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Laur Kanger

Biography

Laur Kanger is a research fellow in sustainability transitions at Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and a senior research fellow in technology research at Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu. Together with Johan Schot he has developed the original Deep Transitions framework. He is currently a member of two ongoing 5-year research projects on Deep Transitions, one in Sussex (2017-2022) and another in Tartu (2019-2023). Laur is currently researching the historical evolution of mass production, conceptualizing the spatial dynamics of Deep Transitions and developing ways to measure possible ruptures in industrial modernity.

Also by this author

Publications

The spatial dynamics of deep transitions

Laur Kanger
Industrial societies are currently evolving along a fundamentally unsustainable trajectory, contributing to climate change, resource depletion and loss of biodiversity. A recent Deep Transitions framework (Schot and Kanger, 2018; Kanger and Schot, 2019) argues that this trajectory has been built up through the First Deep Transition: a 250-year co-evolution of multiple socio-technical systems. However, to…
Publications

Deep Transitions: Towards a comprehensive framework for mapping major continuities and ruptures in industrial modernity

Laur Kanger
Abstract The world is confronted by a socio-ecological emergency, requiring rapid and deep decarbonization of a broad range of socio-technical systems. A recent Deep Transitions framework argues that this fundamentally unsustainable trajectory has been generated by the co-evolutionary dynamics of multiple systems during the last 250 years. Altering this direction requires a transformation in industrial…
Publications

Deep transitions: A mixed methods study of the historical evolution of mass production

Laur Kanger, Frederique Bone, Daniele Rotolo, Ed Steinmueller, Johan Schot
Abstract Industrial societies contain a range of socio-technical systems fulfilling functions such as the provision of energy, food, mobility, housing, healthcare, finance and communications. The recent Deep Transitions (DT) framework outlines a series of propositions on how the multi-system co-evolution over 250 years of these systems has contributed to several current social and ecological crises….
Publications

The Spatial Dynamics of Deep Transitions

Laur Kanger
Industrial civilization is currently evolving along a fundamentally unsustainable trajectory, contributing to climate change, resource depletion and loss of biodiversity. A recent Deep Transitions framework (Schot and Kanger, 2018; Kanger and Schot, 2019) argues that this trajectory has been built up through the First Deep Transition: a 250-year co-evolution of multiple socio-technical systems. However, to…
Podcast

Episode 1: Everything you Need to know about Deep Transitions (in a Nutshell..)

Laur Kanger, Bipashyee Ghosh
Deep Transitions
Deep Transitions
Episode 1: Everything you Need to know about Deep Transitions (in a Nutshell..)
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What links Victorians riding penny farthings on the streets of London to Indian commuters on public transport in 21st century megacities, like Kolkata? Why does your new computer need to be faster? Your new television bigger and sharper? Laur Kanger and Research Fellow Bipashyee Ghosh answer these questions and more on their whistle-stop tour of…
Blog - February 24, 2020

What does it take to achieve radical societal change?

Laur Kanger
Try to imagine a person writing the following words: “Preponderance in aviation may give way to equality; planes may become as commonplace and unimportant in the balance of war and peace as rifles are today. The only possible superiority in the air may depend on morale, flying skill, strategy, and a ready supply of petroleum….
Publications

Deep transitions: Theorizing the long-term patterns of sociotechnical change

Johan Schot, Laur Kanger
Journal Article | Founding Deep Transitions Paper The contemporary world is confronted by a double challenge: environmental degradation and social inequality. This challenge is linked to the dynamics of the First Deep Transition (Schot, 2016): the creation and expansion of a wide range of socio-technical systems in a similar direction over the past 200–250 years. Extending the…
Publications

Deep Transitions: Emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality

Johan Schot, Laur Kanger
Journal Article | Founding Deep Transitions Paper Industrial society has not only led to high levels of wealth and welfare in the Western world, but also to increasing global ecological degradation and social inequality. The socio-technical systems that underlay contemporary societies have substantially contributed to these outcomes. This paper proposes that these sociotechnical systems are…