Chapter 2 makes conceptual adjustments in the MLP to enhance its analytical traction for investigating whole system reconfiguration. On the one hand, it elaborates the techno-economic, actor and institutional dimensions in the innovation journey of niche-innovations through the four phases. On the other hand, it elaborates how existing systems can be reconfigured through the incorporation of niche-innovations, the reorientation of existing actors, and adjustments in policies and governance styles.

Chapter 1 introduces the importance of low-carbon system transitions and associated challenges. It describes the dominant reformist approach (represented by neo-classical economics and mainstream policy organisations) and a revolutionary approach (represented by critical political economy and deep ecology), which emerged in opposition to the reformist approach. Moving beyond this stale dichotomy, the book argues for a reconfigurational approach which understands transitions as systemic, longitudinal and co-evolutionary processes, involving interactions between technologies, user practices, business strategies, public policies, cultural meanings, and infrastructures. To conceptualise this approach, the book builds on the Multi-Level Perspective on socio-technical system transitions (MLP) and elaborates it in several ways. The chapter ends with a description of the book's content.