A pragmatist ecological economics - Normative foundations and a framework for actionable knowledge

Ecological economics envisions problem-solving collaborative efforts characterized by disciplinary diversity and participants within and outside of research professions. Pursuit of its ambitious vision has led to ambiguity in terms of ecological economics' paradigms, methodology, and subject matter. There remains a need for comprehensive methodologies and for nuanced discussions of methodological pluralism and action-oriented research practice. We present a pragmatist ecological economics as one foundation to practicing ecological economics. We synthesize the basic normative assumptions of a pragmatist philosophy with the foundational goals of ecological economics. This synthesis provides potential researchers with foundations including a basic scientific worldview, a topical focus on a quasi-distinct portion of human-nature relationships, two broad burning questions, a basic menu of methods, and action-oriented goals for applying ecological economics in practice. Methodological pluralism is embraced, and conflicting normative assumptions are reconciled with the recognition that singular inquiries provide incomplete or partial knowledge, not competing knowledge. By integrating into applied contexts, in large part by building relationships with practitioners and the diverse publics, we suggest that there is opportunity to co-develop processes and forums that at least can help us understand one another better on our collective effort toward sustainability. • Pragmatist philosophy provides a robust foundation for ecological economics practice. • The focus is on values, connections, benefits, preferences, ecosystem services, and natures contributions to people. • Methodological pluralism is needed to create a comprehensive understanding of complex social-ecological contexts. • Actionable knowledge is pursued through relationships and understanding social contexts. • Normative sustainability is locally defined and needs to strive toward consensus in understanding.