Publications

All our publications are listed here, from books and Working Papers to shorter briefings and journal articles.

Because we want to make our work as accessible as possible, our publications are published under a Creative Commons licence and many can be downloaded for free in pdf format.

You can also order publications via the IDS bookshop, by email or by phone (+ 44 (0)1273 678269). If you can’t find what you want, please email steps-centre@ids.ac.uk.


Latest resources

Latest Working Paper: CLTS

The Dynamics and Sustainability of Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS): Mapping Challenges and Pathways (pdf 572kb)
Published August 2010


Book series: available to order

Dynamic Sustainabilities book coverrice biofortification book coverrice biofortification book cover

 

 

 

 

 


The first four titles in our Pathways to Sustainability series are available to order on the Earthscan website:


STEPS Centre briefings

Each Working Paper is accompanied by a short and easy-to-read companion, in the briefing section below.

Policy briefings

Our first set of policy briefings, on the southern African livestock market, are in the policy briefing section below.


STEPS Centre Working Papers

STEPS Centre Approach Paper

approach paper coverPathways to Sustainability: an overview of the STEPS Centre approach (pdf 694kb)
By Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling

This paper outlines the STEPS Centre approach to understanding dynamic systems and addressing their goverance so as to promote pathways to Sustainabilty that meet the perspectives and priorities of poor and marginalised groups. It lays out the ingredients of the STEPS Centre's work, including linking diverse social and natural science perspectives, connecting theory, policy and practice and an engaged, interactive approach to communications.

STEPS Working Paper 1: Dynamics

Dynamic Systems and the Challenge of Sustainability (pdf 861kb)
Ian Scoones, Melissa Leach, Adrian Smith, Sigrid Stagl, Andy Stirling, John Thompson

Dynamism, uncertainty and complexity dominate today’s world. Yet many policy interventions ignore this, and so often fail. What is missing is a rigorous and systematic approach to addressing dynamics, one that encompasses an understanding of complex system dynamics and provides a useable guide to action.

STEPS Working Paper 2: Governance

Understanding Governance: pathways to sustainability (pdf 519kb)
Melisa Leach, Gerald Bloom, Adrian Ely, Paul Nightingale, Ian Scoones, Esha Shah,
Adrian Smith

The challenges of understanding the governance of dynamic social, technological and environmental systems, and thier implications for sustainability and social justice, are addressed.

 

STEPS Working Paper 3: Designs

Empowering Designs: steps towards more progressive social appraisal of sustainability
(pdf 2,311kb)
Andy Stirling, Melissa Leach, Lyla Mehta, Ian Scoones, Adrian Smith, Sigrid Stagl, John Thompson

The challenges of designing new frameworks for social appraisal aimed at sustainability and social justice are reviewed by this paper.

 

STEPS Working Paper 4: Agriculture & Food

Agri-Food System Dynamics: pathways to sustainability in an era of uncertainty (pdf 759kb)
By John Thompson, Erik Millstone, Ian Scoones, Adrian Ely, Fiona Marshall, Esha Shah, Sigrid Stagl

The 'modernist' project that has come to dominate food and agricultural policy has failed to provide sustainable outcomes for many poor people in developing countries. Countering orthodox notions, this paper makes a case for a deeper understanding of diverse 'rural worlds' in an era of short-terms shocks and long-terms stresses like climate change.

     

    STEPS Working Paper 5: Health

    Health in a Dynamic World (pdf 334kb)
    By Gerald Bloom, Jerker Edstrom, Melissa Leach, Henry Lucas, Hayley MacGregor, Hilary Standing, Linda Waldman

    The world has faced a number of health major health challenges over the past few decades - HIV, pollution, chronic illness, SARS. We need national and global health systems that take into account complex interactions between ecology, technology and social organisation.

 

STEPS Working Paper 6: Water

Liquid Dynamics: challenges for sustainability in water and sanitation (pdf 566kb)
Lyla Mehta, Fiona Marshall, Synne Movik, Andy Stirling, Esha Shah, Adrian Smith,
John Thompson

Floods, droughts, 6,000 babies dying daily due to waterbounre diseases and growing sanitation problems in booming peri-urban and urban centres. No act of terrorism generates devastation on the scale of the crisis in water and sanitation. This paper demonstrates the big disconnect between global rhetoric and the everyday realities of poor and marginalised people.

 

Set of seven STEPS Working Papers

working paper covers Setting out the STEPS approach to our three domains and three themes, the series has an accompanying overview booklet by Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling. The set of the first seven STEPS Working Papers can be ordered from the bookshop for the special price of £20.

STEPS Working Paper 7: Herders

Time to outbreed animal science? A cattle-breeding system exploiting structural unpredictability: the WoDaaBe herders in Niger (pdf 244kb)
Saverio Krätli

 

STEPS Working Paper 8: Transitions

Social-ecological resilience and socio-technical transitions: critical issues for sustainability governance (pdf 763kb)
Adrian Smith and Andy Stirling

  • Only available online
  • Need help with downloading? See our help page

 

STEPS Working Paper 9: Epidemics

Epidemics for all? Governing Health in a Global Age (pdf 513kb)
By Sarah Dry

 

STEPS Working Paper 10: Avian Flu

The International Response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: Science, Policy and Politics (pdf 2MB)
By Ian Scoones and Paul Forster

 

STEPS Working Paper 11: GM Crops

Made by Monsanto: the Corporate Shaping of GM Crops as a Technology for the Poor (pdf 447kb)
By Dominic Glover

 

STEPS Working Paper 12: Regulation

Rethinking regulation: International Harmonisation and Local Realities (pdf 607kb)
By Patrick van Zwanenberg, Adrian Ely and Adrian Smith

 

STEPS Working Paper 13: Resilience

Re-framing Resilience: Trans-disciplinarity, Reflexivity and Progressive Sustainability – a Symposium Report (pdf 496kb)
Edited by Melissa Leach

 

STEPS Working Paper 14: Ebola

Haemorrhagic Fevers in Africa: Narratives, Politics and Pathways of Disease and Response (pdf 480kb)
By Melissa Leach

  • Only available online
  • Need help with downloading? See our help page

 

STEPS Working Paper 15 - Bt Cotton
Undying Promise: Agricultural Biotechnology's Pro-poor Narrative, Ten Years On (pdf 904kb)

by Dominic Glover

 

STEPS Working Paper 16 - Cambodia

Cambodia’s Victim Zero: Global and National Responses to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (pdf 2MB)
By Sophal Ear

 

STEPS Working Paper 17 - Indonesia

The Political Economy of Avian Influenza in Indonesia by Paul Forster (pdf 1MB)
by Paul Forster

 

STEPS Working Paper 18 - Thailand
The Political Economy of Avian Influenza in Thailand (pdf 834kb)

by Rachel M. Safman

 

STEPS Working Paper 19 - Vietnam

The Political Economy of Avian Influenza Response and Control in Vietnam (pdf 775kb)
by Tuong Vu

 

STEPS Working Paper 20 - Vaccines

Knowledge Accumulation and the Development of Poliomyelitis Vaccines (pdf 515kb)
by Ohid Yaqub
ISBN: 978 1 85864 766 5

 

STEPS Working Paper 21 - Reform

The Dynamics and Discourses of Water Allocation Reform in South Africa (pdf 1,867kb)
by Synne Movik
ISBN: 978 15684 775 5


Working Papers 22-34 and 37 (below) were written as background papers for Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto. This set of papers are available online only and are free to download
Need help with downloading? See our help page

STEPS Working Paper 22 - Redistribution

The Global Redistribution of Innovation: Lessons from China and India
by Adrian Ely and Ian Scoones
ISBN: 978 1 85864 779 7

STEPS Working Paper 23 - Capacity

Centres of Excellence? Questions of Capacity for Innovation, Sustainability, Development
By Melissa Leach and Linda Waldman
ISBN: 978 1 85864 780 0

STEPS Working Paper 24 - Philanthropy

Silver Bullets, Grand Challenges and the New Philanthropy
Sally Brooks, Melissa Leach, Henry Lucas and Erik Millstone
ISBN: 978 1 85864 781 9

STEPS Working Paper 25 - UN debates

Manifesting Utopia: History and Philosophy of UN Debates on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development
by Esha Shah
ISBN: 978 1 85864 782 7

STEPS Working Paper 26 - Agriculture

Reforming the Global Food and Agriculture System: Towards a Questioning Agenda for the New Manifesto
by Erik MIllstone, John Thompson and Sally Brooks
ISBN: 978 1 85864 783 5

STEPS Working Paper 27 - Retrospective

The Original ‘Sussex Manifesto’: Its Past and Future Relevance
by Adrian Ely and Martin Bell
ISBN: 978 1 85864 786 X

STEPS Working Paper 28 - Health

Science and Technology for Health: Towards Universal Access in a Changing World
by Gerald Bloom
ISBN: 978 1 85864 787 8

STEPS Working Paper 29 - Water

Going with the Flow? Directions of Innovation in the Water and Sanitation Domain
by Synne Movik and Lyla Mehta
ISBN: 978 1 85864 788 6

STEPS Working Paper 30 - Foresight

Emerging Technologies and Opportunities for International Science and Technology Foresight
by Patirck Van Zwanenberg, Adrian Ely, and Andy Stirling
ISBN: 978 1 85864 789 4

STEPS Working Paper 31- Energy

Low Carbon Development: The Role of Local Innovative Capabilitiesby David Ockwell, Adrian Ely, Alexandra Mallett, Oliver Johnson and Jim Watson
ISBN: 978 1 85864 790 8

STEPS Working Paper 32 - 3Ds

Direction, Distribution and Diversity! Pluralising Progress in Innovation, Sustainability and Development
by Andy Stirling
ISBN: 978 1 85864 791 6

STEPS Working Paper 33 - Capabilities

Innovation Capabilities and Directions of Development
by Martin Bell
ISBN: 978 1 85864 792 4

STEPS Working Paper 34 - Policy tools (not yet published)

Innovation Statistics and Innovation System Models: Policy Tools and Policy-making in Developing Countries
by Martin Bell
978 1 85864 793 2

STEPS Working Paper 37 - R&D Data

Trends in the Global Distribution of R&D since the 1970s: Data, their Interpretation and Limitations (pdf 835kb)
by Elisa Arond and Martin Bell
ISBN: 978 1 85864 928 5


STEPS Working Paper 35 - Peri-Urban

On the Edge of Sustainability: Perspectives on Peri-urban
Dynamics (pdf 640kb)

by Fiona Marshall, Linda Waldman, Hayley MacGregor, Lyla Mehta and Pritpal Randhawa
ISBN: 978 1 85864 794 0

 

STEPS Working Paper 36 - Maize

Environmental Change and Maize Innovation in Kenya:
Exploring Pathways In and Out of Maize (pdf 817kb)

by Sally Brooks, John Thompson, Hannington Odame, Betty Kibaara, Serah Nderitu, Francis Karin and Erik Millstone
ISBN: 978 1 85864 903 X

 

STEPS Working Paper 37 - CLTS

The Dynamics and Sustainability of Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS): Mapping Challenges and Pathways (pdf 572kb)
by Synne Movik and Lyla Mehta
ISBN: 978 1 85864 905 6


STEPS Centre briefings

These short briefings (around 800 words) explain the key points of each working paper, illustrated with real-life examples. The number of each one corresponds to the Working Paper number in the list above.

1: Dynamic systems and development challenges (pdf 320kb)
2: Governance and pathways to Sustainability (pdf 345kb)
4: Agri-food System Dynamics for Sustainability (pdf 273kb)
5: Health in a Dynamic World (pdf 210kb)
6: Liquid Dynamics: Challenges for Sustainability in water and sanitation (pdf 243kb)
7: Pathways to Sustainability: the STEPS Centre approach (pdf 218kb)
9: Epidemics for all? Governing health in a global age (pdf 222kb)
10: One World, One Health? Learning from the International Response to Avian Influenza (pdf 214kb)
11: GM Crops - a 'pro-poor' technology? (pdf 230kb)
13: Reframing Resilience (pdf 206kb)
15: Transgenic cotton: a 'pro-poor' success (pdf 246kb)
20: Test, test and test again: accumulating knowledge for vaccine development (pdf 220kb)
21: Reforming water rights: dynamics, discourses and risks (pdf 240kb)

STEPS briefings on maize: Environmental Change and Maize Innovation Pathways in Kenya

maize briefingA series of briefings to accompany the paper Environmental Change and Maize Innovation in Kenya: Exploring Pathways In and Out of Maize (pdf 817kb).

By John Thompson, Sally Brooks, Molly Morgan, Erik Millstone, Hannington Odame, Francis Karin and Andrew Adwera.

 

 


BriefingPolicy briefings / Briefings Politique

SADC region
Challenges for the beef industry in southern Africa (pdf 786kb)


BRIEFING POLITIQUE: Les défis de l’industrie bovine en Afrique australe (pdf 803kb)

 

The full set of policy briefings from this project, Veterinary Science, Transboundary Animal Disease and Market Access


Books

Pathways to Sustainability book series


Dynamic Sustainabilities book coverThe first four titles in our 13-strong Pathways to Sustainability series are available to order on the Earthscan website.
> Dynamic Sustainabilities – Technology, Environment, Social Justice by Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling
> Avian Influenza – Science, Policy and Politics edited by Ian Scoones
> Epidemics – Science, Governance and Social Justice edited by Sarah Dry and Melissa Leach
> Rice Biofortification – Lessons for Global Science and Development by Sally Brooks

Available to order, 20% off List Price, from the Earthscan website

 

Vaccine Anxieties: Global Science, Child Health and Society

vaccine anxietiesBy Melissa Leach and James Fairhead (2007)

Vaccine Anxieties explores how parents understand and engage with childhood vaccination in contrasting global contexts. This rapidly advancing and universal technology has sparked dramatic controversy, whether over MMR in the UK or oral polio vaccines in Nigeria.
Buy online at the special 10% off price of £17.99

 

Community-based Natural Resource Management in South Asia

Esha Shah book coverBy Ajit Menon, Praveen Singh, Esha Shah, Sharachachandra Lele, Suhas Paranjape and Kj Joy (2007)

NGOs today, as part of civil society, have come to play a prominent role in South Asia in the context of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). This book examines the theory and practice of NGO-driven CBNRM within the framework of emerging critiques of dominant discourses of development, the micro-politics of decentralisation and the projection of community development.Co-authored by STEPS member Esha Shah. Buy online £18.99

 


Journal articles by STEPS members

Foot and Mouth Disease and Market Access: Challenges for the Beef Industry in Southern Africa (pdf 128kb) by Ian Scoones, Alec Bishi, Neo Mapitse, Rebone Moerane, Mary Louise Penrith, Ronny Sibanda, Gavin Thomson and William Wolmer, in Pastoralism Vol. 1 No.2, July 2010

Addressing the Dynamics of Agri-Food Systems (pdf 377kb) by John Thompson and Ian Scoones, in Environmental Science and Policy, June 2009

Biosecurity, bioterrorism and the governance of science:
The increasing convergence of science and security policy
(pdf 344kb) by Caitrıona McLeish and Paul Nightingale. October 2007

Sustainability, by Ian Scoones in Development In Practice. August 2007

Grassroots innovations for sustainable development: Towards a new research and policy agenda, by Adrian Smith and Gill Seyfang
in Environmental Politics. 01 August 2007

Translating Sustainabilities between Green Niches and
Socio-Technical Regimes
by Adrian Smith in Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. 01 July 2007

Managing complex adaptive systems - A co-evolutionary
perspective on natural resource management
by Christian Rammel, Sigrid Stagl, Harald Wilfing in Ecological Economics, 63 (2007) 9-2, April 2007

Theoretical foundations of learning processes for sustainable development by Sigrid Stagl in International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 14 (2007) 1–11, February 2007

The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions.(pdf 318kb) by Adrian Smith, Andy Stirling and Frans Berkhout in Research Policy Volume 34, Issue 10, December 2005

The Alternative Technology Movement: An Analysis of its
Framing and Negotiation of Technology Development
(pdf 164kb)
by Adrian Smith in Human Ecology Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2005


Publications by topic

Go to our publications by topic page


IDS bookshop

The IDS Bookshop gives access to all STEPS Centre publications and all other IDS work.

You can search the IDS online catalogue publications from IDS by author, title, keyword, theme or series and check out new publications and the bestsellers list.

Or you can ring the IDS order hotline number on:
+ 44 (0)1273 678269 or email bookshop@ids.ac.uk for any information about our publications, books or subscriptions.


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