The Socio-Technical Alliance: Bringing New Tools to the Design of Policies Aimed to Promote Social Inclusion

In this article, we analyze the links between some cases of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO) and the passing of the Biofuels Act by the Argentinean parliament. The analysis is guided by a theoretical–methodological approach based on tools drawn from the social studies of technology...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Review of policy research 2012-11, Vol.29 (6), p.733-751
Main Authors: Garrido, Santiago, Lalouf, Alberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural industry
Agricultural innovations
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Alliances and partnerships
Argentina
Biodiesel fuels
Biomass energy
Crops
Developing countries
Economic development
Employment
energy
environment
Environmental conditions
Environmental Degradation
Farmers
Industry
innovation
Land
Laws, regulations and rules
Management
Oils & fats
Petroleum industry
Production
Social Closure
Social Policy
Society
Socio-technical systems
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Summary:In this article, we analyze the links between some cases of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO) and the passing of the Biofuels Act by the Argentinean parliament. The analysis is guided by a theoretical–methodological approach based on tools drawn from the social studies of technology field. The employment of eatable crops in the biofuel industry sparked a global debate concerning the drawbacks. Critics argue that it deepens the capital‐intensive monoculture agricultural production, driving away small farmers and peasants from their lands. Far from these debates, in southern Buenos Aires Province, there were alternative biodiesel production experiences whose main objective was providing solutions to social and environmental problems. After the Biofuels Act was passed, the new scenario posed unprecedented challenges. The socio‐technical approach allowed operating a systemic interpretation of these processes, bringing new insights to explain the construction of sustainability—or impracticality—of technological policies aimed to promote social inclusion.
ISSN:1541-132X
1541-1338
DOI:10.1111/j.1541-1338.2012.00591.x