"The Circular Economy in Europe presents an overview and a critical discussion on how circularity is conceived, imagined and enacted in current EU policy-making. In 2013, the idea of a circular economy entered the stage of European policy-making in the efforts to reconcile environmental and economic policy objectives. In 2019 the European Commission declared in a press release that the Circular Economy Action Plan has been delivered. The level of circularity in the European economy, however, has remained the same. Bringing together perspectives from social sciences, environmental economics and policy analysis, The Circular Economy in Europe provides a critical analysis of policies and promises of the next panacea for growth and sustainability. The authors provide a theoretical and empirical basis to discuss how contemporary societies conceive their need to re-organise production and consumption and explores the messy assemblage of institutions, actors, waste streams, biophysical flows, policy objectives, scientific disciplines, values, expectations, promises and aspirations involved. This book is essential reading for all those interested in understanding how ideas about the circular economy emerged historically, how they gained traction and are used in policy processes, and what the practical challenges in implementing this policy are"--.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• PART I: Circular economy as a policy concept
  • 1. Introduction: the sixteenth century map
    • Has the circular economy been delivered?
    • The sixteenth century map
    • Part I: The circular economy as a policy concept
    • Part II: Critical perspectives
    • Part III: The future of change
    • How to read this book
    • References
  • 2. Limits to growth: historical antecedents of the circular economy
    • Introduction
    • The context: the tension between the economy and the environment
    • The circular economy: building blocks of the concept
    • A fragile alliance
    • Criticisms
    • References
  • 3. Enter Ellen: the circular economy hits the European scene
    • Introduction
    • 2013 – Ellen MacArthur Foundation
    • 2014 – A cautious transition to the circular economy
    • 2015 – A more ambitious vision of the circular economy
    • 2016 – Implementing the circular economy
    • 2017 – Public performance of the circular economy
    • 2018 – Measuring the circular economy
    • Careful of what you wish for?
    • References
  • 4. The circular economy: a concept in the making
    • Introduction
    • Dflkjdrl haqwnmz
    • The legitimacy crisis of the European Union
    • The institutional context of the European Commission
    • Climate change and the context of environmental concerns
    • What comes next (in the book)
    • References
• PART II: Critical perspectives
  • 5. Postulating circularity: biophysical flows and the problem of entropy
    • Introduction
    • Can the economy go in circles? What would that mean?
    • Can the economy be a closed system?
    • Humans and their economic activities are dissipative systems
    • Stocks, flows and funds
    • Squaring the circle: economic growth, sustainability and the circular economy
    • References
  • 6. Imagining circularity: the circular economy as a sociotechnical imaginary
    • Introduction
    • Imagination in technoscience and policy – imagining circularity
    • Imagining circularity in EU policy
    • Imagining circularity and rehearsing tropes
    • References
  • 7. Measuring circularity: indicator development in the circular economy
    • Introduction
    • Quantification in governance
    • Indicator politics
    • Measuring progress and quantifying circularity
    • Numbers, collective imagination and authority
    • References
  • 8. Governing circularity: how to govern in the nexus
    • Introduction
    • Theoretical lenses
    • Techno fixing policy
    • An apparent consensus
    • The circular economy has been delivered
    • Note
    • References
• PART III: The future of change
  • 9. Narratives of stop and go
    • Introduction: going beyond unfair criticisms of the proponents of the circular economy
    • Bios and Geos: two competing grand narratives
    • Narratives of stop and go
    • Crisis
    • References
  • 10. What kind of science is needed in a changing world?
    • Introduction
    • Normal accidents
    • Knowledge for a changing world
    • Ambiguity
    • Governance in complexity
    • Scientific advice to policy
    • Some problems may not have a solution
    • Less ambitious, more sensible policies
    • References
  • 11. From the sixteenth to the twenty-first century
    • Coming to terms with incomplete knowledge
    • Logic of choice and logic of care
    • The twenty-first century map
    • Non-violence and non-action: ancient oriental perspectives on governance
    • References
• Index