Making the case for self-organisation: understanding how communities make sense of sustainability and climate change through collective action. (2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Atkinson, Rob; Dörfler, Thomas; Hasanov, Mustafa; Rothfuß, Eberhard; Smith, Ian
• Is Part Of: International journal of sustainable society. Volume 9:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 193
• Page End: 209
• Publication Date: 2017
• Subjects: self-organisation -- climate change -- civil society -- sustainability -- collective action -- communities; Sustainable development -- Periodicals; Sustainability -- Periodicals; Human ecology -- Periodicals; Environmental responsibility -- Periodicals; Sustainable agriculture -- Periodicals; 304.2805
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-2538

Abstract

Understanding how community groups take on the challenge of climate change is key to understanding the capacity of society as a whole to adapt in the face of climate change in ways that acknowledge a broader need for a sustainable societal transition. In order to show this it is important to identify what distinguishes self-organised responses to the climate change challenge from other responses. Through critically evaluating the existing literature on self-organisation and on locally based responses to climate change, the paper clarifies what we mean by self-organised response and then demonstrates how the concept would enhance the scope of research about local-level responses to enhance societal sustainability. Furthermore, the article presents an agenda for identifying self-organised responses to climate change and distinguishing self-organised responses from other forms of 'community-led' response.