The Processual Character of Vulnerability: Overcoming Conceptual Barriers Hindering Knowledge for a Just Twin Transition

Sebastian Svenberg, Anna Davidsson, Sofia Strid, Christopher Ali Thorén and Martin Hultman
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Sebastian Svenberg: Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Anna Davidsson: Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Sofia Strid: Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Christopher Ali Thorén: Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Martin Hultman: Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Politics and Governance, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: This article critically explores vulnerability as a key concept for analysing structural inequality. Drawing on 402 narrative interviews across 30 European NUTS2 regions, it examines how governance barriers hinder a just transition. The interviews capture diverse positions in terms of age, class, gender, occupation, place of residence, migration patterns, etc., asking how green and digital transitions affect everyday life. Empirically, the article advances two core arguments: First, vulnerability is not a stable identifier but a contingent, relational, and processual condition that emerges across situations and temporal trajectories. Second, the twin green and digital transition reshapes vulnerability in unpredictable ways, as policies and transition processes transform socio-economic and socio-technical relations, generating new forms of agency and vulnerability. The findings show that processual vulnerability involves accommodation, resistance, negotiation, and everyday reconfiguration, offering insights into how vulnerability can be approached not as a stable identifier or statistical category, but as a process. The results are relevant for qualitative and quantitative studies of the twin transition.

Keywords: digital transition; Europe; governance; green transition; intersectionality; landscapes; processual vulnerability; socio‐technical systems; twin transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v14:y:2026:a:12285

DOI: 10.17645/pag.12285

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