Co-production of forestry science and society: Evolving interpretations of economic sustainability in Finnish forestry textbooks

In this article, we explore how forestry scientists have promoted and defended particular definitions of economic sustainability as a response to socio-economic challenges. Drawing on an analysis of Finnish forestry textbooks, we discuss the evolving conceptualizations in terms of co-production of scientific ideas and social orders. We argue that to fully understand what economic sustainability means in forestry one has to analyze the choices and preferences concerning the components of scientific ideas, and to identify links between these choices and the evolving societal discourses, social norms, rules of authority, power relations and partnerships, as well as historical events.