scientists rely on disciplinary-based understanding of cause–effect relations. These disciplinary assumptions enable and constrain how causal knowledge is generated, yet they are rarely made explicit. In a multidisciplinary field like sustainability science, lack of understanding differences in causal reasoning impedes our ability to address complex sust…

  • Eliciting the plurality of causal reasoning in social-ecological systems research

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Tilman Hertz et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2024Cited by: 1

    Understanding causation in social-ecological systems (SES) is indispensable for promoting sustainable outcomes. However, the study of such causal relations is challenging because they are often complex and intertwined, and their analysis involves diverse disciplines. Although there is agreement that no single research approach (RA) can comprehensively explain SES phenomena, there is a lack of ability to deal with this diversity. Underlying this d…

  • Operationalizing ambiguity in sustainability science: Embracing the elephant in the room

    Open AccessAnita Lazurko, L Jamila Haider et al.ARTICLESustainability Science2023Cited by: 2References: 33

    Ambiguity is often recognized as an intrinsic aspect of addressing complex sustainability challenges. Nevertheless, in the practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research, ambiguity is often an 'elephant in the room' to be either side-stepped or reduced rather than explicitly mobilized in pursuit of solutions. These responses threaten the salience and legitimacy of sustainability science by masking the pluralism of real-world sustainability…

  • Visualization of causation in social-ecological systems

    Open AccessThomas Banitz, Tom Hertz et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2022Cited by: 1

    In social-ecological systems (SES), where social and ecological processes are intertwined, phenomena are usually complex and involve multiple interdependent causes. Figuring out causal relationships is thus challenging but needed to better understand and then affect or manage such systems. One important and widely used tool to identify and communicate causal relationships is visualization. Here, we present several common visualization types: diag…

  • The Cod and the Cut: Intra-Active Intuitions

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Martín Meráz GarcíaARTICLEFrontiers in Sociology2021Cited by: 1References: 13

    Interest in causality is growing in sustainability science and it has been argued that a multiplicity of approaches is needed to account for the complexities of social-ecological dynamics. However, many of these approaches operate within perspectives that establish a separation between what has causal agency and all the rest, which is relegated to the role of background conditions. We argue that the distinction between causal elements and backgro…

  • From nouns to verbs: How process ontologies enhance our understanding of social‐ecological systems understood as complex adaptive systems

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Martín Meráz García et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2020

    Research on social‐ecological systems (SES) has highlighted their complex and adaptive character and pointed to the importance of recognizing their intertwined nature. Yet, we often base our analysis and governance of SES on static and independent objects, such as actors and resources which are not well suited to address complexity and intertwinedness. This bias, which is largely implicit, has its roots in substance ontologies that have influence…

  • Adopting process-relational perspectives to tackle the challenges of social-ecological systems research

    Open AccessMartín Meráz García, María Mancilla García et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2020Cited by: 20References: 6

    Mancilla García, M., T. Hertz, M. Schlüter, R. Preiser, and M. Woermann. 2020. Adopting process-relational perspectives to tackle the challenges of social-ecological systems research. Ecology and Society 25(1):29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11425-250129

  • Towards a Process Epistemology for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems

    Open AccessMartín Meráz García, Tom Hertz et al.ARTICLEEnvironmental Values2019Cited by: 8References: 8

    This paper proposes an epistemological approach to analyse social-ecological systems from a process perspective in order to better tackle the co-constitution of the social and the ecological and the dynamism of these systems. It highlights the usefulness of rethinking our conceptual tools taking processes and relations as the main constituents of reality instead of fundamental substances or essences. We introduce the concept of experience as unde…

  • Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations

    Open AccessJames J Feigenbaum, Timothy Larsen et al.ARTICLEThe Journal of Economic History2017

    I was honored that Lee Alston asked me to be the convener for the Nevins Prize Competition this year. There were close to a dozen submissions spanning a

  • The SES-Framework as boundary object to address theory orientation in social–ecological system research: The SES-TheOr approach

    Open AccessTom Hertz, Tilman Hertz et al.ARTICLEEcological Economics2015

  • Conditional Cash Transfers and Agricultural Production: Lessons from the Oportunidades Experience in Mexico

    Jessica E Todd, Paul Winters et al.ARTICLEThe Journal of Development Studies2010

    This paper explores whether cash transfer programmes conditioned on human capital outcomes can influence agricultural production. Programme impact on food consumption from own production, land use, livestock ownership, and agricultural spending are evaluated using first difference and weighted estimators, in which weights are constructed from propensity scores. The programme is found to increase the value and variety of food consumed from own pro…

  • Production Systems, Inheritance, and Inequality in Premodern Societies: Conclusions

    E A Smith, M B Mulder et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 47References: 28

    Premodern human societies differ greatly in socioeconomic inequality. Despite much useful theorizing on the causes of these differences, individual-level quantitative data on wealth inequality is lacking. The papers in this special section provide the first comparable estimates of intergenerational wealth transmission and inequality in premodern societies, with data on more than 40 measures of embodied, material, and relational wealth from 21 pre…

  • Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Agriculturalists: Foundations of Agrarian Inequality

    M K Shenk, M B Mulder et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 48References: 57

    This paper uses data from eight past and present societies practicing intensive agriculture to measure the transmission of wealth across generations in preindustrial agricultural societies. Focusing on embodied, material, and relational forms of wealth, we compare levels of wealth between parents and children to estimate how effectively wealth is transmitted from one generation to the next and how inequality in one generation impacts inequality i…

  • Domestication Alone Does Not Lead to Inequality: Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Horticulturalists

    M Gurven, M B Mulder et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 40References: 67

    We present empirical measures of wealth inequality and its intergenerational transmission among four horticulturalist populations. Wealth is construed broadly as embodied somatic and neural capital, including body size, fertility and cultural knowledge, material capital such as land and household wealth, and relational capital in the form of coalitional support and field labor. Wealth inequality is moderate for most forms of wealth, and intergene…

  • Pastoralism and Wealth Inequality: Revisiting an Old Question

    M B Mulder, Ila Fazzio et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 52References: 50

    Pastoralist societies are often portrayed as economically egalitarian, reflecting the volatile nature of livestock herds and the existence of multiple institutions that allow for the redistribution of wealth as a form of insurance. Motivated by an interest in the role of intergenerational transmission in structuring persistent inequality, we examine the extent of intergenerational transmission of material wealth (four measures) and embodied wealt…

  • Wealth Transmission and Inequality among Hunter-Gatherers

    E A Smith, Kim Hill et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 59References: 58

    We report quantitative estimates of intergenerational transmission and population-wide inequality for wealth measures in a set of hunter-gatherer populations. Wealth is defined broadly as factors that contribute to individual or household well-being, ranging from embodied forms such as weight and hunting success to material forms such household goods, as well as relational wealth in exchange partners. Intergenerational wealth transmission is low …

  • Chapter Five. Rags, Riches, and Race: The Intergenerational Economic Mobility of Black and White Families in the United States

    Tom HertzCHAPTERUnequal Chances2009