Loving the mess: navigating diversity and conflict in social values for sustainability

Kenter, JO, Raymond, CM, van Riper, CJ, Azzopardi, E, Brear, MR, Calcagni, F, Christie, I, Christie, M, Fordham, A, Gould, RK, Ives, CD, Hejnowicz, AP, Gunton, R, Horsea-Milcu, AI, Kendal, D, Kronenberg, J, Massenberg, JR, O'Connor, S, Ravenscroft, Neil, Rawluk, A, Raymond, IJ, Rodriguez-Morales, J and Thankappan, S (2019) Loving the mess: navigating diversity and conflict in social values for sustainability. Sustainability Science, 14 (5). pp. 1439-1461. ISSN 1862-4057

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Abstract

This paper concludes a special feature of Sustainability Science that explores a broad range of social value theoretical traditions, such as religious studies, social psychology, indigenous knowledge, economics, sociology, and philosophy. We introduce the concepts of ‘lenses’ and ‘tensions’ to help navigate value diversity. First, we consider the notion of lenses: perspectives on value and valuation along diverse dimensions that describe what values focus on, how their sociality is envisioned, and what epistemic and procedural assumptions are made. We characterise fourteen of such dimensions. This provides a foundation for exploration of seven areas of tension, between: 1) the values of individuals vs collectives; 2) values as discrete and held vs embedded and constructed; 3) value as static or changeable; 4) valuation as positive or normative and transformative; 5) social vs relational values; 6) different rationalities and their relation to value integration; 7) degrees of acknowledgment of the role of power in navigating value conflicts. In doing so, we embrace the ‘mess’ of diversity, yet also provide a framework to organize this mess and support and encourage active transdisciplinary collaboration. We identify key research areas where such collaborations can be harnessed for sustainability transformation. Here it is crucial to understand how certain social value lenses are privileged over others and build capacity in decisionmaking for understanding and drawing on multiple value, epistemic and procedural lenses.

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Real Estate and Land Management
Depositing User: Users 13 not found.
Date Deposited: 24 Sep 2019 10:27
Last Modified: 23 Nov 2022 16:22
URI: https://rau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/16166

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