Papers by Jonas Mercado bylund
International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, 2019
A Dialogue between Paola Clerici Maestosi and Giovanni Vetritto (IT), Olga Kordas (SE), Johhanes ... more A Dialogue between Paola Clerici Maestosi and Giovanni Vetritto (IT), Olga Kordas (SE), Johhanes Brezet (NL/DK) and Jonas Bylund (SE)
A concrete proposal for engagement between Earth System Science (ESS) and the social sciences is ... more A concrete proposal for engagement between Earth System Science (ESS) and the social sciences is on the table. It is time for the latter to step up, or so at least prominent figures in the former state. In this paper we investigate the content of the present proposal and the implicit 'terms of union' that appear to be suggested. e paper particularly highlights what could be called the geography and the household economy of the proposed scientific union. It is argued that the 'marriage proposal' articulated by leading ESS scientists and directed at the social sciences appears to include quite a strict formatting of the role of social scientists as merely subservient implementers of the hard facts of the natural sciences. With inspiration from STS-scholars such as Michel Callon, Bruno Latour, John Law and Isabelle Stengers we then argue that the social sciences are -and should productively be allowed to be -so much more than this. e paper is concluded with a proposal for a sort of prenuptial agreement which sketches how the ideas presented in the paper can be Bylund & Metzger -Attention Anthropo(s)cene 'I can't liiiiive, when living is without yooouuuu!'-will you m… I do very strongly believe … that-if anything-this is the moment for social sciences when it comes to assisting the world in a rapid transition towards global sustainability. So if there is any historic moment that is more important than ever for social sciences-not that it hasn't been important all along-is now. (Rockström, 2011) Many social scientists working with so-called environmental issues were probably very pleased to hear a world-leading Earth System scientist such as Johan Rockström reach out a hand to the social sciences in what appeared almost like an act of courtship, inviting the social sciences to join his own community of natural scientists in the quest to save the human species from utter destruction. Earth System Science (ESS) is the preferred contemporary term used to denote the broad scientific field engaged with monitoring developments and changes in the global-ecological systems that sustain life on Earth.To an increasing degree, ESS as a discipline is also commissioned the task of proposing policy measures for securing the longer-term existence of human life on planet Earth through sustainable resource use and a stabilization of global life-supporting ecosystems (cf. Lawton, 2001). Rockström's message was quite clear: 'if natural scientists have been remarkably good at giving … evidence, it is now up to the social scientists to provide the avenues towards a solution' . If translated into the the language of romantic encounters, the overarching message of Rockströms keynote address to the 10th Nordic Enironmental Social Sciences conference (NESS) in Stockholm sounded very much like 'I can't make it through this without you, baby' , followed by a marriage proposal. Although there is nothing new in trying to get social and natural sciences to work together on issues, particularly environmental ones, the audience of mainly social scientists was given an increased sense of necessity of solidifying this union. is was understandably flattering for many of the social scientists in the audience, especially considering some rather less heart-warming episodes of the recent past, where the Earth Systems Science collective proved itself less receptive to the charms of the social sciences. A few seasoned vet-
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Papers by Jonas Mercado bylund