Learning from emancipation

The Port Royal Experiment and transition theory

Bibliographic Data

ID4525633
AuthorsE Melanie Dupuis (0000-0002-0368-6680, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY, USA, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume53
Issue6
Pages1507-1524
Publication date2021-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308518x211011176
OpenAlexW3159768335
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited48

Over the last decade, transition studies has emerged as an intellectual field aimed at answering the question: How do we get to a more sustainable world? Emerging from a combination of science and technology studies, evolutionary economics, and studies of innovation, transition studies has become a widely used conceptual tool to frame pathways to a more sustainable future. However, its embrace of a systems approach to change, I will argue, transition studies remains unengaged with critical theories of change in sociology, history, and political economy. In addition, geographers have critiqued transition studies for its lack of attention to spatial relationships. Using a particular historical case study of transition in a particular place-the Port Royal "Free Labor" emancipation experiments in the South Carolina Sea Islands during the Civil War-this paper explores both the weaknesses and the strengths of transition studies as a conceptual tool, and how attention to critical and spatial approaches to change can improve our understanding of transitions. In particular, I will show how a political ecology, as a critical and spatial approach, can improve transition studies. I will use a historical case, the Port Royal emancipation experiments, to illustrate how the addition of political ecology to transition studies can improve one's understanding of sustainable transition pathways

Biology · Critical theory · Economic geography · Economics · Emancipation · Epistemology · Political ecology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Strengths and weaknesses · Ecosystem dynamics and resilience · French Urban and Social Studies · Law · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Ecology