
Lea Fünfschilling
Associate Professor | Senior Lecturer

Locked in unsustainability : Understanding lock-ins and their interactions using the case of food packaging
Author
Summary, in English
Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallow and deep lock-ins reinforcing the persistent dominance of single-use over reusable food packaging in Germany. Additionally, we explore the lock-in interactions both within and between the socio-technical elements. Hence, we introduce archetypical interlock-ins and lock-in clusters pointing to core trends of resistance towards reusable packaging alternatives. This study advances the lock-in concept for future socio-technical analyses while guiding the illumination of the complex dynamics of stability, the assessment of current sustainability transition interventions, and the search for potential unlocking strategies to enable change.
Department/s
- CIRCLE
Publishing year
2022-12-01
Language
English
Pages
14-29
Publication/Series
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
Volume
45
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Circular economy
- Path-dependency
- Resistance
- Reuse
- Socio-technical change
- Transition
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 2210-4224