TY - JOUR

T1 - Actors in transitions

T2 - narratives of roles and change in the German e-mobility transition

AU - Upham, Paul

AU - Gathen, Lea

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2021/9/1

Y1 - 2021/9/1

N2 - We apply an approach that theoretically connects processes at different scales within a sociotechnical sustainability transitions frame, focusing on individual actors. Drawing on interviews with actors involved in the electric mobility transition in Lower Saxony, Germany, we analyse actors’ narratives as revelatory of situated or ‘conjunctural’ knowledge, as viewed from a strong structuration perspective of sociotechnical change. The purpose is to shed a particular type of light on structure-agency processes. Strong structuration is an extended version of Giddens’ social theory that takes account of actors’ subjective experience of their situation, viewing this as both shaped by - and shaping of - structure, in the sense of rules that are internal and external to individuals. Here we show how actors’ narratives of their experiences and positions in the sociotechnical system reveal themes relevant to the on-going structuration electric vehicles in the case study region of Lower Saxony, Germany. We identify general ‘meta-narratives’ that span more than one individual, as well as personal narratives that are specific to individuals. In addition, the analytic value of narratives in transition literature is discussed.

AB - We apply an approach that theoretically connects processes at different scales within a sociotechnical sustainability transitions frame, focusing on individual actors. Drawing on interviews with actors involved in the electric mobility transition in Lower Saxony, Germany, we analyse actors’ narratives as revelatory of situated or ‘conjunctural’ knowledge, as viewed from a strong structuration perspective of sociotechnical change. The purpose is to shed a particular type of light on structure-agency processes. Strong structuration is an extended version of Giddens’ social theory that takes account of actors’ subjective experience of their situation, viewing this as both shaped by - and shaping of - structure, in the sense of rules that are internal and external to individuals. Here we show how actors’ narratives of their experiences and positions in the sociotechnical system reveal themes relevant to the on-going structuration electric vehicles in the case study region of Lower Saxony, Germany. We identify general ‘meta-narratives’ that span more than one individual, as well as personal narratives that are specific to individuals. In addition, the analytic value of narratives in transition literature is discussed.

KW - E-mobility

KW - Electric vehicles

KW - Narratives

KW - Sociotechnical transitions

KW - Strong structuration

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117170264&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.eist.2021.09.009

DO - 10.1016/j.eist.2021.09.009

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85117170264

VL - 40

SP - 450

EP - 460

JO - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

JF - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

SN - 2210-4224

ER -