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Covid-19 Transition Turbulence: Structural Violence in a Time of Economic Paradigm Change

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Energy Policy Advancement

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Abstract

This chapter uses Johan Galtung’s typology of violence as an interpretative framework for contemporary shifts within the international economic system brought about by the dynamic of the transition towards more sustainable growth. The concept of sustainability is used here not only as a signifier of the direction of economic development, but also as a factor of resilience understood as the capacity of socio-ecological systems to withstand and respond to changes (Folke et al., Ecol Soc 15(4):555–520, 2010). The process of transformation towards sustainability, therefore, is seen as an essential factor in the maintenance of resilience, especially in the conditions of great acceleration of human activities and rising uncertainty. The operational layer of forces sha** the structural level of the global economic order is illustrated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and responses to this threat, analyzed in the context of the transition towards sustainability. The moment of this major global crisis, revealing profound, longstanding vulnerabilities in the global system, can either open policy windows for a more effective transformation, or signify a major shock that fragile systems may be not able to absorb. It is argued that adaptation to changing external drivers and capacity to navigate transitions of different scale and nature is becoming part of the sustainability concept in its more general sense.

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Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from Jagiellonian University, Future Society POB.

Conflicts of Interest

The author has no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of International Topolowa 6/13 and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University, 31-512, Krakow, Poland

    Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska

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  1. Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska
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Correspondence to Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Dmitry Kurochkin

  2. Jack Welch College of Business, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, USA

    Martha J. Crawford

  3. New York University (NYU), New York, NY, USA

    Elena V. Shabliy

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Zachara-Szymańska, M. (2022). Covid-19 Transition Turbulence: Structural Violence in a Time of Economic Paradigm Change. In: Kurochkin, D., Crawford, M.J., Shabliy, E.V. (eds) Energy Policy Advancement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84993-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84993-1_11

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