Business of deep transformations: A non-binary approach

In a world that faces social and ecological degradation, it is not surprising that many call for radical change. Such calls, often and understandably, ask us to break from current practices. In the case of business, such a break is imagined either as deviating from business as an organisation or transforming businesses into, for instance, degrowth businesses. In this article, we suggest a gentler approach to changing business. We view and theorise change in business as a journey-like transformation, unfolding as it navigates its way through capitalist and diverse landscapes. Thus, we call to move away from seeing business in binary terms such as “bad” or “good”, “degrowth” or “not degrowth”, “high-tech” or “low-tech”. In practice, businesses are nuanced and complex. For instance, practitioners experience uncertainties when finding a level of digitalisation that fits their needs without harming ecosystems. Practitioners also combine low and high technology in the production of more sustainable products. This article invites dialogues between academics coming from different sustainability perspectives and practitioners. However, we conclude that, for deep transformations to unfold, such dialogues on their own do not suffice; civil society, state and business must also be involved.