This dissertation analyses how district heating systems in the Stockholm region have evolved and developed during the period 1978-2012. The thesis comprises four papers analyzing how district heating has been handled in municipal and regional planning. The examination explores how actors have worked together to create regional, interconnected district heating systems with economic, technological and environmental benefits. An investigation is undertaken on the effects of liberalization (and the subsequent commercialization of the district heating market) on the planning and cooperation of these systems. The impact on the present and future district heating market is also discussed. The dissertation shows that energy companies cooperated on a regional level to create interconnected regional systems. Through openness, the capacity to make high-level decisions and municipal legitimacy, the regional strategies could be implemented at the municipal level. This can be considered a form of regional planning from below that developed through the initiative of the municipalities. The regional energy planning authority Stoseb could therefore succeed where other regional planning authorities in the Stockholm region have previous failed, to gather and unite the municipalities into a regional force. This cooperation changed around the time of the liberalization of the energy market in 1996, which led to sales of several municipal energy companies and a subsequent concentration of ownership in the region. The organizational distance between energy companies and municipalities has increased and affected the communication between them. Regional cooperation could not be maintained and this has meant that opportunities and tools to implement energy strategies today are weaker than earlier. This is a case of ‘regional splintering’. The liberalization of the energy market thus had a major impact on the district heating sector. / Denna sammanläggningsavhandling analyserar hur fjärrvärmesystemen iStockholmsregionen vuxit och förändrats, mellan 1978 och 2012. Avhandlingen består av fyra artiklar som analyserar hur fjärrvärme hanterats i kommunal och regional planering, hur aktörer samarbetat för att skapa regionala, sammankopplade fjärrvärmesystem med ekonomiska, tekniska och miljömässiga vinster som följd, hur elavregleringen, och den påföljande kommersialiseringen av fjärrvärmemarknaden, påverkade planering och samverkan kring dessa system, samt fjärrvärmemarknadens nuläge och framtid. Avhandlingen visar att energibolagen samarbetat på regional nivå för att skapa sammanhängande regionala system, genom öppet samarbete och att man tack vare hög beslutskompetens kunnat implementera de regionala strategierna på kommunal nivå. Det var en form av regional planering underifrån, då initiativet kom från kommunerna och samarbetsorganet lyckades med vad regionala planorgan haft svårt att genomföra under flertalet decennier i Stockholmsregion, nämligen att samla och ena kommunerna kring strategier som implementerats. Detta samarbete förändrades vid tiden runt liberaliseringen av energimarknaden, som genomfördes 1996, vilket ledde till försäljning av flertalet kommunala energibolag och en efterföljande koncentration av ägandeskapet i regionen. Det organisatoriska avståndet mellan energibolag och kommun har därmed blivit längre och påverkat kommunikationen dem emellan. Det regionala samarbetet kunde därmed inte fortsätta som tidigare och detta gör att möjligheterna och verktyg att implementera regionala energistrategier idag är svaga. Detta var ett fall av ”regional splintering”. Liberaliseringen av energimarknaden hade således stor påverkan påfjärrvärmesektorn.

<p>This study in contemporary history describes the transformation of the public sphere in Sweden during the period 1969-1999, and analyses the role of information technology and politics in the process. The overall aim of the study is to explain how, and why, the public sphere in Jürgen Habermas sense has deteriorated during a period of rapid technological and political change, when increasing attention has been given to information technology as a new tool for improving democracy and empowering citizens.</p><p>Theoretical inspiration is drawn from two perspectives within the modern history of technology and sociology of technology; the LTS (Large Technical Systems) and STS (Science, Technology and Society) approaches, as well as from the regime theory concept within political science. This multidisciplinary framework provides the theoretical basis for the study, including terms as socio-technical systems, system builder, technification, interpretative flexibility, stabilization, closing and regime change. In addition, the analysis draws upon previous research in economic history, where focus often has been on the important role of institutions. The term path dependence is central in this tradition.</p><p>The starting point for the study is the process of a mutual legitimization between citizens and political actors that traditionally has taken place within the public sphere. In return for citizens support and trust, political actors have granted format rights to the public space. Two aspects of this interdependence are addressed: Freedom of speech and citizen’s access to public information, and their access to arenas where an exchange of political ideas and opinions is taking place. In the study, the former is a question of the legal system and the limits to freedom of speech in new medias such as the Internet, while the latter concerns citizen’s technical means and possibilities to connect to electronic networks.</p><p>Research interest is concentrated on the formal political system, focusing both actors and structural factors such as technological development, media convergence, ideological change and international integration in the transformation process. Four case studies of institutional changes during formative moments, within what is defined as the legal and the technical infrastructures, are conducted and represent the empirical base of the thesis. The case studies are centered on Swedish governmental commissions, on the government itself and on proceedings in the parliament, and concerns formation and transformation of computer law, as well as the deregulation and privatization of the technical infrastructure.</p><p>In the latter process Televerket (Swedish Telecom) has been an influential promoter of competition and institutional separation between tele- and data communications, representing a major regime change in favour of market relations in the technical infrastructure. In the area of computer law, the Swedish regime dominated by SCB (Statistics Sweden) was incorporated into a joint European data protection regime, resulting in limitations of freedom of speech on the Internet. These regime changes have also transformed the role of the state, constituting a “net watchers state”. </p><p>Another important finding is that promotion of democracy and improvement of access to the public sphere, never was on the agenda in the political transformation processes studied, although a parallel discourse on democracy and information technology existed throughout the period studied.</p>

<p>This licentiate thesis describes and analyses the modern history of the socio-technical systems for urban water supply and sanitation in East Africa with focus on Uganda and Kenya. The key objective of the thesis is to evaluate to what extent the historic processes frame and influence the water and sanitation services sectors in these countries today. The theoretical approach combines the Large Technical Systems approach from the discipline of History of Technology with New Institutional Economics. Throughout, urban water and sanitation service systems are regarded as socio-technical systems, where institutions, organisation and technology all interact. The thesis consists of three separate articles and a synthesis in the form of a framework narrative. The first article provides a discussion of the theoretical framework with special focus on the application of Public Goods theory to urban water and sanitation. The second article describes the establishment of the large-scale systems for water supply and sanitation in Kampala, Uganda in the period 1920-1950. The third article focuses on the politics of urban water supply in Kenya with emphasis on the period 1900-1990.</p><p>The main findings in this thesis are that the socio-technical systems for urban water and sanitation evolve over long periods of time and are associated with inertia that makes these systems change slowly. The systems were established in the colonial period to mainly respond to the needs and preferences of a wealthy minority and a technological paradigm evolved based on capital-intensive and large-scale technology. Attempts to expand services to all citizens in the post-colonial period under this paradigm were not sustainable due to changes in the social, political and economic environment while incentives for technological change were largely absent. History thus frames decisions in the public sphere even today, through technological and institutional inertia. Knowing the history of these socio-technical systems is therefore important, in order to understand key sector constraints, and for developing more sustainable service provision.</p>

This study in contemporary history describes the transformation of the public sphere in Sweden during the period 1969-1999, and analyses the role of information technology and politics in the process. The overall aim of the study is to explain how, and why, the public sphere in Jürgen Habermas sense has deteriorated during a period of rapid technological and political change, when increasing attention has been given to information technology as a new tool for improving democracy and empowering citizens. Theoretical inspiration is drawn from two perspectives within the modern history of technology and sociology of technology; the LTS (Large Technical Systems) and STS (Science, Technology and Society) approaches, as well as from the regime theory concept within political science. This multidisciplinary framework provides the theoretical basis for the study, including terms as socio-technical systems, system builder, technification, interpretative flexibility, stabilization, closing and regime change. In addition, the analysis draws upon previous research in economic history, where focus often has been on the important role of institutions. The term path dependence is central in this tradition. The starting point for the study is the process of a mutual legitimization between citizens and political actors that traditionally has taken place within the public sphere. In return for citizens support and trust, political actors have granted format rights to the public space. Two aspects of this interdependence are addressed: Freedom of speech and citizen’s access to public information, and their access to arenas where an exchange of political ideas and opinions is taking place. In the study, the former is a question of the legal system and the limits to freedom of speech in new medias such as the Internet, while the latter concerns citizen’s technical means and possibilities to connect to electronic networks. Research interest is concentrated on the formal political system, focusing both actors and structural factors such as technological development, media convergence, ideological change and international integration in the transformation process. Four case studies of institutional changes during formative moments, within what is defined as the legal and the technical infrastructures, are conducted and represent the empirical base of the thesis. The case studies are centered on Swedish governmental commissions, on the government itself and on proceedings in the parliament, and concerns formation and transformation of computer law, as well as the deregulation and privatization of the technical infrastructure. In the latter process Televerket (Swedish Telecom) has been an influential promoter of competition and institutional separation between tele- and data communications, representing a major regime change in favour of market relations in the technical infrastructure. In the area of computer law, the Swedish regime dominated by SCB (Statistics Sweden) was incorporated into a joint European data protection regime, resulting in limitations of freedom of speech on the Internet. These regime changes have also transformed the role of the state, constituting a “net watchers state”. Another important finding is that promotion of democracy and improvement of access to the public sphere, never was on the agenda in the political transformation processes studied, although a parallel discourse on democracy and information technology existed throughout the period studied.

Syfte:Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar projektering av en järnvägsanläggning ur ett livscykelperspektiv. Målet är att tydliggöra vad Trafikverket behöver ta hänsyn till vid projektering av en järnvägsanläggning för att kunna uppnå de krav som ställs på järnvägsanläggningen samt öka förutsägbarheten för livscykelkostnaden. Frågeställningar:Hur kan projektering av järnvägsanläggningar förbättras ur ett livscykelperspektiv? Vilka faktorer behöver Trafikverket ta hänsyn till vid projekteringsfasen för att säkerställa tillförlitliga och kostnadseffektiva järnvägsanläggningar? Hur kan en arbetsmetodik formas för att främja en kostnadseffektiv järnvägsanläggning? Metod:Följande studie är baserad på en kvalitativ fallstudie. Metoden är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer och dokumentationsmetodik för att erhålla empiriska data. Litteraturstudien och det teoretiska ramverket är baserade på expertgranskade tidskrifter, vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker som täcker studieområdena. Slutsats:Studien har visat att projektering av järnvägsanläggningar ur ett livscykelperspektiv kan förbättras genom att ta fram konkreta underlag för att stödja de besluts som ska tas. Beslutsunderlag för järnvägsanläggningen bör baseras på olika analyser för att kunna värdera vilket alternativ som ger den mest kostnadseffektiva anläggningen samtidigt som det återspeglar de efterfrågade målen och kraven. Analyser ska inte enbart baseras på tekniska konstruktion utan även driften samt underhållet behöver beaktas eftersom de har en stor inverkan på utfallet av kapaciteten, prestandan och kostnader över hela anläggningens livscykel. Vidare har studien visat vikten av att ha tillförlitliga system som kan ge information om anläggningen och även all data som krävs för att utföra analyser. / Purpose:The purpose of the study is to investigate which factors affect life-cycle planning of a railway infrastructure. The aim is to clarify what the Swedish Transport Administration needs to take into account when planning a railway infrastructure in the future in order to meet the requirements and increase the predictability of life-cycle costs. Research questions:How can railway infrastructure planning phase be improved based on a life-cycle perspective? What factors do the Swedish Transport Administration need to take into account during the planning phase to ensure reliable and cost-effective railway infrastructure? How can a working methodology be designed to promote a cost-effective railway infrastructure? Method:The following study is based on a qualitative case study. The literature study and the theoretical framework are based on peer-reviewed journals, scientific articles and books that covers the areas of the study. The empirical data collection is based on semi-structured interviews and reports from different administrative authority. Conclusion:This study has shown that planning of railway infrastructure from a life-cycle perspective can be improved by concrete evidence to support the decisions to be taken. The decisions basis for the railway infrastructure should be based on various analysis in order to evaluate the most cost-effective option while reflecting the desired goals and requirements. However, analysis should not only be based on the technical design. It should also consider operation and maintenance, since they have a major impact on the outcome of capacity, performance and cost throughout the life-cycle of railway infrastructure. Furthermore, the study has demonstrated the importance of having reliable systems that can provide information about the railway infrastructure and all data required for carrying out analysis.

Sammanfattning Datum: 2018-05-31 Nivå: Examensarbete i Industriell ekonomi, 30 ECTS Institution: Akademin för Ekonomi, Samhälle och Teknik, EST, Mälardalens Högskola Författare: Elias Kirilmaz &amp; Jennifer Quach Titel: Projektering av en järnvägsanläggning ur ett livscykelperspektiv: En fallstudie om hur infrastrukturförvaltare kan förbättra projektering av stora tekniska system med fokus på livscykelperspektivet Nyckelord: Project, Life Cycle Cost, Railway, Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Integrated logistic support, ILS, Asset Management, Long-termLarge technical systems, LTS Handledare: Pär Blomkvist &amp; Christian Johansson Norbäck Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar projektering av en järnvägsanläggning ur ett livscykelperspektiv. Målet är att tydliggöra vad Trafikverket behöver ta hänsyn till vid projektering av en järnvägsanläggning Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar projekteringen av järnvägsanläggningar utifrån ett Life Cycle Managementlångsiktigt hållbarhetsperspektiv perspektiv med fokus en centralpunkt inom på Integrated Logistic Support. Med detta avser studien att ge förslag på för atthur organisationen kunnakan uppnå långsiktiga lönsamhetsmål de krav som ställs på järnvägsanläggningen samt öka förutsägbarheten för livscykelkostnaden. Frågeställningar: Hur kan projektering av järnvägsanläggningar förbättras ur ett långsiktigtlivscykel perspektiv? Vilka faktorer behöver Trafikverket ta hänsyn till vid projekteringsfasen för att säkerställa tillförlitliga och kostnadseffektiva järnvägsanläggningar? Hur kan en arbetsmetodik formas för att främja en kostnadseffektiv järnvägsanläggning? Metod: Följande studie är baserad på en kvalitativ fallstudie av Trafikverket. Metoden är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer och dokumentationsmetodik för att erhålla empiriska data. Litteraturstudien och det teoretiska ramverket är baserade på expertgranskade tidskrifter, vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker som täcker studieområdena. Slutsats: Studien har visat att projektering av järnvägsanläggningar ur ett livscykelperspektiv kan förbättras genom att ta fram konkreta underlag för stödja de besluts som ska tas. Beslutsunderlag för järnvägsanläggningen bör baseras på olika analyser för att kunna värdera vilket alternativ som ger den mest kostnadseffektiva anläggningen samtidigt som det återspeglar de efterfrågade målen och kraven. Analyser ska inte enbart baseras på tekniska konstruktion utan även driften samt underhållet behöver beaktas eftersom de har en stor inverkan på utfallet av kapaciteten, prestandan samt kostnaderna över hela anläggningens livscykel. Vidare har studien visat vikten av att ha tillförlitliga system som kan ge information om anläggningen och även all data som krävs för att utföra analyser. / ABSTRACT Date: 2018-05-31 Level: Degree Project in Industrial Engineering and Management, 30 ECTS Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Elias Kirilmaz &amp; Jennifer Quach Title: Design a railway infrastructure from a lifecycle perspective: A case study on how infrastructure administrator can improve large technical systems by focusing on life cycle perspective during the planning phase. Keywords: Project, Life Cycle Cost, Railway, Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Integrated logistic support, ILS, Asset Management, Long-termLarge technical systems, LTS Tutor: Pär Blomkvist &amp; Christian Johansson Norbäck Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate which factors affect the longlife cycle-term planning of a railway infrastructure. The aim is to clarify what the Swedish Transport Administration needs to take into account when planning a railway infrastructure in the future in order to meet the requirements and increase the predictability of life cycle costs. Research questions: How can railway infrastructure planning phase be improved based on a life cycle long-term perspective? What factors do the Swedish Transport Administration need to take into account during the planning phase to ensure reliable and cost-effective railway infrastructure? How can a working methodology be designed to promote a cost-effective railway facility? Method: The following study is based on a qualitative case study of Swedish Transport Administration. The literature study and the theoretical framework are based on peer-previewed journals, scientific articles and books that covers the areas of the study. The empirical data collection is based on semi-structured interviews and reports from different administrative authority. Conclusion: This study has shown that planning of railway infrastructure from a life cycle perspective can be improved by concrete evidence to support the decisions to be taken. The decisions basis for the railway infrastructure should be based on various analysis in order to evaluate the most cost-effective option while reflecting the desired goals and requirements. However, analysis should not only be based on the technical design. It should also consider operation and maintenance, since they have a major impact on the outcome of capacity, performance and cost throughout the life cycle of the railway infrastructure. Furthermore, the study has demonstrated the importance of having reliable systems that can provide information about the railway infrastructure and all data required for carrying out analysis.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att studera om scenariot off-grid är en potentiell riktning i framtidens svenska energilandskap, samt undersöka vad som kan driva en sådan utveckling. För detta examensarbete har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi tillämpats, genom ett abduktivt förhållningssätt till funnen empiri och teori. En empirisk datainsamling har genomförts i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett tiotal aktörer på den svenska elnätsmarknaden. Därefter har en tematisk analys utförts, där det empiriska materialet ställts mot teori. Studien påvisar att det idag finns flertalet faktorer som kan vara drivande för en utveckling mot ett off-grid elsystem. I studiens empiriska material går det att finna tecken på att flertalet informanter tror att en förändring av dagens svenska elsystem behövs. Dock hur troligt det är, att en sådan förändringsprocess sker, finner studien inga belägg eller grunder för. De faktorer som skulle driva utvecklingen mot ett elsystem som karaktäriseras som off-grid kan identifieras som prisutveckling, utveckling i andra sektorer, ändrad tariffsättning, decentralisering, lagstiftning, ökad popularitet samt exempel där off-grid har realiserats. / The purpose of this master thesis is to study whether the off- grid scenario is a potential direction in the Swedish energy landscape of the future, and to investigate what can drive such development. For this master thesis, a qualitative research strategy has been applied, through an abductive approach towards the found empirical material and theory. An empirical data collection has been carried out in the form of semi-structured interviews with ten actors in the Swedish electricity grid market. Subsequently, a thematic analysis has been carried out, in which the empirical material is set against the theory. The study shows that there today are several factors that can drive the development towards an off-grid electricity system in Sweden. In the study’s empirical material, it is possible to find signs that most informants believe that change in today’sSwedish electricity system is needed. However, how likely it is that such a change process will take place, the study finds no evidence for. The factors that would drive the development towards an electricity system characterized by off-grid can be identified as price development, development in other sectors, changed tariff set, decentralization, legislation, increased popularity and examples where off-grid has been realized.

This licentiate thesis describes and analyses the modern history of the socio-technical systems for urban water supply and sanitation in East Africa with focus on Uganda and Kenya. The key objective of the thesis is to evaluate to what extent the historic processes frame and influence the water and sanitation services sectors in these countries today. The theoretical approach combines the Large Technical Systems approach from the discipline of History of Technology with New Institutional Economics. Throughout, urban water and sanitation service systems are regarded as socio-technical systems, where institutions, organisation and technology all interact. The thesis consists of three separate articles and a synthesis in the form of a framework narrative. The first article provides a discussion of the theoretical framework with special focus on the application of Public Goods theory to urban water and sanitation. The second article describes the establishment of the large-scale systems for water supply and sanitation in Kampala, Uganda in the period 1920-1950. The third article focuses on the politics of urban water supply in Kenya with emphasis on the period 1900-1990. The main findings in this thesis are that the socio-technical systems for urban water and sanitation evolve over long periods of time and are associated with inertia that makes these systems change slowly. The systems were established in the colonial period to mainly respond to the needs and preferences of a wealthy minority and a technological paradigm evolved based on capital-intensive and large-scale technology. Attempts to expand services to all citizens in the post-colonial period under this paradigm were not sustainable due to changes in the social, political and economic environment while incentives for technological change were largely absent. History thus frames decisions in the public sphere even today, through technological and institutional inertia. Knowing the history of these socio-technical systems is therefore important, in order to understand key sector constraints, and for developing more sustainable service provision. / <p>QC 20101122</p>

Based upon perspectives and concepts from social and historical research on technical systems, this dissertation describes and analyses events and processes relating to the dramatic change in television in Western Europe during the 1980s and early 1990s. In particular, it focuses on how Swedish television, conceived as a large socio-tecnical system, has shifted from a traditional 'public service' system to a more open and mixed system. In addition to traditional public television broadcasting, it has now come to encompass several commercial channels distributed through an expanding combination of technical and market alternatives, including satellite television. The study traces the multiple ways in which socio-historical processes and contingencies have shaped the television system in Sweden. The most detailed historical descriptions and analyses focus on the entrepreneurial activities of the Swedish firm, Industriförvaltning AB Kinnevik, documenting the introduction of the satellite channel TV3 in Sweden and the related expansion of the system. The entrepreneurial actions of Kinnevik in establishing the new satellite channel TV3 are analysed against the background of (1) the characteristics of the traditional Swedish radio and TV broadcasting system, (2) the development of cable television in Sweden, and (3) the broad history of satellite television. Emphasis is placed on how and why it was possible for a new actor to successfully challenge, gain access to, and help transform a well-established system that had remained relatively stable for a long time. This raises attendant questions of timing. How do we account for and explain the relative stability of this system for such a long period? Why did radical change occur at a particular time and not before or after? Whereas the empirical material concerning the activities of Kinnevik in relation to its entrance on the television market covers the period between 1984 and 1991, the study in general addresses developments throughout the twentieth century and, occasionally, even further back in history. The focus is thus on the system as a whole, rather than on only one of its components. A number of conclusions are drawn from the study concerning both the construction of new systems and the reconstruction of established systems. Two major conclusions can be mentioned here. (1) First, the historical material confirms the necessity of collective action in large-scale technology-based entrepreneurial action. (2) Second, the study also shows that there is nothing necessary or inevitable about the development of technologies/technological systems, even though they are subject to a high degree of path-dependence. / <p>The electronic version of the printed dissertation is a corrected version where all spelling and grammatical errors are corrected.</p>

Au cours des années 2000, les gouvernements britanniques néo-travaillistes de Tony Blair et Gordon Brown ont porté un projet de politique publique appelé «Carte carbone», consistant à instaurer des quotas individuels d’émissions pour les particuliers. Ce projet avait initialement été formulé en 1996 par des chercheurs écologistes qui, en s’inspirant des politiques de rationnement passées, ont contribué à faire émerger un nouveau référentiel d’action publique structuré par l’idée de la finitude du monde. La mise à l’agenda de ce projet par les néo-travaillistes a cependant été suivie d’un travail de réinterprétation des limites environnementales, tendant à mettre à distance l’idée de finitude pour mieux concilier la carte carbone avec le référentiel environnementaliste de la modernisation écologique. Ce travail d’interprétation s’est doublé d’un processus d’aménagement des limites environnementales, encore éloignées par la rencontre du macrosystème énergétique avec les instruments du nouveau management public. Au terme de ce processus, le report sine die de la carte carbone témoigne d’une nouvelle relégation des limites environnementales aux marges de l’action publique. L’étude sociologique de la trajectoire institutionnelle de ce projet d’action publique vise à nourrir une réflexion plus théorique sur les difficultés d’émergence d’un référentiel de la finitude au temps de la crise écologique globale. À la lumière des travaux de la sociologie environnementale, il s’agira de montrer comment les réflexions politiques sur le rationnement participent à la recherche d’autres modalités de gouvernement dans un monde fini. / During the 2000s, the British New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have contemplated implementing a public policy called “Carbon card”, which consisted of allocating tradable emission rights to individuals. This project had originally been formulated in 1996 by green researchers who, drawing on past rationing policies, have contributed with this Carbon card to the emergence of a new public policy “référentiel” structured by the idea of ecological finiteness. Once agenda status was attained, however, this project was subjected to a reinterpretation of its environmental limits frame, that tended to relegate the idea of finitude, in an attempt to better conciliate the Carbon card with the ecological modernisation référentiel. This interpretation was coupled with a technical softening of environmental limits, still more relativized by the junction operated between the energy macrosystem and New Public Management-inspired policy instruments. At the outcome of this process, the indefinite postponement of the Carbon card reveals a renewed relegation of environmental limits to the margins of public action. The sociological study of the Carbon card’s institutional trajectory aims at feeding into a theoretical analysis of the obstacles to the emergence of a finitude référentiel, in a time of global ecological crisis. Drawing from environmental sociology, this work aims at showing that public policy research on rationing might contribute to investigating different ways of governing for a finite world.