Transition towards and of sustainability Understanding sustainability as performative

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R E S E A R C H

A R T I C L E

Transition

towards

and

of

sustainability

—

Understanding

sustainability

as

performative

Anette

Hallin

1,2

|

Tina

Karrbom-Gustavsson

3

|

Peter

Dobers

4

1

DepartmentofOrganizationand

Management,ÅboAkademiUniversity,Turku, Finland

2

DepartmentofOrganizationand

Management,MälardalenUniversity,Västerås, Sweden

3

DivisionofConstructionandFacilities Management,KTHRoyalInstituteof Technology,Stockholm,Sweden 4

SchoolofSocialSciences,Södertörn University,Huddinge,Sweden

Correspondence

AnetteHallin,DepartmentofOrganizationand Management,ÅboAkademiUniversity, Domkyrkogatan3,20500Turku,Finland. Email:anette.hallin@abo.fi

1 |

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Abstract

Our

purpose

is

to

explore

the

concept

of

“

sustainability

”

when

understood

from

a

performative

perspective,

i.e.

as

a

concept

that

is

filled

with

meaning

across

time.

Drawing

on

a

10 year-long

study

of

the

digital

footprint

of

Stockholm

Royal

Seaport,

claimed

to

be

northern

Europe's

largest

sustainable

urban

development

district,

we

show

that

“

sustainability

”

emerged

as

the

project

became

associated

with

particular

places,

projects,

histories,

and

technologies.

This

means

that

“

sustainability

”

was

local

in

that

it

was

situated

in

the

particular

spatial

context

of

the

project;

temporal

in

that

it

was

situated

in

a

particular

time;

and

political

in

that

it

expressed

particular

values

and

perspectives.

The

study

contributes

to

explaining

why

“

sustainability

”

remains

—

and

always

will

remain

—

a

contested

concept,

which

is

why

sustainability

transitions

are

complex.

Consequently,

we

suggest

that

the

transition

towards

sustainability

always

involves

the

transition

of

sustainability,

something

that

needs

to

be

acknowledged

in

order

for

a

transition

to

actually

become

sustainable.

K E Y W O R D S

performative,StockholmRoyalSeaport,sustainability,sustainabilitytransition,urban

development

Althoughtheideathatsocietyaswellasbusinessesmusttake

mea-surestowardsasustainabledevelopmenthasgainedincreasing

atten-tion(Wangetal.,2016),“sustainability”remainsacontestedconcept

(Mebratu, 1998; Montiel, 2008; Morrow & Mowatt, 2015; Rossi

et al., 2000;Schwartz & Carroll, 2008; Zeemering, 2009). Despite

well-spread definitions, such as thatby theWorld Commission on

Environment and Development (WCED)—“the development that

meetstheneedsofthepresentwithoutcompromisingtheabilityof

futuregenerationstomeettheirneeds”(WCED,1987,ch2)—andthe

nomenclatureoftheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoals,1

1_{https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org}_(Accessed_June_23,_2020).

“sustainability” has several different definitions and

operationalizations(Elkington,1998;Gimenezetal.,2012).

Some havearguedthatitisaproblemthat“sustainability”still

lacksasolidmeaningbecausethisopensupforinterpretationsthat,in

fact, may be less sustainable (Johnston et al., 2007; Newton &

Freyfogle,2005). Thespectrum of_“sustainability_” definitionsrange

from“weak”to“strong”dependingon,forexample,theintegration

and extent of collaborationamong various actors (Hediger, 1999;

Landrum & Ohsowski, 2018). When sustainability for example is

reframedina_“weak_”wayas_“sustainablegrowth,_”theoriginalideaof

sustainability is compromised (Banerjee & Bonnefous, 2011), and

whenproductsarebrandedas_“green,_”moralityiscommercializedina

questionableway(Fuentes,2014).“Doinggooddoesnotalwaysmean

doingwell,_”asBroadstocketal.(2019,p.1199)recentlyconcluded.

ThisisanopenaccessarticleunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercialLicense,whichpermitsuse,distributionandreproductioninany medium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycitedandisnotusedforcommercialpurposes.

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Itmayevenbearguedthatthemanydifferentmeaningsof“

sus-tainability_”ratherthansupportthetransitiontowardsamore

sustain-able world, instead mayimpede it. Not simply because definitions

differ,butbecausedefining_“sustainability_”as_“acodifiedandstable

‘what’”reducesthisimportantideatoalistthatinitselfdoesnotlead

totheachievingofit.Instead,thefocusneedstobeonthe_“how,_”

thatis,the doing ofsustainability(DuPuis&Ball,2013,p.64);or,as

Intezari(2015)argues,the applying ofwisdomofsustainabilityin

prac-tice.Thedevelopmentwherethetriplebottomlineofsustainabilityis

reducedtoanaccountingsystem,ratherthana_“triplehelixofchange

fortomorrow'scapitalism”(Elkington,2018,p.4)issimplynotenough

toachievesustainabilitytransitions,astheseareaffectedbynotions

of morality, processes of power dynamics, institutional logics, and

sub/cultures(Demers&Gond,2020;Koketal.,2017).

In line with this thinking, we join those whopreviously have

argued that _“sustainability_” emerges, not through stable and

stipulativedefinitionsoftheconcept,butthroughitstranslation,use,

anddailypractice(e.g.,Corvellec,2016;Finchetal.,2015).Fromthis

perspective, the meaning of “sustainability” emerges across time

throughthepowerofassociationwherebyhumans,ideas,andevents

are mobilizedandassociated with theconcept in nonverbalaction

(Callon, 2007; Latour, 1986) as well as in discourse and through

language-in-use(cf.Hajer,1995;Hajer&Versteeg,2005).

We draw on a 10-yearlongitudinal empiricalstudy of a large

urban development district in Stockholm, Sweden:the Stockholm

RoyalSeaport (SRS). Oftendescribed asNorthern Europe'slargest,

state-of-the-art, sustainable urban development district, this is a

suitable casefor our purposebecause itinvolves awide range of

actorsfromavarietyofcontextsoveralongerperiodoftime.Hence,

it provides the possibility of understanding how _“sustainability_” is

performedacrosstime.

Thefindingsofourstudyshowthat_“sustainability_”isperformed

aslocal, temporary,andpolitical;findingsthatnotonlyhelpexplain

whyandhow_“sustainability_”remainsacontestedconcept.By

show-inghow“sustainability”isperformedacrosstime,wealsocontribute

totheunderstandingofthecomplexityofsustainabilitytransitions;a

complexitythatmaybeunderstoodbetteriffocusingsimultaneously

onthetransition towards sustainability,thatis,theenvisagedstateof

thetransition,aswellasonthetransition of sustainability,thatis,the

waytheideaofwhatis_“sustainable_”changesacrosstime.We

con-cludethatdoingsoincreasethechancesthatsustainabilitytransition

actuallybecomessustainable.

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P R E V I O U S

D E F I N I T I O N S

O F

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

Differentoperationalizations of _“sustainability_” have beenmade in

relationtodifferentpartsofthesocalledtriplebottomline(ecology,

economy,orsociety,seeElkington,1998)_—aframeworkfor

sustain-abilitythatstillseemtopermeateresearchers'aswellaspractitioners'

understandingof“sustainability”(Aminiet al.,2018).Whereas

eco-nomicsustainabilityisoftenoperationalizedasthecostsofproducing

ormanufacturing,environmentalsustainabilityisfrequentlyrelatedto

theuseofenergyandotherresourcesandaswastefromoperations

(Gimenezet al., 2012). Social sustainability isoften translatedinto

measurespertainingtoequalopportunities(Elkington,1998).

Increasingly,the middlegroundbetween economicgrowth and

environmentalprotection(Collinsetal.,2010),andtheintegrationof

economic,ecological,andsocialconcerns(Schneider&Meins,2012)

hasbecome more emphasized, and various integrated frameworks

havebeenproposed(e.g.,Christensen,2012).Akeyargumentforan

integratedperspectiveisthatsustainabilityisfartoooftendiscussed

solelyinecologicalterms,disconnectingitfromhumansocialbehavior

(Faberetal.,2010).Inlinewiththis,ithasbeenarguedthat

sustain-abilityshouldbeunderstoodastheintegrationofmultiple

perspec-tives and methods, for example, ecological economics, industrial

ecology,ecosystem health,sustainabledecision making,policy, and

design(seeSeager,2008),anideathatisalsothecornerstoneofthe

emergent meta-scientific field of sustainability science (see,

e.g.,Clark&Dickson,2003;Miller,2013).Othershavearguedthatit

isimpossibletoachievegoalsrelatedtoeconomicgrowth,

participa-tion,andenvironmentalprotectioninoneandthesameinitiativeand

that the triple bottom line thus creates a “post-sustainability

tri-lemma_”(sic,Sconfienza,2019).

Extantresearchshowthatamongcompanies,thereisavarietyof

interpretationsofwhat_“sustainability_”meansandhowitshouldbe

implementedandcompaniesperformsustainabilityindifferentways

(Montiel,2008;Schwartz&Carroll,2008).Thismaybeexplainedby

trade-offsbetweenvariousformsofvalueembeddedinthebusiness

modelsoforganizations,forexample,betweensustainablevalueand

economicvalue(Brennan&Tennant,2018);asaresultofinstitutional

logics(Horak et al.,2018);bydifferences in organizationalidentity

(Song et al., 2019); or by varying company size (Gallo &

Christensen,2011).

Researchalsoshowsthatdifferentgroupsofpeopleascribe

dif-ferent meanings to the idea of _“sustainability_” (Mebratu, 1998).

Whereasgovernmentsandpublic authoritiesforexample associate

“sustainability_”withpublicvisionsofcontrol,socialequity,andaction,

corporatevisionsofsustainabilityinvolveleadershipandinnovation

(Rossietal.,2000).Furthermore,studiesshowthatmiddlemanagers

andemployeesevenwithinthesameorganizationunderstand“

sus-tainability_” differently(Morrow& Mowatt,2015),asdopublic

offi-cials,eveniftheyworkforthesameorganization(Zeemering,2009).

Inaddition,ithasbeenarguedthatitisaproblemthat_“

sustain-ability” lacks asolid meaningas thisopens up for less sustainable

interpretations(Johnstonetal.,2007;Newton&Freyfogle,2005).It

seemsasifthereisaspectrumof“sustainability”definitions,ranging

from_“weak_”to_“strong_”(Hediger,1999)dependingontheambitions

of, for example, change, integration, and extent of collaboration

amongvariousactors.Astudyofcorporatesustainabilityforexample

showsthatcompaniestoalargeextentaimatbuildingbusinesscases

whenworkingwithsustainability, whichisan exampleofa_“weak_”

representationofsustainability(Landrum&Ohsowski,2018).

Others argue that _“sustainability_” is an emergent concept,

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andexpressedindiscoursesthatnotsimplyexpressaconcernforthe

future,butforthepast(deBurgh-Woodman&King,2012).The

con-testednessof“sustainability”maythusresidein theapproachused

whendefiningit.Inthefollowing,wewillexplorethisfurther.

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S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

A S

A

P E R F O R M A T I V E

C O N C E P T

Thevariousattempts atproducingdefinitionsofsustainability, also

theonesintegratingvariousaspects,maybeunderstoodasattempts

atproposingsocalledostensivedefinitionsoftheconcept.Ostensive

definitionsbuildonanapproachwherebythemeaningofaconceptis

developedbypointingtootherconcepts(that,inturn, alsomaybe

definedostensively),whichmeansthatthemeaningofaconceptis

brought about within an already existing normative structure

(Ramsey,2015).Or,asRamsey(2015,p.1077)putsit,“Ifyouwantto

knowwhat_‘sustainability_’means,offeradefinitionofitscomponent

terms, each oneof which is clear, simple and—one hopes—

opera-tional._”Thismeansthatostensivedefinitionsexplainthingsin

princi-ple,outliningthefundamentalcomponentsandunderlyingtheoretical

constructs,therebydefiningwhatisontologically_“real_”andwhatis

not(Latour,1986).Theproblemwithostensivedefinitionsisthatthey

may _“be variously interpreted in every case_” (Wittgenstein, 1953,

section28, italicsinoriginal),andtoofferastipulativedefinitionin

the hope that practices will be performed in line with it is futile

(Ramsey,2015).Ratherthanproducingpoliciesorstrategiesthatbuild

onanostensiveunderstandingof_“sustainability_”andhopethat

socie-tiesandbusinesswillchangeaccordingly,researchersaswellaspublic

andprivatepolicymakersmustadoptadifferentapproach.

Suchanapproachisofferedby“performativitytheory,”whichis

an umbrella concept for various theories that posits that verbal

and nonverbal actions perform in and upon the world

(Bramming et al., 2012). Stemming from language philosophy

(Austin, 1955/1975), communicationtheory (Bateson, 1972), social

theory(Goffman,1974),andsocialphilosophy(Lyotard,1979/1984),

performativity theories have developed in many areas of social

science, for example, gender studies (e.g., Butler, 1990), cultural

geography (e.g., Nash, 2000), science-and-technology-studies

(Callon, 2006;Latour, 2005),organizationstudies, andmanagement

(foranoverview,seeDiedrichetal.,2013).

Commontothesestrandsoftheorizingisthataconceptcanbe

made sense of by studying how it is filled with meaning as it is

performedin talkandaction(MacKenzie& Millo,2003). Fromthis

perspective,themeaning(s)ofaconceptcome(s)aboutthroughwhat

Latour(1986)calledthepowersofassociation,wherebyideas,events,

actors,andsoforth,aremobilizedwhenaparticularconceptisused

oractedupon.Todefinesomethingperformativelythen,istostudy

how a concept acquires meaning across time and howitemergesas

peoplespeakaboutitorperforminaccordancewiththeir

interpreta-tionofit(Latour,1986).

Aperformativeunderstandingthusinvolvesthebasicassumption

that reality is made up of constantly changing relationships

(Chia,1995)and,consequently,thatideasandmeaningsmaynotbe

definedinapermanentfashion,becausetheseareundergoing

con-stantchangesandnegotiations(Helinetal.,2014).

From aperformativeperspective,ostensivedefinitionshidethe

complexityofaconceptandtheprocessesthroughwhichtheconcept

isfilled withmeaning_—theunderlyingmechanisms areblack-boxed.

Thisisbecauseostensivedefinitionsleadto“theFallacyofMisplaced

Concreteness_”(Bakken&Hernes,2006),thatis,_“thetendencytosee

physicalobjectsandthingsasthenaturalunitsofanalysisratherthan,

moreproperly,the relationships between them_”(Chia,1995,p.582,

italics in original). A performative approach, on the other hand,

highlightsthataconceptisnotagiven;itunpacksitfromtheblack

box and draws our attention to the ways it is produced and

reproduced(MacKenzie&Millo,2003).

Intheareaofsustainability,aperformativeperspectivehasbeen

usedtoshowhowsustainabilityemergesin and throughdiscourse

and language-in-use (e.g., de Burgh-Woodman & King, 2012;

Hajer, 1995;Hajer & Versteeg,2005), as wellas howobjects and

human entangledindaily practicesperformsustainabilityin various

ways(Corvellec,2016;Finchetal.,2015).Notonlydothesestudies

showthat sustainabilityis constructedthrough language,practices,

andthemobilizationofobjects.Theyalsohighlightthata

performa-tive approach may develop a deeper understanding of “the actual

dynamicofsustainabilitytransition,notasonemaydefineitintheory

orwishitpolitically,butasindividualandorganizationalpracticesare

actuallyformingitonaneverydaybasis_”(Corvellec,2016,p.397).To

adoptaperformativeperspectivewhenaimingatunderstandinghow

themeaningoftheconceptmayhelpsupportorimpedesustainability

transitionthusseemsparticularsuitable.

4 |

D E S I G N

O F

T H E

S T U D Y

4.1 |

The

case:

Stockholm

Royal

Seaport

Thestudyisexplorativeanddrawsupononecase(Dul&Hak,2008;

Eisenhardt, 1998;Flyvbjerg, 2006): the urbandevelopment district

Stockholm Royal Seaport (SRS; Swe: _“Norra Djurgårdsstaden_”) in

Sweden.Theurbandevelopmentcontextisparticularlysuitablewhen

itcomestounderstandingthesocial,economic,andecological

dynam-icsthat shape or retard the transition towards a moresustainable

future(cf.Wagenaar&Wilkinson,2013)andSRSisagoodexample

oftheambitionexpressedinurbanplanningingeneral,whereurban

districts_—particularlycities_—onanoveralllevelareseenasimportant

toolsforenhancingsustainability(Wheeler&Beatley,2014).

SRSisalargeurbandevelopmentdistrictthatinvolvesthe

recon-structionofaformersea-frontharborareathatusedtohousealarge

ferryterminal,an oilterminal,andseveraloilandgasstoragetanks.

Whencompletedin2030,SRSwillhouse10,000newhomesaswell

asworkplacesforsome30,000people;severalrestaurants,barsand

cafés,shops,gyms,theaters,ahotel,andaconferencecenter.

Theinitial discussionsaboutSRStookplacealreadybeforethe

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in 2011. In 2013, the firstinhabitantsand tenants moved in. The

visionistomakeSRSaninternationalrolemodelforsustainableurban

development, or as the mayor and vice mayor of Stockholm

expressedit,

Stockholm Royal Seaport shall not only consolidate

Stockholm'spositionasoneleadingcapitalin climate

work but also support the marketing of Swedish

environmental technology and contribute to the

development of new technology that will cover all

housingconstruction in Stockholm, Sweden and the

restoftheworld.2

ThismeansthatSRSisagoodexampleofasustainableurban

dis-trictthatdevelopsovertime,wherethefutureisconstantlyprojected

(KarrbomGustavsson&Hallin,2013),whichmakesitagoodexample

when aiming to understand how “sustainability” is produced

performatively.

The leadingactor behindSRS is theCity of Stockholm,which

ownsmostofthelandwherethenewareaisdeveloped.Inaddition,a

multitudeofotheractorsareinvolved:publicorganizationsonlocal,

regional, and national levels, companies, consultants, and business

associations,tojustmentionafew.Also,individualpoliticians,

univer-sityscholars,urbanplanners,citymanagers,developers,lobbyists,and

othershavebeeninvolvedinvariouswaysandonvariousoccasions,

forexample,byusingSRSasatestbedforresearchanddevelopment

projects.

4.2 |

Tracking

digital

footprints

Aspublicdebatesabouturbandevelopmentincreasinglytake place

online,theinternetisagoodcontextforfindingempiricalmaterial,

all-owingforthetappingintotheon-goingperformanceofawidevariety

of actors(Foth et al., 2009; Gustavsson & Czarniawska, 2004). In

accordancewiththis,wedecidedtofollowthedigital footprintsof

theactorsinvolvedin theSRS asthey appearedonline(Weaver&

Gahegan,2007)bycollectingonlinepublishedmaterialrelatedtoSRS

overa10-yearperiod,in12-monthsintervals.

Thelongitudinalapproachwasfoundsuitableasitallowsforan

in-depthunderstandingofchange(Pettigrew,1990)andforanswering

how-typequestions(Pratt, 2009)suchas howsustainabilityis

per-formedacrosstime.

Inpractice,we,inlateFebruaryeveryyearfrom2011to2020,

have searched for the Swedish name for SRS—“Norra

Djurgårdsstaden_”_—on search engines that are commonly used and

readilyavailable:AltaVista,Yahoo, Google,Bing, andDuckDuckGo.

All authorswere involvedin theyearlysearches.Tominimize bias,

different computers located at different siteswere used. We also

performed an extra search on different computers whilesitting in

2_Source:_Sten_Nordin_and_Ulla_Hamilton,_mayor_and_vice_mayor_of_the_City_of_Stockholm,

2010,Dnr303-1015/2010.

thesameoffice.Thismadeevidentthatthesearchresultswerethe

same for each search engine regardless of which computer

wasused.

Initially,weagreedtocreateanddownloadpdf:sforthetop-10

hitspersearchengine, but afterrealizingthatalso thehitsfurther

downon the hit-list could beof interest, wedecided, in 2013, to

downloadandsavepdf:sforthetop-20hitsweaccessedpersearch

engine.Thedataregardingallhitsfromthedifferentsearchengines

werecompiledinaseparatemasterdocument.Basedonthis

compila-tion,weremovedduplicatehits(i.e.,thesamewebpagesthatoccurred

ondifferent searchenginesandthe samewebpagesthat appeared

acrossyears)andafewpdf:sthatforsomereasonwereempty(one

reasonbeing thatsomehitsdidnottranslateintotext-based pdf:s,

e.g.,iftheyincludedfilmsorimagesonly).Throughthisprocess,the

initial640pdf:swerereducedto341.

4.3 |

Analysis

The analysis of the 341 pdf:s took place through what may be

described as an abductive process (Dubois & Gadde, 2002); a

creative and iterative process involving all authors whereby we

oscillated between the interpreting of empirical material and the

readingofliterature.Inpractice,thismeantthatwe, together,read

all pdf:s systematically, looking for the ideas that were mobilized

inthem.

Morespecificallythisprocessbeganbyatwoofusorally

describ-ingeachpdf,whilethethirdpersontooknotesthatwereinsertedin

the master document. In our descriptions, we not only observed

whichorganizationor individualwas _“thesender_” ofthe particular

webpagebutalsolookedatthecombinationofimagesandtextand

“thetoneofvoice_”thatthepageexpressedinourinterpretation,in

termsofwhatitconstructedasnews,relevant,comprehensible,and

intelligent(Rowley, 2004,p. 231).Doing so, wenotedwhich

argu-mentsandideasweremobilized(Callon,2007;Hajer,1995;Hajer&

Versteeg,2005;Latour,1986)intextsandimages,inrelationtothe

casestudied(SRS), and inthe discussionsamongst us, wefounda

commoninterpretationofthepdf:s.

Wethenturnedtoperformativitytheoryandarticlesthathave

adopted this lens to make sense of various empirical phenomena

(e.g., Lucarelli & Hallin, 2015; Corvellec, 2016). Inspired by our

reading, we returned to our notes in the master document, and

when re-reading the entries, three themes emerged: local,

temporary, and political. The local entries drew on the particular

geographicaland historicalcontextofthe areaofSRS;the

tempo-raryentrieswereentriesthatassociatedideas,technologies,events,

and so forth that were specific for particular points in time; and

the political entries expressed intentions, directions, or visions of

various actors. After having agreed that these three captured the

empirical material well, we revisited the pdf:s to look for further

nuancesandtolookforillustrativequotes.Inthefollowing,wewill

describe these three ways through which sustainability was

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5 |

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

A S

L O C A L

Asmentionedearlier,theoverallvisionoftheSRSistodevelopa

sus-tainableurbandistrictthatusescuttingedgesustainablesolutionsand

that canfunction asan internationalshowcasefor tomorrow's city

planners.Despitereproducingthisgeneralideaof_“sustainability,_”our

analysisoftheempiricalmaterialshowsthatsustainabilityisalso

per-formedas local inthatvariousaspectsoftheparticularareawherethe

SRSisbuiltaremobilized.Inparticular,therearethreeaspectsofthe

localsituatednessofSRSthatstandoutintheempiricalmaterial:its

geographicallocation,thehistoryofthearea,andthelinkingofSRS

toanothersustainableurbandevelopmentdistrictinthe Stockholm

Region:HammarbySjöstad.

First,theSRSiscloselyassociatedwiththeparticular

geograph-icalareainwhichitissituatedthroughthemobilizationoftheBaltic

Sea,theNationalCityParkofStockholm,andthecloseproximityto

the city—in particular, the posh area of Östermalm: “From here,

Stureplan [a well-known meeting place and posh area down-town

withnight-clubs,restaurantsandexclusiveshops]isaccessible,asis

the beautiful nature of National City Park_”, a real estate broker

writes (Borätt,Google,2015), andaproperty developerformulates

it similarly: _“here we live beautifully with direct contact with the

Royal National City Park while being close to the [city] center. It

only takes 8minutes bybike to Stureplan_” (Skanska,Bing, 2020).

Theproximitytonature—theseaaswellasforests—incombination

with the proximity to the urbanity that the city provides is even

portrayedasprovidinga“balanced life”(Skanska,Google,2014)to

those living in the new area. Sustainability is performed as

something that takes place locally, and with values that involves

nature as well as urbanity, and as something that involves a

balancedmixoftheseaspects.

“Sustainability_”isalsoperformedbymobilizingthehistoryofthe

place.NotonlydoesSRSdosothroughitsnameanditslinktothe

Swedish monarchy_—_“StockholmRoyalSeaport ishistoricallypartof

the stately owned ‘Royal Djurgården’”, as Wikipedia tells us

(Wikipedia,Google,2013).Thedigitalfootprintalsoestablishesthat

theportintheareahasaspecialhistoryinthatitwasSweden'sfirst

toll-free port (ibid),and a property developer claimsthat the area

sinceatleastacenturybackhasbeena“centralnodeforsupplying

thecapitalwithgasand electricity_”(Äril,DuckDuckGo,2018),with

gasworksfromtheearly20thcentury.“Sustainability”isperformedas

buildingonthepastoftheparticularplaceandascherishingthispast

byrelatingthepresenttoit.

Third,theprojectisperformedaslocalbybeingassociatedwith

another sustainable urban development district in Stockholm:

HammarbySjöstad.Thiswasaprojectwithhighsustainability

ambi-tionsthatwasinitiatedin1996,whereby arun-down,pollutedand

unsafeindustrialandresidentialareawastransformedintoapopular

residential district (Iverot & Brandt, 2011). This was also usedas

sourceofinspirationfortheSRS-project:_“Basedontheexperiences

fromHammarbySjöstad[…]theCityhasraisedavisiontocreatea

sustainableurbandistrictinthemiddleofStockholm_”,theRoyal

Insti-tute of Technology declares (Yahoo, 2012), and the city officials

themselves claim that SRS “takes the baton from world-known

Hammarbysjöstadandbringsenvironmentaltechnologyanotherstep

forward”(Stockholmbygger,Google,2012).ByassociatingSRSwith

Hammarbysjöstad, _“sustainability_” isperformedaspassingon local

knowledgefromaprevioussustainabilityurbanrenewalprojecttothis

newone.

Bydrawingonitsgeographicallocation,thehistoryofthearea,

andthelinkingtoaprevioussustainableurbandevelopmentprojectin

theregion, the meaningof“sustainability”in the caseofSRS thus

emerges as closely linked to a particular, local, context (Kok

et al.,2017;Miller,2013),and asstronglyrelated totheparticular

place and space of the area where SRS is situated (Guthey

etal.,2014).

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S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

A S

T E M P O R A R Y

Inadditiontoitslocalperformance,_“sustainability_”isperformed

dif-ferentlyacrosstime.Greentechnologiesandagreenlifestylearetwo

examplesofmaterialsandsetsofideasthataremobilizedatdifferent

pointsintime.

Acrossthestudied10-yearperiod,_“sustainability_”isclosely

asso-ciatedwithvariousgreentechnologiesthatmayhelpsolveproblems

relatedtoenvironmentalissues.AnarticleinalargeSwedishdailyfor

examplereportedthat

StockholmRoyalSeaportwillbethefirsturbanareain

the world that is built with a smart grid. [_…] New

technology will enable small-scale, locally produced

electricity tobe fed into the grid.[_…There will be]

chargingstationsforelectricalscar. (DagensNyheter,

AltaVista,2011)

Butduringthe pastfewyears, nonew technologieshavebeen

mobilizedinthedigitalfootprintofSRS.Instead,alreadyintroduced

technologicalsolutionsarere-iteratedinthedata,alsoinrelationto

the most recent buildings, as on the webpage of the Belatchew

Architects,describingthehousesthatarecurrentlybeingconstructed

intheseventhphaseoftheproject:

A compact climate shell provides the best solution

forlow energyconsumption. [_…]On theroofs there

are solar cells providing energy to the building,

sedum plants are planted on the roofs, delaying

water, thereby diminishing the pressure on the

stormwatersystem[_…].Theventilation istakencare

of by an FTX-system that reuses energy from

extracted air. The amount of waste is minimized

through disposersand iscollected viaan automated

wastecollectionsystem.Thehouseshavegreenroofs

absorbing rainwater. Cycling is encouraged through

large and easily accessible cycle racks. (Belatchew,

(6)

All technologies mentioned above (solar cells, sedum-covered

roofs,systemforreusingenergy,garbagedisposers,automatedwaste

collectionsystem,andcycleracks)hadalreadybeenassociatedwith

SRS:smartgridswerementionedinthevisiondocumentfrom2010,

and solar panels were associated with SRS in the footprint of a

property developer 2016 (Stockholmshem, Bing, 2016). It is

somewhatof a paradoxthat SRS on theone handis intended to

becomea_“show-case_”ofmoderngreentechnologies, whileonthe

other hand, the technologies associated with this cutting-edge

sustainableurbandevelopmentprojectarenotnew.

Asthefirsthouseswerefinishedandpeoplestartedtomovein,

anothersetofideasweremobilizedinthe digitalfootprintofSRS;

ideasrelatedtoagreen lifestyle.Theseideaswererelated todaily

aspectsof residents'life. Asseen in thequote above,cycling and

othergreenmeansoftransportationareencouraged,andoverall,the

inhabitants_“areexpectedtoliveagreenlifeandexercise_”,asan

arti-cleinalargeSwedishdailyputit(DagensNyheter,Google,2011).As

peoplemovedin,theyalsobegantomobilizethislifestylethemselves

inrelationtothearea.“What'sthelatestnewsaboutcharging

sta-tionsinthearea_”,aninhabitantforexamplewroteontheFacebook

pagefortheareamanagedbythecity,referringtochargingstations

forelectricalcars(Yahoo,2015).Anotherresidentwrote_“Greatwith

newneighbors…doyouknowifthereareanyplansinrelationtothe

increased number of residents in the area? More public buses?_”

(Facebook,Google,2016).

Whereas_“sustainability_”intheearlypartsofthestudiedperiod

was performedbymobilizing green technologies, mainlyrelated to

renewableenergy,itmorerecentlyhascometobeaboutsustainable

livingandhealthylifestylethatforexampleincludescyclingandtaking

thebus,orpossiblyanelectricalcar.Fromaperformativeperspective,

“sustainability”thuschangeacrosstimeasvariousactorsmobilize

dif-ferenttechnologies,solutions,andideaswhenactinguponitverbally

andnonverbally(cf.Miller,2013).

7 |

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

A S

P O L I T I C A L

Thepoliticalaspectof_“sustainability_”isperformedbytheexpressing

of particular intentions, directions, or visions, for example, by the

mobilizingofideasthatarerelatedtoperfection.ThesepositionsSRS

asthebestofareas,therebyattractingthebestindividuals.The

politi-calaspectisalsoseeninthepowerthatthecityofStockholmhasin

thematerial,bothasawholeandrelativetootheractors.

The digital footprint of SRS makes it clear that the overall

ambitionoftheprojectis high:“theenvironmentalgoalsare more

ambitiousthanever_”(Fortumenergyprovider,AltaVista,2013)_—the

areaisevenlinkedtoperfection:“Allofusthatarepartofcreating

StockholmRoyalSeaportaredrivenbythesamething.Thiswillbea

perfect area: to live, work and spend time in.” (Borätt real estate

agent,AltaVistaandGoogle,2013).Theareaissaidtobe_“amodelfor

urbandevelopment” (Kjellander& Sjöberg architects,DuckDuckGo,

2018)andthe area _“willsoon beoneof themost obvioustourist

attractionsforeveryone”(Stockholmmedicaloffice,Bing,2020).

Thegoodreputationoftheareaisalsoexpectedtospreadacross

theworld_—asthefactthattheareahasanEnglishnamethatisnota

directtranslationfromtheSwedishnameindicates:“‘StockholmRoyal

Seaport_’iseasiertoremember._‘NorraDjurgårdsstaden_’istoo

diffi-cult to pronounce for all the Chinese, Indians, French people and

Americansthatcometovisitus.Oneofthegoalsistomarketthearea

acrossthe world, says Martin Ottosson, Communication Strategist

[intheCity]._”(DagensNyheter,Google,2015).

Bybeingthebestofareas,themosttalentedpeoplewillgather

here:thearea_“shouldbedevelopedtoaworld-class,vibrantand

sus-tainableportcity,attractingthemostcompetentindividualsandthe

most successful companies in the world_” (Tengbom architects,

Google,2020).

Thishoweveralsomeansthattheinhabitantshavetoadaptto

thearea,ratherthantheotherwayaround:“Iftheambitiousgoalsare

tobeachieveditisnotenoughtobuildenergyefficienthouses,find

smart technical solutions and ensure good public transportation.

Thosethatmoveinmust,accordingtotheCityofStockholm,

under-standandgetinvolved”(DagensNyheter,Google,2011).

Thisisnottheonlyexampleofhowpowerfulthecityof

Stock-holmisinfilling“sustainability”withmeaninginthecaseofSRSor

howthe citymobilize what_“sustainability_” is and howsustainable

development is accomplished through urban development. “Other

Swedishmunicipalitieshavepickedupideasfromthisproject,andwe

have had many international visitors interested in how to do it”.

(SvenskaByggprojekt,DuckDuckGo,2018).Being_“Sweden'slargest

urbandistrict”,thecityofStockholmwantsSRStoberecognizedand

comparablewithotherurbandistricts,_“suchasthoseinCopenhagen,

Oslo and Hamburg” (Royal Institute of Technology, Yahoo, 2015).

Hereby,SRSisusedasatooltobrandthecityofStockholmasrole

modelforinitiatingsustainabledevelopment,inorderto“meet

inter-nationalcompetition_”andfacilitate_“tomorrowsbusiness_”(Stockholm,

Yahoo,2014).However,whileacityofficialdescribeSRSasan“

envi-ronmentalproject_” (Svenska Byggprojekt,DuckDuckGo, 2018), the

sameofficialgivesthefollowingexplanationtowhythecityinvest:

“The target is to create a financial surplus to the City of

Stock-holm”(ibid).

Inotherwords,fromaperformativeperspective,_“sustainability_”

isnotaneutralconcept,ratheritemergesaspoliticalinthatparticular

valuesandperspectives arefavored(Connelly, 2007;Jacobs,1999;

Nyberg&Wright,2016).Traditionalpoliticalvaluepropositions

asso-ciated with superiority and economic growth of the region are

stronglymobilized, notonlybythecityofStockholmwhoinitiated

theproject,but byagreatnumberofotheractors.Furthermore, it

favorscertainconventionsanddemandsofparticular.

8 |

C O N C L U D I N G

D I S C U S S I O N

Asillustratedabove,thepresentstudyshowshow_“sustainability_”in

thecaseofSRSemergedastheprojectbecameassociatedwith

par-ticularplaces,projects,histories,andtechnologies.Althoughthefocus

(7)

madeatparticularpointsintime,ouroverallanalysisindicatethatthe

meaningsthatemergedwerelocal inthattheyweresituatedinthe

specificlocalcontextoftheproject; temporary inthattheyemerged

atparticularpointsintime;and political inthattheyexpressparticular

valuesandperspectives.Understanding“sustainability”as

performa-tive thushelps usseethatinpractice,_“sustainability_”maybecome

something else than what it was intended to be according to an

ostensivedefinition.

NotonlyisSRSperformedassustainablethrough,forexample,

themobilizingofnature,a_“green_”lifestyleand_“green_”technologies

(whichallareimpliedtobe“sustainable”),butSRSisalsoperformed

assustainablebythemobilizingoftheposhestpartsofStockholm,

andbybecomingassociatedwithacertainkindoflifestylerequired

bythelayoutoftheareaaswellasbytheimplementationof

particu-lartechnologies.Thismeansthat“sustainability”inthiscaseemerges

as something associated with a particular type of individuals_—

individualswhoarefitandabletouseabikeinsteadofacar;

individ-ualswhoareattractedtotheposhareasofthecity,andwhohavethe

financialmeanstoaffordtoliveinSRSwherepricesarehighdueto

theimplementationofexpensivetechnologiesandmaterials.The

indi-vidualsthataretoliveinSRSareevenexplicitlyexpectedtobe

tal-entedand competent.Consequently, itcould bequestioned ifSRS

fulfillstheostensivedefinitionofbeingsociallysustainable,becauseit

seemstoprioritizeanelite,ratherthanofferequalopportunitiestoall

kinds ofpeople (Elkington,1998).Furthermore, the mobilizationof

theindustrialhistoryintheperformanceof_“sustainability_”inthiscase

fails to mentionthe fact that the energysuppliers that previously

resided in the area contributed, not only to supplying the rapidly

expanding19th- and20th-centuryStockholmwithenergybutalsoto

pollutingthecity,particularlyitssoil,which,duringtheconstruction

ofSRS,hashadtoundergoextensiveandexpensivesanitization.

Thisdoesnotmean,however,thatSRSis not sustainable.Froma

performativeperspective,allassociationsthataremobilizedinrelation

tothissustainablecitydevelopmentprojecthelpdefine_“

sustainabil-ity”inthisparticularcase.Adoptingaperformativeperspectiveopens

upforseeingthevariety ofmeaningsof_“sustainability_” thatmakes

the conceptelusive andcontested asillustrated above. Or, touse

Corvellec's terms, _“sustainability_” is _“plural and contentious_”

(Corvellec,2016,p.397).

If _“sustainability_” is in a constant process of becoming,

trans-formed(Bergström&Dobers,2000),andcontinuouslyandceaselessly

re-performed(cf.Lury,2009),thenthetransition towards

sustainabil-ityalsoinvolvesasimultaneoustransitionof sustainability.Whereas

the transition towards sustainability implies a striving towards a

pre-definedidea,an end-state thatis“sustainable”according toan

ostensivedefinition,thetransition of sustainabilitytakesplaceasthe

conceptmaterializesinaparticularplaceandataparticularpointin

time,forexample,intheformofaproject,likein thecaseofSRS,

inanobject(Corvellec,2016),inaninfrastructure(Finchetal.,2015),

in marketingdiscourse (deBurgh-Woodman& King, 2012),or ina

policydiscourse(Hajer,1995;Hajer&Versteeg,2005).

Wewould argue that both of these processes are important.

Ratherthansearchingforadefinitivemeaningof“sustainability,”we

agreewithHaughtonandCounsell(2004,pp.72–73)thatitis“

neces-sarytorecognizethemultiplicityof_‘sustainabilities_’,andtoanalyze

theways in which these are shapedand mobilized”.Doing sowill

enableabetterunderstanding oftheunderlyingnormativebasisof

“sustainability”(Ramsey, 2015)andhelp teaseoutwhatdrives the

concern for sustainable transition (cf. de Burgh-Woodman &

King,2012).

Inthecasestudyhere,wesawthatsuchconcernsincludednot

only thevision ofasustainable city, supportedbyenvironmentally

friendlytechnologiesandthesupportingofgreenlifestyles,butalso

visionsof aparticulartypeofsuccessfulelitist groupofindividuals

who potentially could contribute to the city also in other ways

(e.g.,financiallyandintellectually).Thisisnotsurprisingas

sustainabil-ityprocessesarealwaysinherentlypoliticalbyinvolvingamultitude

ofstakeholderswithvestedinterests(Köhleretal.,2019).But

under-standingthetransition of sustainability_—thatis,howvariousinterests

becomeentangledin theshapingofthemeaningof“sustainability”

across time_—provides the possibilities of keeping the transition

towards sustainabilityontrack.Thismeansthatacknowledgingthat

“sustainability_”alwayswillremainavagueandcontestedconcept,is

notmeaningless—on thecontrary.It ispreciselythisthatenablesa

constructivediscussionofwhytheworktowardssustainable

transi-tionisdifficult.

Sustainability involves structural changes that need to happen

overlongerperiodsoftimeandrequiresco-evolutionarychangesin

technology, economy, culture, and organizational forms (Köhler

etal.,2019;Loorbachetal.,2010). Byscrutinizingthepracticesof

“sustainability,_”rathermerelythanthedefinitions,visions,and

objec-tivesoftheconcept, researchers,managers,and otherpractitioners

maydevelop anunderstandingofpotentialdifferencesinframesof

references,differencesthatmayimpedefruitfulandeffective

collabo-ration towards sustainability. The plural of _“practice-s_” here is

important.

9 |

F U T U R E

R E S E A R C H

We believe that there is a need for further studies of how

“sustainability” is performed in various contexts. Understanding

how sustainability is made sense of in relation to the context in

whichitisusedwillleadtomoreacomprehensiveand

transforma-tive understanding of the concept (Guthey et al., 2014), not

only by helping understanding gaps between ideal and practice

(Wagenaar & Wilkinson, 2013), and in relation to the _“

post-sustainable trilemma” (sic Sconfienza, 2019),but also byequipping

us with the possibility of evoking the performative effects of

language in order tostimulatechange (Wickert& Schaefer, 2014).

This could also prove useful in mindfulness-based approaches to

sustainability, which builds on reflection and mindful strategizing

(Ndubisietal.,2019).

Futureresearchcouldforexamplecomparehow“sustainability”

is performed differently across different geographical and cultural

(8)

sustainabilityisperformed,byfurther exploringwhichinterests are

privileged and which actors are more or less influential and by

studying how competition or negotiation takes place in such

processesandamongdifferentcentralorperipheralactors.Here, it

shouldbepointedoutthat“actors”maynotonlybehumansbutalso

nonhumans,asArtificialIntelligence(AI)anddigitaltechnologiesare

becomingincreasinglymoreimportantinsustainabilitytransition(see

thespecialissuebyBohnsacketal.,2019).Suchstudieswould

gener-ateadeeperunderstandingofhowpowerandinequalityemergein

theperformingofsustainabilityandtheroleofvariousactorsinthese

processes.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

Theauthorswouldliketothanktheparticipantsintheseminarheldat

the Gothenburg Research Institute and the EGOS-track where

previousversionsofthispaperwaspresented.

O R C I D

Anette Hallin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6980-3448

Tina Karrbom-Gustavsson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5744-9445

Peter Dobers https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6662-0403

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