Change Agency in Sustainability Transitions – a 25-year review of research in management journals (Esitys Corporate Responsibility Research Conferencessa, Leeds 10.-12.9. 2018)

Who is an active agent in making the world more environmentally sustainable? This is the question thatour paper seeks to answer. Whilst a plethora of research on agents in various roles in sustainabilitytransitions exists, this knowledge is scattered across journals and fields of study. In this paper, we offera focused review of actors in sustainability transitions, as presented in mainstream management journalsin the 25-year period 1992-2017. We focus our search on eight leading journals in the field, thusreviewing 81 articles. The findings lead us to conclude that the study of agency in sustainabilitytransitions, as presented in the field of management, is emerging, yet rapidly increasing. However, thisknowledge is scattered across theoretical bases and bodies of knowledge. The main contribution of ourpaper is to offer a review and typology of agency in sustainability transitions, as presented in themanagement literature.