A system dynamics model of socio-technical regime transitions

Formal modelling of sociotechnical transitions has so far focused either on reproducing known historical case studies or on generic transition models that encompass some of the characteristics of the underlying processes. This article presents a model that captures the unfolding dynamics of an existing technological regime and the emerging niches as they compete and respond to landscape pressures. The theoretical basis is the “Multi-Level Perspective” (MLP) framework. The development of new technologies in niches is endogenous and stochastic. Model analysis can be seen as a test of the dynamic consistency of the MLP substitution pathway. Simulation results are consistent with what MLP theory suggests and raise relevant questions and insights for future modelling work on transition pathways and theory development

Chicago is far from being the murder capital of the U.S.

Recent years have seen Chicago named the ‘murder capital’ of the U.S., echoing its past legacy as a ‘gangster city’. Andrew Papachristos argues that Chicago’s crime and murder rates are at an historic low, and that is nowhere near being the most violent city in the U.S. By analyzing 48 years of crime date from Chicago, he argues that crime is on a downward trend, and becoming more gang related. He also writes that these falls have been unevenly distributed geographically, and that a distinct crime gap remains

L’inscription de l’oral dans la Première Aventure Céleste De Monsieur Antipyrine de Tristan Tzara

Cet article porte sur l'inscription de l'oralité dans la Première Aventure Céleste de Monsieur Antipyrine (1920) de Tristan Tzara. L'éclatement générique dont témoigne la pièce-manifeste tzarienne remet autant en question la linéarité de la structure dramaturgique aristotélicienne que celle de l'écriture alphabétique occidentale. Cette liquidation métaphorique de l'écriture phonétique instaure un syllabaire (dada) qui se définit par une sonorité (oralité) libre des contingences syntaxico-sémantiques. L'oral se trouve ainsi inscrit dans ces mots-syllabes agrammaticaux qui renforcent la nature bruitiste (lautgedicht) de la graphie tzarienne. La performance dada propose une poiésis nouvelle où le corps participe dans toute sa force primordiale.This article focuses on the inscription of the oral in Tristan Tzara's la Première Aventure Céleste de Monsieur Antipyrine. The drama-manifesto attests a generic subversion which calls into question the linearity of the dramatic aristotelian structure as well as the mimesis of the occidental alphabetical writing. The metaphorical liquidation of the phonetic writing introduces a syllabic writing which defines itself as a sonorousness free of syntaxico-semantic contingencies. Orality therefore results from those agrammatical word-syllables which reinforce the bruitist nature (lautgedicht) of Tzara's parole. Dada performance suggests a new poiésis in which take part the primordial forces of our body

Transition Inertia Due To Competition In Supply Chains With Remanufacturing And Recycling: A Systems Dynamics Model

This paper studies the link between capital goods supply chains and sociotechnical transitions. Research on the latter has so far tended to focus on sustainability, energy and transport systems. Despite the considerable shift from products to services, supply chains are an integral element of most sociotechnical systems and there seems to be no foreseeable substitute for them. Consequently, for transitions to sustainability to take place, the inertia of supply chains in these systems has to be overcome and their environmental impact reduced. The paper explores this with a system dynamics model of a supply chain. While remanufacturing of used products by the retailer and recycling by the supplier can reduce the environmental impact of the supply chain, competition in the market between new and remanufactured products forces them into a situation where improving business and environmental performance is difficult