From institutional work to transition work: Actors creating, maintaining and disrupting transition processes

This contribution outlines how transition processes can be analysed as 'transition work'. We draw on the concept of institutional work, review existing applications in transition research and adapt it to transitions, labelling the result 'transition work'. Transition work details how actors 'create', 'maintain' and 'disrupt' transition processes. By analysing instances around the evolution of policies, organisations, networks and technologies in two cases of energy transitions in Germany, we observe how actors apply transition work to accelerate and decelerate transitions. Despite analysing very different cases, we find that creating, maintaining, and disrupting are all integral activities of transition processes. Particularly, we observe a lack of stabilisation of a transition process where 'maintain' activities of transition proponents are scarce: Maintain activities cannot only preserve the status quo, but also stabilise transition activities. For understanding disruption, likewise, we need to consider both disruptive and defensive work.

Automated summary

This contribution introduces the concept of 'transition work' and explores its application in the analysis of transition processes. Through case studies on energy transitions in Germany, the study reveals that creating, maintaining, and disrupting are integral activities in transitions. It also highlights the importance of maintaining activities in stabilizing transition processes.