Call for papers for a session at RGS-IBG: Actually Existing ‘Green Transformations’: Between Straightforward Plans and the Messy Realities of Everyday Processes

RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2026 will take place in London, 1-4 September 2026. If you would like to be part of the session, please send an abstract of max. 250 words together with the title of your presentation, contact details and a short bio (up to 100 words) by Monday, 23 February to tauri.tuvikene@tlu.ee, slavka.ferencuhova@soc.cas.cz, tpikner@tlu.ee. The session is in-person-only. 

Convenors: Tauri Tuvikene (Tallinn University), Slavomira Ferenčuhová (Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences), Tarmo Pikner (Tallinn University)

While ‘transition’ is an alluring term promising a more environmentally conscious future, the ‘green transition’ has faced significant hurdles in recent years. Although climate change remains a pressing global crisis, international solidarity is fraying and sustainable policies are under threat in many regions. Consequently, the ‘actually experienced’ green transition has become far less certain than the linear change of conditions the term ‘transition’ proclaims.

In this sense, the green transition mirrors other major historical shifts. For instance, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ‘transitologist’ discourse of the 1990s anticipated a straightforward shift from state-centred systems toward democratic, market-driven societies. However, the lived experience of post-socialism was considerably less clear-cut. Striking analogies exist between these two narratives: both are defined as large-scale, disruptive changeovers (Healy & Barry, 2017) promising a new reality—whether integration into a Western capitalist future or a sustainable, livable one.

Regarding the 1990s, anthropologists and geographers highlighted the fragmentations and hybridizations of supposedly ‘clear-cut’ shifts, which proved much messier than political elites anticipated (Verdery, 1996; Stark & Bruszt, 1998; Pickles & Unwin, 2003; Sýkora & Bouzarovski, 2012; Hann, 2012). Similar observations are increasingly valid for contemporary green transitions (White, 2025). Exploring ‘actually existing’ transformations is necessary to uncover the multiplicity of simultaneous changes and the injustices inherent in these processes. For example, introducing technological fixes without revising consumption practices may exacerbate inequalities or rely on carbon-intensive extraction (Skrzypek et al., 2022). Ultimately, a holistic ecological transition may require moving beyond the capitalist imperative of growth toward a degrowth logic prioritizing ‘care, solidarity, mutual aid, and empathy’ (Buch-Hansen et al, 2024).

Much as in the story of post-socialism, a heuristic shift from transition to transformation offers a more nuanced insight into sustainability. While ‘transition’ often implies a managed shift between known states, ‘transformation’ suggests open-ended, turbulent, and conflicting processes occurring simultaneously in different directions.

This session views the ‘green transition’ as a complex societal transformation and invites scholars to reflect on the conflicts and contradictions of these processes as they emerge in practice. We aim to explore ‘messy realities’ through critical readings of contemporary changes, drawing inspiration from historical transformative processes across the Global North, South, and East. We welcome presentations that complicate simplistic narratives, including ethnographic or qualitative studies and conceptual discussions regarding the realities of transformations. 

Potential topics raised by the presentations include, but are not limited to the following:

Please note that, should the session proposal be successful, the names and affiliations of session contributors will be made public on the conference website.

Please note that there are limits on the number of individual contributions to the conference, see here for details. Please also consult the conference code of conduct.

Buch-Hansen, H., Koch, M. & Nesterova, I. (2024). Deep Transformations: A Theory of Degrowth. Manchester University Press.

Hann, C. (2012). Transition, tradition, and nostalgia; Postsocialist Transformations in a comparative framework. Collegium Antropologicum 36(4), 1119–1128.

Healy, N. & Barry, J. (2017). Politicizing energy justice and energy system transitions: Fossil fuel and a ‘just transition’. Energy Policy 108, 451–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.014

Pickles, J, & Unwin, T. (2003). Transition in context: Theory in post-socialist transformations. Routledge. In B. van Hoven & T. Unwin (Eds.) Europe: Lives in Transition, (pp. 9–28). London & New York: Routledge. 

Skrzypek, E., Bainton, N., Burton, J. & Lèbre, E. (2022). The Justice Dimensions of Extracting Energy Transition Metals from the Pacific. The British Academy.  

Stark, D. & Bruszt, L. (1998). Postsocialist Pathways. Transforming Politics and Property in East Central Europe. Cambridge University Press.

Sýkora, L. & Bouzarovski, S. (2012). Multiple Transformations: Conceptualising the Post-Communist Urban Transition. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098010397402

Verdery, K. (1996). What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next? Princeton University Press 

White, J. (2025). ‘Transition: Revisiting a Troubled Concept in the Age of Climate Change’. Political Studies, May 28, 00323217251343442. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217251343442