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Beyond Corporate Sustainability: Philosophical Reflections on the role of ecological management in the Circular Economy

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Philosophy of Management

Guest Editors:

Vincent Blok (Wageningen University)

Mark Dibben (Tasmanian School for Business & Economics)

Context and Aims:

As it becomes increasingly clear nowadays that humanity is using more natural resources than the earth can provide, and that we need two or more planets to support our modern way of living in the future (WWF, 2012), many scholars and policy makers call for the transformation to a circular economy in order to ensure the sustainability of Earth's life support system (Kolbert, 2011). In this view, the sustainability of the life support systems of planet Earth is threatened by environmental problems like global warming, and business managers are seen as change agents in this transformation to the circular economy.

At the same time, it is especially business management which can be associated with the destruction of the eco-systems of planet earth; it seems to be the case that since the start of the Industrial Revolution, our species alone has used management to make the sort of seismic changes to the biosphere previously reserved only to volcanic activity. It is in this respect, that business is often seen as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. It is precisely our practice of management in business, that has been the architect of the remarkable economic success of the past three hundred years, that has plunged the planet at the same time into ecological crisis.

If the current situation demands the transformation to the circular economy in order to ensure the sustainability of Earth's life support systems on the one hand, while precisely business management can be seen as one of the root causes of the ecological crisis we face today, the question emerges what exactly is the nature of management, why it contributes to environmental problems like global warming, and what alternative ways of conceptualising management are available that contribute to the stewardship of planet earth? What does the transformation to the circular economy require from our management practices?

In this respect, it is significant that 'management' is not necessarily a term that characterizes human behaviour, but can be associated with processes in nature, ranging from self-organisation and cooperation within animal groups and eco-systems to the way the life support systems of planet Earth maintain themselves. Although business management implies conscious decision making and control - which can be questioned to be at stake in natural eco-systems - natural management and control may inspire organisational management. Or as Dibben and D'Arcy (2015) put it: "[W]e are not the only species that engages in management. Most creatures engage in managing their environment, by making shelter / having special places where they rest and reproduce, finding and storing food and even creating paths that run to and from the food and the shelter. Insects, spiders, birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals all practice management to some degree. Management is therefore better understood as inherent in Nature, a Universal aspect of Purposeful Life". That is to say, some aspects of the behaviour of social creatures - lions, ants etc. - display at least parallels with human organised management. These forms of ecological management of natural systems may yet inspire a human type of management of organisations that is not only better able to grow and learn from nature, instead of depleting it – in this respect, ecological management is inspired by the emerging field of ecological economy (Daley & Farley, 2004). It also tries to reconceptualise human management and control practices based on ecological management practices in order to contribute to the transformation to the circular economy.

This special issue of Philosophy of Management aims to explore the question what exactly is the nature of ecological management, and how ecological management can contribute to the transformation to the circular economy. We look for both deep reflections on the relation between ecology and economy in order to inform current conceptualisations of the bio-economy or circular economy, and the nature of ecological management and its implications of business management, its contribution to issues in business and economics, and its contribution to organisational sustainable development.

Possible questions to be addressed may include:

-          What is the role of organisational management and the logic of economic growth in the depletion of the natural resources of planet earth?

-          To what extent is organisational management dominated by a hegemony of engineering and control of nature, and what explains this?

-          To what extent can ecological management of natural systems inspire a more comprehensive, relational and integral way of management in business practices, for instance sustainable entrepreneurship?

-          What forms of nature-based or ecological management – biomimicry, eco-mimesis (Blok & Gremmen 2016) can be found in the natural environment and can inspire ecological management?

-          What are the advantages and disadvantages of ecological management in the natural world and of ecological management in business organisations?

-          What are the antecedents of ecological management in business organisations (values, world-view, experience of environmental distress etc.)?

-          What are the consequences of eco-logical management for eco-nomic institutions operating in the circular economy?

-          What is the role of ecological management for acknowledging and addressing the embeddedness of the socio-economic system within the natural system beyond its function as resource and waste sink? Can ecological management better represent the intrinsic value of nature other than its functions in the economic system?

-          How are the biosphere and the economic sphere related to each other in the biobased or circular economy (Zwier, Blok, Lemmens, 2015)?

-          What data, other than financial, should be disclosed to stakeholders in a circular economy?

Contributions are invited to reflect on these and other issues from various perspectives (e.g. philosophy, epistemology, environmental philosophy etc.).

Submission Process and Deadlines

Papers will be reviewed following the PoM double-blind review process.  Papers should be submitted by the 1-11-2018 via http://www.springer.com/philosophy/journal/40926, with clear reference to the special issue 'Beyond Corporate Sustainability: Philosophical Reflections on Ecological Management'.  Papers should be prepared using the PoM Guidelines. As soon as the papers are accepted for publication, they will be published and accessible online. The publication of the complete special volume is scheduled for 2019. The editors welcome informal enquiries related to proposed topics. For this, please contact Mark Dibben (mark.dibben@utas.edu.au) or Vincent Blok (vincent.blok@wur.nl).

Special Issue Track

To help authors advance their manuscripts, a Special Issue Track will be held during the next Philosophy of Mangement Conference, June 25-28 2018 in Greenwich (UK).  Authors of manuscripts are invited to submit their working papers. Interested authors are invited to send their abstract of 1500 words to w.vandekerckhove@gre.ac.uk, with a clear reference to the special track on 'ecological management'. The editorial team will assign a referee among the guest editors for each paper presented, with the intention of strengthening the papers prior to official submission for peer review for potential inclusion in the special issue. For the deadline to submit working papers for the track etc. please follow the general call for paper for the conference. Participation in the track is encouraged, but not a precondition for submissions to the special issue.

Contact Email:

Corresponding Guest Editors: Mark Dibben (mark.dibben@utas.edu.au); Vincent Blok, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (vincent.blok@wur.nl)

References:

Blok, V., Gremmen, B. 2016. "Ecological Innovation: Biomimicry as a New Way of Thinking and Acting Ecologically". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 29:203–217

Daly & Farley 2004. Ecological economics: principles and practice. Island PRess

Dibben, M. And D'Arcy (2015) "Process and Business Management: A Short Note on how Process Thinking might help bring about a more Hospitable World." http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/

Kolbert, E. (2011). "Enter the Anthropocene – Age of Man". National Geographic, March 2011.

WWF. (2012). Living Planet Report 2012. Gland: WWF.

Zwier, J., Blok, V., Lemmens, P. (2015), "The Ideal of a Zero-Waste Humanity: Philosophical Reflections on the Demand for a Bio-Based Economy", Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (DOI 10.1007/s10806-015-9538-y)

C

Dr. Vincent Blok MBA

Associate Professor in Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Business and Innovation Ethics, Management Studies Group

Associate Professor in Philosophy of Management, Technology and Innovation, Philosophy Group 

Wageningen University 

Management Studies and Philosophy Group

Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN, Wageningen (Building 201)

De Leeuwenborch, Room 5060

P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW, Wageningen

T: +31 (0) 317 483623

F: +31 (0) 317 485454

E-mail: vincent.blok@wur.nl

Website: www.vincentblok.nl

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