Le responsabilità e il ruolo degli agenti di destabilizzazione nella transizione verso la sostenibilità: un framework teorico

Abstract

Since it is not beneficial to everyone, the sustainability transition is a complex process and many mechanisms hinder its evolution. Some agents involved in this transition shoulder significant costs and burdens: even if some agents can shoulder part of them, it is unlikely that all agents will spontaneously comply with the responsibi- lity that the sustainability transition imposes on them. This paper intends to investigate how, in the context of the sustainability transition, the relevant agents must/can comply with the duties demanded by this responsibility (which can be defined as “first order” responsibility). Indeed, some agents do not comply with their own (first order) responsibility and with the consequent obligations. To induce such (first order) agents to act in accordance with their (first order) responsibility, the notion of “second order” responsibility – that is, the responsibility that other agents ensure that the first order agents act on the basis of their (first order) responsibility – should be employed. In this normative perspective, the work proposes a theoretical-analytical framework within which second order agents – which in a pragmatic perspective can be defined as “agents of destabilization” (divided into primary and operational) – take action to win the resistance of first order agents in order to favor the sustainability transition.

Keywords

• sustainability transition
• responsibility
• agents of destabilization