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Rediscovering social–ecological systems: taking inspiration from actor-networks

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Abstract

Moving beyond the study of either of social or ecological networks, the research on social–ecological systems (SESs) has paved the way for sustainability science to analyse social and ecological networks in an integrated manner. However, the reality of SESs is not only one of hierarchal subsystems rooted in human societies and their ecological resource-based needs. Rather, it is constructed through a constellation of ‘socio-material’ relations between humans and the environment. This is a world in which not only the environment, and living species within it, is a passive actor, but other non-human actors, such as new technologies, discourses, models or even reports, can be seen to play a role in SESs’ present and future functionality. To capture this ‘more-than-human’ domain of interaction—which is essential for delivering a sound sustainability analysis—we place emphasis on the need for consideration of new socio-materialistic insights in SES conceptualisation and analysis. Along with adopting a transdisciplinary frame to provide relevance and usability of the concept, higher dimensional networks, known as simplicial complexes, are proposed for representing SES structures.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. MohammadReza Jooyandeh from Microsoft Canada Excellence Center and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University (ANU), 1 Liversidge St, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Ehsan Nabavi

  2. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University (ANU), Linnaeus Way, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Katherine A. Daniell

Authors
  1. Ehsan Nabavi
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  2. Katherine A. Daniell
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Correspondence to Ehsan Nabavi.

Additional information

Handled by Osamu Saito, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Japan.

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Nabavi, E., Daniell, K.A. Rediscovering social–ecological systems: taking inspiration from actor-networks. Sustain Sci 12, 621–629 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-016-0386-0

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