Creating Low-Carbon Economies: Probing Transition Dynamics through the Lens of Field Theory

Abstract

We employ field theory as an approach to analysing sustainable regional development by reconciling funding needs and funding procurement. Initial expectations that private capital would bridge the financial gap to decarbonize our economies and societies have not materialized. Instead, state-led coalitions increasingly introduce spatialized decarbonization strategies in which public development banks are pivotal, yet underappreciated, actors. Field theory provides a fresh perspective for mapping the particular context in which regional industrial policies intersect with broader national and supra-national investment programmes and funding needs for these long-term initiatives. Transitions are typically directed but open-ended social processes, necessitating agency to both alter context and institutions and stabilize the emerging new structures. Field theory can surpass limitations in approaches like transition studies and integrate change mechanisms across scales.