Responsibility in Environmental Governance: Unwrapping the Global Food Waste Dilemma (Environmental Politics and Theory)

This book provides a comprehensive study of the notion of responsibility in environmental governance. It starts with the observation that, although the rhetoric of responsibility is indeed all-pervasive in environmental and sustainability-related fields, decisive political action is still lacking. Governance architectures increasingly strive to hold different stakeholders responsible by installing accountability and transparency mechanisms to manage environmental problems, yet the structural background conditions affecting these issues continue to generate unevenly distributed, socially unjust, and ecologically devastating consequences. Responsibility in Environmental Governance develops the concept of responsibility as an analytical approach to map and understand these dynamics and to situate diverse meanings of responsibility within larger socio-political contexts. It applies this approach to the study of food waste governance, uncovering a narrow governance focus on accountability, optimization, and consumer behavior change strategies, opening up spaces for organizing more democratic solutions to a truly global problem. Tobias Gumbert is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science and the Center for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research at the University of Munster, Germany. He works on contemporary issues of environmental politics, particularly in the areas of food policy, waste policy, sustainable consumption, and democratic governance Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Responsibility and the Environment—What’s at Stake? Introduction Challenges to Broadening Responsibility in Environmental Governance Outline References 2 Envrionmental Governance and the Organization of Irresponsibility Introduction Sustainable Development in the Anthropocene The Organization of Irresponsibility Irresponsibility and Environmental Politics The Political Economy of Food and Waste Generation Material Logics of Waste Generation Discursive Logics of Waste Generation Conclusion: The Need to Rethink Responsibility References 3 The Narrow Conception of Responsibility in Environmental Governance Introduction Conceptualizing Responsibility in Environmental Governance Measuring Responsibility Responsibility, Rationality, and Causality References 4 Ethics, Justice, and Power: Broadening the Meaning(s) of Responsibility Introduction Ethics of Responsibility Responsibility as Justice Power and Responsibilization The Triangle Model of Responsibility Conclusion: Demands of a Responsibility-Focused Research Design References 5 Responsibility and Interpretive Research Introduction Interpretive Research and the Analysis of Meaning Operationalizing Responsibility via the Triangle Model Contextualizing and Interpreting Meanings of Responsibility Summary References 6 Food Waste Governance—Introduction to the Case Study Introduction The Dynamics of Responsibility Attribution Scope of the Study Case Selection Data Selection Background: The Global Arena Background: Food Waste Policy in Germany Background: Food Waste Policy in the United Kingdom Background: The Local Contexts in both Countries References 7 Tracing the Meanings of Responsibility in Food Waste Governance Introduction The Global Level Global: The Link Between Prescriptions and Event Global: The Link Between Prescriptions and Identity Images Global: The Link Between Identity Images and Event Summary: The Global Level National Contexts National: The Link Between Prescriptions and Event National: The Link Between Prescriptions and Identity Images The Link Between Identity Images and Event Summary: National Contexts Local Contexts Local: The Link Between Prescriptions and Event Local: The Link Between Prescriptions and Identity Images Local: The Link Between Identity Images and Event Summary: Local Contexts Summary: Food Waste Governance in its Global, National, and Local Dimensions Appendix 7.1: Documents for analysis of the local level in Germany Appendix 7.2: Documents for analysis of the local level in the UK References 8 Contextualizing Responsibilit(ies) in Food Waste Governance Introduction Sharing, Best Practice, and Cooperation Behaviour Change and Self-Optimization Value Attributions and Valorization Summary References 9 Conclusion: Towards Institutions of Forward-Looking Collective Responsibility Overview Narrow vs. Wide Conceptions of Responsibility Review of Findings Reflection of Approach Future Research Needs Policy Implications References Index