The making of sustainability
Ideological strategies, the materiality of nature, and biomass use in the bioeconomy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12950992 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Miriam Boyer (0000-0001-5168-9088, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, corresponding author), Franziska Kusche (0000-0002-4915-361X, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Sarah Hackfort (0000-0001-6678-8759, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Louisa Prause (0000-0002-4767-2395, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Friederike Engelbrecht-Bock (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 675-688 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sustainability Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1862-4057 • E-ISSN: 1862-4065 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11625-022-01254-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4313432344 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 36 |
The bioeconomy, a recent addition to the political project of ecological modernization, is largely premised on the widespread use of biomass. Biomass is presented by bioeconomy proponents as renewable and, therefore, sustainable. However, a large body of academic and non-academic literature questions this sustainability, citing the negative socio-ecological aspects of biomass use. Given this contradiction, we ask how the key institutions of the innovation system (government, science, and industry), construct and uphold the image of sustainability of biomass use in the bioeconomy. Through an analysis based on ideology critique, we look at the broad field of biomass policy in Germany, including official bioeconomy strategies and biomass potential calculations, expert portrayals of biomass use in the bioeconomy-themed Year of Science, and an iconic biomass-based commodity. We identify four central ideological strategies that uphold the image of sustainability and contribute to creating political consent for the political project of the German bioeconomy: seeking managerial solutions, relying on technological innovation, relegating solutions into the future, and obscuring the materiality of nature. We discuss how these strategies are upheld by the wider discourse and institutions of ecological modernization and argue that particular attention should be given to the biophysical materiality of living nature in this context. The materiality of nature represents both an obstacle to the ideological strategies identified, and a starting point for envisioning alternative society–nature relations
Aesthetics · Environmental ethics · Ideology · Materiality (auditing · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Chemistry and Chemical Engineering · Law · Ecology
Assessing the neoliberal state in the bioeconomy
Bioeconomy in Africa and in the EU
Policy design for resilience? An assessment of the bioeconomy policy mix addressing the maize bio-based production system in Italy
Neglected SDGs as gaps in sustainability policy? The case of bioeconomy agendas in South America
Mapping the evolving research landscape of sustainability science from 2006 to 2023
The more things change, the more they stay the same
Negotiating biophysical limits in the European Union’s bioeconomy
Disputing the bioeconomy-biodiversity nexus in Brazil
The bioeconomy in Germany
Democratization through precision technologies? Unveiling power, participation, and property rights in the agricultural bioeconomy
Explaining low salience of environmental resilience challenges in bioeconomy strategies
An assessment of the nature and structure of institutions in the char areas of Assam, India
The Environmentalism of the Poor
Sustainable Capital? The Neoliberalization of Nature and Knowledge in the European “Knowledge-based Bio-economy”
A Transition to Which Bioeconomy? An Exploration of Diverging Techno-Political Choices
Discourse analysis of environmental policy revisited
Navigating foresight in a sea of expectations
Visions of Sustainability in Bioeconomy Research
What Is the Bioeconomy? A Review of the Literature
The Post-Politics of Sustainability Planning
Handbook of Critical Policy Studies
Theories of Ideology
Global patterns of socioeconomic biomass flows in the year 2000
What is critical
The Hijacking of the Bioeconomy
On the Circular Bioeconomy and Decoupling
Ideological Powers and Resistance
When means of implementation meet Ecological Modernization Theory
Containing the Atom
The ‘bioeconomics vs bioeconomy’ debate
The Bioeconomy as Political Project
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |