Abstract
Trust can be understood as a mechanism to reduce social complexity. Trust is located in the relations between people, making it a property of social systems. Trust is a prerequisite for the functioning of society, providing a foundation upon which sustainable development, environmental justice, etc. are only possible. Consequently, there is a great interest to maintain or strengthen trust in systems and institutions, e.g., in money as an exchange medium. The requirement of trust for environmental governance sets the boundaries for social change and reduces the probability of implementing measures that might undermine trust and social cohesion, e.g., environmental policies that threaten investments in the economy. Contemporary socio-economic trends, including the acceleration of market processes, globalization, and the consequential growing complexity in society make it more difficult to maintain trust. Thus, it is questioned whether efforts that potentially improve the society-environment relationship are actually desirable in society.
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Walter, S. (2010). Trust and Cooperation as Requirements for Maintaining Environmental Governance Capacity. In: Gross, M., Heinrichs, H. (eds) Environmental Sociology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8730-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8730-0_8
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