Model of the social-ecological system depends on model of the mind: Contrasting information-processing and embodied views of cognition

- Autopoiesis and embodied cognition overcome dichotomy in social-ecological systems.
- Embodied and information-processing views of SESs are contrasted and integrated.
- Embodied view of SESs promotes participation and embedding of economy in nature.
- Vital knowledge is lost in information-processing view of SESs.
- Cognitive framing of SESs influences the politics of environmental knowledge.

Two core concerns of ecological economists have for decades been to consider the economy as embedded in broader social-ecological systems (SESs) and to include multiple perspectives in knowledge production. To address these concerns, I argue, ecological economists need to return to the ontological question of what constitutes the SES and the epistemological question of how to obtain knowledge about it. The article shows that autopoiesis complemented with the theory of embodied cognition addresses (1) the ontological challenge by articulating socio-cultural artifacts and ecological artifacts as a single entity, and (2) the epistemological challenge with universally shared schemas that describe goal-oriented activity. The power of autopoiesis is illustrated by outlining an embodied SES model of reindeer management as an alternative framing to the predominant information-processing SES model. An environmental policy measure that from the information-processing perspective looks like an adjustment of a control variable may from the embodied perspective disrupt an interconnected structure of social-ecological interaction. The article proposes a way to integrate the information-processing and embodied models. The results pose significant challenges for future research and policy efforts by ecological economists.