BibTex format
@inproceedings{Tennant:2013,
author = {Tennant, M and Kensington, S},
pages = {279--289},
title = {Pragmatism, morphogenesis and industrial sustainability},
year = {2013}
}
Publications
Citation
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - CPAPER
AB - Population increase and climate change projections out to 2050 and beyond will constrain the way we live in the world. Materials will be scarce; most people will be living in urban centres that are hot, congested and polluted; extreme weather events threaten to disrupt global business operations. Consuming in a similar way as we do today will put unprecedented pressure on the biosphere and it is unlikely that the planet can support this level of exploitation. Manufacturing is a key activity that provides 14% worldwide employment and contributes 16% to global GDP. Future projections relating to the state of the planet threaten to undermine these activities on national and global scales as resources become scarce and society is required to emit very few GHGs. Manufacturers need to find new ways to make old things and make old things in new ways. Margaret Archer's morphogenetic approach describes how reflexive agents transform the social and cultural systems they find themselves in, explicitly modelling the power relationships that constrain or enable action. Pragmatism allows us to critically posit a plurality of solutions towards a socially desirable future without having to worry about a singularly correct solution. It is brought to life by the individual through democratic discussion and creative action. While this speaks to agency the pragmatic discourse often explicitly neglects discussions of power. By bringing aspects of these two philosophies together in a pragmatic manner, I argue, we are able to design interventions that show promise in meeting the key challenges of our times.
AU - Tennant,M
AU - Kensington,S
EP - 289
PY - 2013///
SP - 279
TI - Pragmatism, morphogenesis and industrial sustainability
ER -