Stream 9

Chairs: Karl Janelle (HEC Montreal, Canada), Joseph Khoury (HEC Montreal, Canada)

Description:
Just sustainability transitions are transformative processes addressing societal grand challenges—such as climate breakdown, inequality, and ecological degradation—by reconfiguring socio-ecological dynamics to ensure the survival and flourishing of present and future generations, both human and non-human. These transitions seek to dismantle systemic injustices rooted in unsustainable systems, advancing counterhegemonic struggles like food sovereignty, energy democracy, decolonized knowledge systems, and equitable urban futures. While not the focus of this panel, we acknowledge emerging technological and political shifts, including how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the economical and political landscapes towards what some coin as techno-feudalism and technofascism, as part of the broader context shaping opportunities and risks for equitable and ecologically grounded futures. 

This stream examines the interplay between social innovations and just sustainability transitions, emphasizing how these innovations reconfigure social relations through alternative practices, narratives, and organizational forms (i.e cooperatives, social economy organisations, hybrid organisations etc.). Social innovations—such as community energy cooperatives, participatory budgeting, urban farming networks, sharing platforms, and digital fabrication labs—operate within governments, markets, and hybrid spaces (e.g., social enterprises, citizen networks). These initiatives challenge dominant paradigms by reimagining resource distribution, governance, and collective agency in response to societal grand challenges. 

We invite empirical and conceptual contributions that explore: 

1. How social innovations navigate socio-ecological dynamics to address injustices and unsustainability, particularly in contexts shaped by technological and economic transformations. 

2. The normative stakes of social innovation in transitions—e.g., who defines "justice," how power imbalances are reproduced or disrupted, and the trade-offs between efficiency and equity. 

3. Tensions and contradictions in counterhegemonic struggles, particularly in terms of scaling social innovations to achieve just sustainability transitions, such as reconciling local autonomy with systemic change, or balancing innovation with cultural and ecological rootedness. 

We prioritize critical perspectives that interrogate the politics of innovation, including how grassroots initiatives reclaim agency in the face of hegemony, and how social innovations mediate between technological disruption (e.g., digital tools, automation) and socio-ecological resilience. Ultimately, this panel seeks to advance debates on fostering sustainability transitions that center justice, pluralism, and the interdependence of human and planetary well-being.