Detalles del proyecto
Descripción
table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:ES-CO; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} It is increasingly acknowledged that long-term sustainable development cannot rely solely on technological innovations or a ‘green growth’ (Alfredsson, 2004; Huesemann & Huesemann, 2008), but requires more profound changes in how we are to enable flourishing lives without undermining key Earth-system processes (O’Neill, Fanning, Lamb, & Steinberger, 2018). This relates for example to more radical transformations of current production-consumption systems (Grin et al., 2010), re-politicizing the discussion of what socio-environmental futures might entail beyond a prevailing growth-paradigm (Demaria et al., 2013) and questioning the ability of capitalism to fulfil human needs and wants across regions and cultures (Escobar, 2012, 2015). There is however a lack of more structured descriptions of how to reach these novel normative visions, and a deepened analysis of the role of both state and market actors in driving change, under what conditions and what space for action there is. This paper makes an attempt to address this gap. It suggests that an epistemic analysis of the configuration of production-consumption systems informs the potentiality of these systems to transition into more sustainable ones. An epistemic analysis ‘links metaphysics, ontology and knowledge [and] provide[s] a wealth of detail relating to the theoretical and practical consequences of any one episteme in a given period. These analyses for example provide valuable insight into the causes of and potential remedies of unsustainable development’ (Birkin and Polesie, 2013:144-145). Scholars have identified three key assumptions as the basis of business activity in the modern episteme: time, needs and wants, and wealth (Birkin and Polesie, 2013). First, time, as the basis of efficiency, where ‘the sooner the better’ dominates the logic of financial markets and thus of corporate life. Economic time strongly contrasts with natural time. Second, needs and wants, which have been enlarged beyond and disconnected from natural borders, are the bases of consumerism and growth. Third, wealth, which seems to have been the purpose of life since the industrial revolution, has forgotten its origins in ‘heilig’, a Germanic root that the concepts of health, whole and holy share (Birkin and Polesie, 2012, p. 299). Production-consumption systems based on logics and values that challenge these key assumptions are needed to move towards new sustainable economic systems. In our research we are interested in exploring whether there is evidence of these new logics and values in the food industry in Colombia. We are inspired by a scenario in which companies driven by consumer taste (which aim at increasing their market share) co-exist with companies driven by human health and ecology (which aim at contributing to human and non-human well-being). We wonder, therefore, if this reflects the co-existence of two epistemes, bringing about evidence of the emergence of a new era. Food is a central pillar of impact and demand of human civilization and of our socio-economic system embedded in the biosphere (Rockström et al., 2009). Food production and distribution, eco-systems resilience and human health are intrinsically connected (McMichael, 2001; Smith, 2013). Additionally, food is one of the fundamental aspects that reflect our values and consumption patterns around the world (Haider & van Oudenhoven, 2018; Singer & Mason, 2007; Thompson, 2015). Food goes as a part of human consumption from the individual as a consumer and citizen to the complete value chain including businesses, reaching the diverse involvements of civil society, generation of public policy, and even market structure (Lang, 2015). The epistemic analysis is based on a qualitative study of approximately 40 companies in the food industry in Colombia. It consists of semi-structured interviews combined with ethnographic and game-based research methods, in order to explore the ways in which the actors in the food industry understand and address time, needs and wants and wealth. We aim at finding insights related to the comprehension of the role and purpose of food companies in a transition towards sustainable food systems.
Estado | Finalizado |
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Fecha de inicio/Fecha fin | 03/02/20 → 01/02/22 |
Palabras clave
- Analisis epistémico
- Industria de alimentos
- Sistemas sostenibles de comida
- Transiciones hacia la sostenibilidad
Estado del Proyecto
- Sin definir
Financiación de proyectos
- Interna
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Huella digital
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