Transition scientivism

Abstract

This chapter examines how action research can (co-)produce counter-hegemonic knowledge in the context of sustainability transitions. It does so by first exploring critical traits in transition research and action research, after which it presents a heuristic for scientific activism vis-a-vis transition knowledge, which I call transition scientivism. This framework builds on recent work in the field of transition informed action research, and is based on four critical-relational roles of the researcher: (1) the counter-hegemonic knowledge broker; (2) the radical change agent; (3) the critical-reflective scientist; and (4) the critical self-reflexive scientist. The chapter then presents action research practices in the case of urban community gardening in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after which the case is reflected along with the transition scientivist heuristic. I argue that transition scientivism provides a fruitful entry point to combine transition knowledge production with academic activism.