Feola Giuseppe
Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading, RG66AB, UK,
Ambio. 2015 Sep;44(5):376-90. doi: 10.1007/s13280-014-0582-z. Epub 2014 Nov 28.
The study of societal transformation in response to environmental change has become established, yet little consensus exists regarding the conceptual basis of transformation. This paper aims to provide structure to the dialog on transformation, and to reflect on the challenges of social research in this area. Concepts of transformation are identified through a literature review, and examined using four analytical criteria. It is found that the term 'transformation' is frequently used merely as a metaphor. When transformation is not used as a metaphor, eight concepts are most frequently employed. They differ with respect to (i) system conceptualization, (ii) notions of social consciousness (deliberate/emergent), and (iii) outcome (prescriptive/descriptive). Problem-based research tends to adopt concepts of deliberate transformation with prescriptive outcome, while concepts of emergent transformation with no prescriptive outcome tend to inform descriptive-analytical research. Dialog around the complementarities of different concepts and their empirical testing are priorities for future research.
针对环境变化的社会转型研究已然确立，但关于转型的概念基础却几乎没有达成共识。本文旨在为有关转型的对话搭建框架，并反思该领域社会研究面临的挑战。通过文献综述确定转型的概念，并使用四个分析标准对其进行审视。研究发现，“转型”一词常仅被用作隐喻。当转型不被用作隐喻时，最常使用的有八个概念。它们在以下方面存在差异：（i）系统概念化，（ii）社会意识观念（刻意的/突发的），以及（iii）结果（规范性的/描述性的）。基于问题的研究倾向于采用具有规范性结果的刻意转型概念，而不具有规范性结果的突发转型概念则往往为描述性分析研究提供依据。围绕不同概念的互补性及其实证检验展开对话是未来研究的重点。
