Sustainability trade-offs in the Netherlands
Research on the commodification process in conjunction with the development of global supply chains and their effect on sustainability. It traces the activities of global supply chain entanglers, the actors who constructed transnational socioeconomic systems.
Imports of resources affect economic, social, and environmental conditions elsewhere in the world. Regarding sustainability trade-offs abroad, the Netherlands has the worst track record in Europe.
The low performance has historical origins: over the past two centuries, scientific knowledge production, colonial developments, and industrial modernization have helped to create global production chains. Systematic science-based commodification attributed economic and use values to natural resources. This changed western perceptions of the natural environment. It had a severe impact on global environment and indigenous people’s livelihoods.
TU/e researchers Jan-Pieter Smits and Frank Veraart are teaming up with a consortium of Utrecht University, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek (Netherlands Statistics, CBS), MetricsForTheFuture and the Foundation for the History of Technology (SHT). The team investigates this commodification process in conjunction with the development of global supply chains and their effect on sustainability. It traces the activities of global supply chain entanglers, the actors who constructed transnational socioeconomic systems.
Work packages
The research consists of four work packages. The first, conducted in collaboration with Netherlands Statistics, develops two databases: (1) on the import of commodities to the Netherlands, and (2) on the sustainability indicators for selected periods and regions. In conjunction, work packages two and three study qualitatively the processes of commodification, global system entanglement, and the distribution of these systems’ sustainability trade-offs in edible oils and metals. This enables a system comparison and analyses of cross-system dynamics in package 4.
The findings will contribute to nascent academic fields of sustainability histories and deep transitions. Furthermore, this research will provide perspectives for contemporary policy initiatives in the field of sustainability transitions. The project is supported by an experienced multi-disciplinary team of scholars and relevant societal partners, ensuring broad dissemination of the knowledge gained.
More info: https://www.transitiestudies.nl/stonem/