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The British State and the environment: New Labour's ecological modernisation strategy
Abstract
The environment and the pursuit of sustainable development were held as central aspects of New Labour's "joined up" approach to public policy. The way in which environmental concerns have been included within the overarching New Labour "project" has been by adopting an ecological modernisation approach to environmental policy, a central aspect of which is that the pursuit of improvements in environmental quality and sustainable development are not achieved at the cost of disrupting the government's efforts to sustain continued economic growth and investment. That is, New Labour's ecological modernisation project is concerned more with sustaining the British economy (specifically international competitiveness) than achieving a sustainable metabolism between that economy and its environmental inputs, outputs and ecological context.
... In total, then, it could be argued that ecological modernization has a well-developed perspective on how to conceptualize economy-environment relationships and a set of policy prescriptions that, if taken as a whole, would engender the development of a new economic trajectory. Concepts derived from work on ecological modernization have certainly become incorporated into the policy agenda, even if their actual implementation has been limited and they are drawn from the "weak" conceptions in Table 1 (Watts 2002;Barry and Paterson 2003). ...
... The extent to which this has happened and replaced a more narrow focus upon economic competitiveness and GDP growth is open to question, reflecting internal struggles within the state. For example, Barry and Paterson (2003) outlined the ways in which the United Kingdom's New Labour government, elected in 1997, quickly downgraded its emphasis on ecological modernization, while in Sweden, despite a major policy emphasis upon creating an "ecologically sustainable society," relatively little progress has been made because of the opposition of industrial interests and the limited engagement of the trade unions (Lundqvist 2000;Haley 2005). ...
Although the “new” economic geography has explored links between the subdiscipline's traditional areas of study and cultural, institutional, and political realms, environmental issues remain comparatively underresearched within the subdiscipline. This article contends not only that the environment is of key importance to economic geography, but also that economic geographers can make an important contribution to environmental debates, through providing not just a better analysis and theoretical understanding, but also better policy proscription. Rather than claim new intellectual territory, the intention is to suggest potential creative opportunities for linking economic geography's strengths with those insights from other theoretical perspectives. In particular, this article focuses upon linking insights from ecological modernization theory, developed by environmental sociologists, with regulationist approaches.
... This accounts for a quarter of all specialist European bioscience companies, with major companies including Glaxo Wellcome, SmithKline Beecham and Syngenta. Not surprisingly, therefore, there have been longstanding UK government strategies to promote the biotechnology sector as a key national strength contributing to the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy (Barry and Paterson, 2003). However, there has been strident public opposition to the development of GMOs, centred on risks to human health and the environment, and as a consequence the UK's major food retailers have taken action to make certain that their food is GM-free and, in some cases, that non-GM animal feed is used in their meat products (Levidow and Bijman, 2002). ...
... As our overviews of the UK and Australia reveal, there are obvious similarities. The UK government strategy has been to promote the biotechnology sector as a key national strength, in much the same way as the Commonwealth Government has done in Australia (Barry and Paterson, 2003). For both national governments, it is not just a matter of international competitiveness in the production of food, but also in the advancement of science in what is perceived to be a critical area of the knowledge-based economy. ...
It is increasingly argued that we are entering into a “biotech century”, in which biotechnology promises major advances in agricultural productivity. The development of biotechnology is not a straightforward affair, however, and the advent of GMOs has led to public protest and consumer resistance. This paper draws upon a comparative Australian–UK project concerned with the role of regulation and governance in mediating the debates and managing the associated risks. Regulatory responses and the mediation of conflicts by the Australian and UK governments have been shaped by the institutional and policy environments in these two countries. The implications of these public debates and regulatory responses for the capture of competitive opportunities are considered. The fact that the two countries have broadly similar systems of governance and regulation reveals how alike the circumstances are in many respects. But at the same time there are important differences in both the style and the content of the policy debates. In both the UK and Australia, the respective central governments remain committed to a ‘biotechnology future’. Against this background, there is little doubt that the choices about biotechnology will play a defining role in shaping the future of rural places.
... Thus , with a fusion of new technologies and growing institutions, the green economy is increasingly becoming the pivot of policy responses and initiatives in the developed world (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Parallel to this has been a growing interest in the emergence of new types of business that seek to radically alter mainstream economic activity. ...
İn recent years, the world is witnessing gradual change as the notion of a green economy has become a very attractive option alternative to the conventional type of business that the world has witnessed for centuries. There is a serious threat of securing the future of our mother plant for the generation to come if countries from all regions do no t join hands in tackling environmental, social and economic issues. Loss of job, loss of bio diversity, loss of balance eco-system and so on we have witnessed in our age, and therefore it demands going green every than before.
Countries like China, Denmark, Japan, European Union countries , and India are committed to contributing with their action in minimising carbon emission by making gradual progress on green innovation, green economy, and boosting green entrepreneurship. More funds are being invested in clean energy in recent years, and many more to come despite being costly compared to other investments in technology.
This chapter serves three purposes: Firstly, it focuses on the need of boosting green entrepreneurship around the globe with the progress made by each region . It also highlights the strength and weaknesses part of a different region with facts and figures on the commitment made by each nation in various global summits like in Paris, Rio and Davos. Secondly, this chapter brings successful cases forward in green entrepreneurship and encourages countries to develop policies that will benefit companies, entrepreneurs, business people and citizens, in the long run, making progress and securing the future of generations to come. Thirdly, highlighting the challenges that lie a the heart of going green from the situation where we are today, it makes a way forward by providing a ray of hope with various attempts and decisions made by industries and countries that are serious in bringing change and going green despite it being costly at the beginning.
... The theory of ecological modernization is closely associated with the hypothesis of an 'Environmental Kuznets Curve' (Barry & Paterson, 2003) developed within neoclassical environmental economics. According to this hypothesis, growth in already wealthy societies will contribute to improve rather than reduce environmental quality, because increased wealth implies that more money may be spent on the development of environmentally friendly technologies. ...
Urban densification has for some decades been considered as the most relevant strategy for ecological modernization within the field of urban spatial development. Compared to outward urban expansion, densification has important environmental merits, but is not without negative environmental impacts. This paper critically examines how urban densification policies contain an assumption – implicit or explicit – that continual growth, expressed in per capita consumption of building stock and infrastructure, should be accommodated. This is argued to lead to a weakening of environmental sustainability. The Norwegian capital Oslo is used as an example, illustrating the environmental achievements and limitations of the densification strategy. These achievements and limitations are then discussed in the light of theoretical literature on tensions between economic growth and environmental sustainability. The paper concludes with a call for further critical scrutiny of how growth assumptions influence/subtly shape urban sustainability policies.
... Linked to the 'green growth' proposition is the second idea that economic growth is essential for achieving sustainability. This contention is partly derived from the so-called environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis that economic growth in poor countries usually entails environmental degradation; when countries get wealthier, more money can be spent on the development of environmentally friendly technologies (Barry and Paterson, 2003). These two perceptions are closely associated with a third and more recent idea that sustainability is a means to growth. ...
The aim of this study is to analyse and show how the growth ideology conditions the eco-metropolis plans, thus hindering the transformation towards urban sustainability. Despite an unprecedented enthusiasm of cities in pursuing a sustainability agenda, environmental degradation and social inequality of most cities have proved to be worse. The paper first argues that the failure in reversing the trajectory of unsustainability is attributed to a pursuit of urban sustainable development paradigm that is conditioned by the growth ideology. This argument is supported by contrasting the growth ideology with the counter-hegemonic degrowth ideology in terms of how well-being, environmental sustainability and equity are interpreted and approached. Furthermore, in order to provide an insight on how urban development plans are committed to and shaped by the growth ideology the case of Greater Copenhagen is analysed and scrutinised. Drawing on the emerging degrowth debates, the study emphasises the importance of engaging with the ideological reflection by practitioners and briefly discusses how planners can take an active role in advancing a degrowth society.
... Most of the environmental social scientists that have advanced the theory of ecological modernization have emphasized economic actors and entrepreneurs as the central agents of change in the process of transformation needed to solve environmental challenges (Tilley & Young, 2009). The growing adoption of ecological modernization as the basis of environmental policy can be driven by innovative economic actors, such as sustainable entrepreneurs, and provide them with a niche or space in which to operate to create new markets for green goods and services (Barry &Paterson, 2003). ...
The firm practices incorporate different levels of ecological awareness and activity. Some ecopreneurs have better environmental performance compared to the average company because they look for opportunities in their respective markets to innovate the goods and services. Therefore, a key question is how ecopreneurs of small firms innovate in comparison to conventional entrepreneurs in the same product sector in a developing country. The method selected to answer the research question is the qualitative case study utilizing judgment and convenience sampling method. The analysis centers on the five dimensions of innovation with the emphasis on ecological awareness and the workforce role. The finding that the innovation process dimensions
were completely opposite in the two cases is of importance to the academia. Moreover, the importance for practitioners relies in the distinctive strategies. Finally, we proposed future research lines.
... Rather, environmental problems can be dealt with by continual growth. This later position is supported by the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis (Barry and Paterson, 2003). ...
... For example, the neoliberal imprint on urban planning policies appears to have been stronger in Denmark than in Norway during the first decade of the twenty-first century (Naess, 2009). However, neoliberalization is not confined to declared right-wing politics, as witnessed in, for example, the spatial planning policies under the Blair social democrat government in the UK (Barry & Paterson, 2003). Neoliberal ideas have gained foothold across a wide range of the political spectrum, and together with various international free trade institutions, the dominance of the neoliberal discourse makes it a serious political challenge to break with these ideas. ...
Globalization and region enlargement has increased the emphasis of local authorities on being competitive for inward investment and taxpayers. This can lead to a subordination of environmental concerns. In order to secure environmental and other national interests, planning and regulation at supra-local level is required, especially if the local authorities have different motivations and goals from the central government. The central government policy guidelines of the Norwegian planning system and the possibility for regional state authorities to make objections are an apparatus to protect national interests in planning. However, there has been a significant change in the central government’s practice when deciding on objections by regional state authorities against municipal plans since the new right-wing Norwegian government came into power. The losers from the changed practice are the environmental interests, widely defined. The new government’s prioritization of local self-determination and planning processes rather than contents resonates with key features of neoliberalism, but also with important elements of communicative planning theory.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
As they derive from scientific discovery or innovation, visions of the future of technology such as AmI and the IoT tend to be conceived of as paradigms and thus paradigm shifts in relation to various spheres of society, although they are concerned with people-centered approaches in the practice of technological development—that is, they are directed towards humans and targeted at complex, dynamic social realities. Moreover, as research subjects, they are positioned in a field of tension between social, political, and cultural practices and the performance aspects of technological systems. While such visions emanate from the transformational effects of computing, where concepts of paradigm and paradigm shift do actually hold, they still entail a lot of aspects of discursive nature in the sense of a set of concepts, ideas, claims, assumptions, and premises that are socio-culturally specific and historically contingent. The aim of this chapter is twofold: (1) to examine and classify multiple aspects of the paradigmatic dimension and key aspects of the discursive dimension of AmI and the IoT and related key issues, and (2) to investigate from a discursive analytical perspective knowledge/power relations, subject positioning, and legitimation pertaining to AmI and the IoT as discourses. I argue that there is a paradigm profile relating to (ubiquitous) computing, but there is no paradigm in society—nor should there be. In view of that, AmI and the IoT as computing paradigms are affected by knowledge/power relations in the sense of possessing the particularity of having a scientific-objective foundation, and I contend that this allows their promoters, creators, and producers to link AmI and the IoT with the scientific knowledge (and discourse), which is one of today’s main sources of legitimacy in European society in relation to knowledge-making, decision-making, and policy-making. As societal discourses, they are, as results suggest, constructed in correspondence with the subjects—favorably positioned within such discourses—that support them with regard to their institutional belonging, scholarly affiliation, social location, cultural inclination, ideological commitment, and/or socio-political status. This involves biases in the strategic actions of these subjects as well as their mode of calculation about their ‘objective ideal and material interests’. Also, the legitimation of their actions—and hence their interests—occur on the basis of normative orientations and values.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
AmI and the IoT are said to hold great potential and promise in terms of radical social transformations. By virtue of their very definition, implying a certain desired view on the world, they represent more visions of the future than realities. And as shown by and known from preceding techno-visions and forecasting studies, the future reality is most likely to end up being very different from the way it is initially envisioned. Indeed, techno-visions appear to face a paradox, in that they fail to balance between innovative and futuristic claims and realistic assumptions. This pertains to unreasonable prospects, of limited modern applicability, on how people, technology, and society will evolve, as well as to a generalization or oversimplification of the rather specific or complex challenges involved in enabling future scenarios or making them for real. Also, crucially, techno-utopia is a relevant risk in such a strong focus on ambitious and inspiring visions of the future of technology. Techno-utopian discourses surround the advent of new technological innovations or breakthroughs, on the basis of which these discourses promise revolutionary social changes. The central issue with techno-visions is the technologically deterministic view underlying many of the envisioned scenarios, ignoring or falling short in considering the user and social dynamics involved in the innovation process. This has implications for the acceptance of technological innovation opportunities. This chapter aims to explore the power and seminal role of social innovation and participative and humanistic design—as one holistic approach—in sustaining the success of AmI and the IoT technologies, and to identify and address the great challenges involved in the process of embracing this approach. As increasingly a condition for technology development, democratization is seen as participation on a macro level. I argue that the continuity of AmI and the IoT will be based on the social dimension of innovation and, thus, the participative and humanistic dimension of design—i.e. the ability and willingness of people to use, absorb, or acclimatize to technological opportunities as well as their active involvement in the design process, coupled with the consideration for human values in the fundamental design choices. The primary intention is to provide insights and conduits to avoid technological determinism and unrealism associated with the AmI and the IoT visions and to highlight the tremendous value of the emerging approaches into and trends around technology design and innovation in addressing the complexity of AmI and the IoT contexts, enhancing related applications development, and managing the unpredictable future as to emerging user behaviors and needs in the contexts of AmI and the IoT.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
AmI and the IoT are among the metaphors that are used to depict visions of a future filled with smart, interacting, and interconnected everyday objects and a whole range of immense opportunities and fascinating possibilities such future will open up and bring that are created by the incorporation of ICT intelligence into people’s everyday lives. The vision of AmI entails integrating tiny microelectronic information processors and networks of miniature sensors and actuators into everyday objects so to make them smart, and the vision of the IoT involves interconnecting uniquely identified embedded devices and physical, virtual, and smart objects within the existing Internet infrastructure. Sharing many technological features, these two visions of computationally augmented everyday environments have claims to be aware of people’s presence and situational context, adaptive and anticipatory to their desires and intentions, and personalized to their needs. However, while many technologists and scientists paint the promises of AmI and the IoT in sunny colors, touting them as a step towards a better world, social observers and scholars have doubts about the potentials of this technological evolution. The ramifications of such extensive integration of ICT intelligence into people’s everyday lives are difficult to predict. With the open challenges and the growing concerns pertaining to their deployment, AmI and the IoT are visions that are worth attention and further research. This chapter aims to investigate the risks that AmI and the IoT pose to ethical values, and to provide some prospective technological safeguards. The intention of this endeavor is to better understand how far such visions should influence people’s everyday lives and to contribute to, by identifying and addressing the great challenges involved, steering this development in a direction that goes some distance towards mitigating the risks posed by the emerging worlds of AmI and the IoT so to help foster users’ trust and confidence in the technological vision of the twenty-first century, and thus create and revive optimism among technology users as to how this vision will unfold.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
Materialized as a result of science-based technologies and innovations, visions of a next wave in ICT such as AmI and the IoT are aimed at creating smart environments, such as smart buildings, smart energy, smart transport, smart industries, smart cities, smart healthcare, smart mobility, smart living, and so on. This implies that AmI and the IoT technologies will be able to recognize different contexts (e.g. locations, physical conditions, events, situations, social environments, people’s states, etc.) and to react and pre-act autonomously, adaptively or proactively, without human intervention. This new technological feature is seen to hold great potential to advance environmental sustainability and improve societal sustainability. In other words, given their ubiquity presence, AmI and the IoT are increasingly seen as a promising response sustainable development challenges due to their potential to enable substantial energy savings and GHG emissions reductions in most economic and urban sectors, and to address societal challenges in area of social inclusion, social justice, and healthcare. However, AmI and the IoT have a number of potential risks, uncertainties, and concerns in relation to sustainable development that need to be understood when placing high expectations on and marshalling resources for such technologies by visionaries and research leaders. With the growing concern about their multiple environmental effects and social ramifications, AmI and the IoT visions are worth attention and further research. This chapter aims to investigate the risks that AmI and the IoT as forms of, and advances in, S&T pose to environmental and societal sustainability, and to address the eco-environmental aspects of technology in relation to ecological modernization and transition governance. I argue that there are intricate relationships and tradeoffs among the positive impacts, negative effects, and unintended consequences for both the environment and the society, flowing mostly from the development, use and disposal of AmI and the IoT technologies throughout the information society, and pertaining to the digital divide, technological and socio-demographic gaps, inherent in the design of new technologies, respectively. The intention of this attempt is to offer people of modern, high-tech societies the relevant resources with which to evaluate—analytically, environmentally, and ethically—the gains and the risks, the safeties and the perils, of AmI and the IoT as notable advances of in S&T.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
AmI depicts a vision of the future information society where humans will be surrounded and accompanied by advanced computer intelligence and technology, i.e. a vision of a next wave in ICT with far-reaching societal implications. Thus, it postulates a paradigmatic shift in computing and constitutes a large-scale societal discourse. As a form of S&T knowledge, AmI is a multidisciplinary field where a wide range of scientific and technological areas and human-directed sciences converge on a common vision of the future and the enormous opportunities such future will open up that are created by the incorporation of machine intelligence into people’s everyday lives. Topical studies on AmI usually focus on its technological dimension and the technology potential, predominantly, and also attempt to address some of its challenges and issues from a social, ethical, and economic perspective. However, there are important issues pertaining to the nature and practices of AmI that have been largely ignored, which can be positioned within the STS research field. The intent of this chapter is to analyze the ways in which AmI has emerged from a historical (a priori), epistemic, and material perspective, and why and how it has become socially anchored, institutionalized, and interwoven with politics and policymaking—cultural dissemination. Hence, AmI is analyzed as socio cultural and material practices that are shaped or engineered by the European society and represent a crucial basis for the construction of social and political reality within that society. I argue that AmI as construed and constructed sociotechnical imaginaries is not the product of an epistematic understanding and should not be conceived of as an ‘isolated island’ (e.g. apolitical-economic), nor should it be treated as something ahistorical, paradigmatic, and neutral. The results suggest that AmI as a hegemonic discourse (or part of the mainstream debate on the transformation of information society or as a techno-scientific development entailing concomitantly drastic shifts to the sociotechnical landscape of politics, the economy, institutions, and social norms and values engendered by political actions in the European society) is constructed in the light of historically-restricted, episteme-conditioned, and socio-culturally-specific conceptions about the social, political, institutional, legal, and techno-scientific changes that have taken place in the European information society in recent decades. To iterate, the outcome of the analysis applies to the IoT—by extension.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it entails technological progress and associated facets of policy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also of a contentious nature is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g. or free markets (e.g. . ...
By analyzing and investigating AmI and the IoT as science-based technologies in the context of the European society, this book is positioned within the research and academic field of STS. With its two broad streams of scholarship consisting of (1) research on the nature and practices of S&T and (2) on the risks and other negative implications of S&T, STS is concerned with the study of the complex, dialectic interplay between scientific and technological developments and innovations and other dimensions of social life, treating S&T as cultural productions and historical events. In light of this, it involves distinctive assumptions, aims, methodological designs, analytical concepts, perspectives, and objectives. The intent of this short chapter is to provide insights into key underpinnings, methodological and analytical aspects, multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives, and educational goals pertaining to the research and academic field of STS. This chapter is structured as follows. Section 2.1 covers key STS’s emphases, aims, and premises. Section 2.2 provides an account on the contribution of Michel Foucault and Thomas Kuhn to the field of STS. Section 2.3 elucidates STS’s methodological and analytical orientations. Section 2.4 introduces the multiple disciplinary perspectives associated with the research field of STS and the primary aim of espousing such perspectives. Section 2.5 gives a descriptive account on the interdisciplinary approach, focusing on the rationale behind its use in current research as well as characterizing aspects. This chapter ends, in Sect. 2.6, with a brief discussion on some educational facets and goals of STS.
... One of which is its scope as to whether it only entails technological development and related aspects of policy and the economy. Well contended is ecological modernization becoming a mainstream source of policy initiatives given that it amalgamates technological innovations and institutional developments (Barry & Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Also contentious is whether ecological modernization should rely on government involvement (e.g., Huber 1985), entrepreneurship (e.g., Gibbs 2009), or free markets (e.g., Murphy 2000). ...
Green entrepreneurship – technological eco–innovations and ecopreneurs’ acts – has recently received much attention from European policymakers as one promising response to the challenges of sustainable economic development due to its potential to catalyze and build a low–carbon or green economy. This topical, discursive relationship has also gained increasing interest among scholars in academic circles. In European society, green entrepreneurship has been socially constructed as having a catalytic role in reshaping the sociotechnical landscape of the economy. This is predicated on the assumption that ecopreneurs bring about qualitative changes in enterprise structures, strategies, and practices, which are said to equate to similar changes in wider economic institutions giving ecopreneurs a significant role in engendering the kinds of cultural changes associated with ecological modernization. However, academic research on this relationship has put emphasis on individual ecopreneurs – although earlier work in innovation, technology and science studies has debunked the notion of lone entrepreneurial heroes in the development of new technologies, neglecting the wider sociotechnical context in which ecopreneurs operate. Therefore, I argue that ecopreneurs do not act in isolation with respect to catalyzing sustainable economic change. I moreover postulate that this relationship as part of mainstream debate on economic development and as a hegemonic discourse is constructed in the light of culturally–specific, historically–contingent, and episteme-conditioned conceptions about the social, political, institutional, economic, and technological changes. Hence, it is important not to conceive of this relationship as paradigmatic, apolitical, ahistorical, and the product of an epistematic understanding.
Grounded in a discursive theoretic approach, the aim of this study is to investigate the social and epistemic construction of green entrepreneurship in relation to sustainable economy and its political-economic implications. I employ a Foucauldian approach to discourse and discourse analysis to examine a set of research documents – empirical material. The analytical approach consists of six steps: (1) discursive constructions, (2) interdiscursivity, (3) epistemic setting, (4) cultural frames and shifts, (5) discursive–material selectivity, and (6) political practice and knowledge/power relationship.
The relationship between green entrepreneurship and sustainable economy as a scholarly discourse highlights the lone ecopreneurial heroes and reinforces new social relations. Apart from reconstructing the ecopreneurs’ image, the discourse reconstitutes their relations to society in such that they are assigned new missions and ascribed vital roles for building a low-carbon/green economy. It thus constitutes these actors into the prime definers of the constructed economic reality, while awarding some highlight to policymakers/governments. Moreover, the discourse has grounds from which it has emerged and evolved, building on a set of established discourses and thus engendering changes in economic, cultural, and social reality. Unsurprisingly, the discourse as an object of knowledge is a matter of episteme, a subset of the order underlying the European culture in this historical period. As knowledge claims, it is episteme–conditioned and historically–restricted – hence the need for being open to interrogations yet to come that may fundamentally reconfigure, or lead to abandoning, the currently prevailing assumptions. Furthermore, the discourse is shaped by the prevalent cultural frames and the emerging cultural shifts. In addition, the technological orientation of green entrepreneurship is the product of a selective framing of discursive and material dimensions. Therefore, green entrepreneurship technologization can be conceived as specific economic practices which depend on both the agency of ecopreneurs and other economic actors spurring technological eco–innovations as well as on hegemonic discourses on technology for sustainable development, innovation and technology policy, and the regulation governing the low-carbon/green economy. It is hence not a model, but the outcome of social processes. Finally, the discourse is affected by political practice in relation with climate change, shifts to a low–carbon/green economy, and ecological modernization, as well as by the knowledge/power relationship established in the European society. These two influences determine, expand - and will probably maintain – the success of the relationship under study.
Keywords: Discourse, episteme, green entrepreneurship, ecopreneurs, technological eco–innovations, low–carbon/green/sustainable economy, green and energy efficiency technologies, ICT, ecological modernization, European society
... This sustainability rationale operates within the given structures of production and consumption and attempts to counteract the negative environmental impacts of higher consumption by improving existing systems and products through parameters such as increased efficiency (Andersen & Massa, 2000). Within this paradigm, continual economic growth is considered compatible with environmental sustainability (Barry & Paterson, 2003). Trends such as individualism and mobility perceived as freedom, materialistic lifestyles, and the continuation of high levels of resource exploitation are, however, not questioned as such within this perspective. ...
In contemporary planning discourse and practice, different planning ideas co-exists. How this affects the transition towards a sustainable development is an important question for both research and practice. The aim of this study is to explore potential conflicts between planning goals caught between growth-led planning and sustainability commitments in a case study of Fredericia, Denmark. The paper discusses the underlying, framing and controlling conditions for transition dynamics. The analysis builds largely on the formulated policies, strategies or national goal achievements towards sustainable futures. These are put in the context of planning and political practices, which are interpreted from a sustainability rationale. Here this study introduces hypocrisy as a theoretical-analytical perspective to dispute actual sustainability practices to respond to continuous ambivalent planning measures. The author concludes that disregarding the inherently different internal logics of growths and sustainability leads to planning paradoxes and impedes sustainable transitions pursued.
... This perspective is essentially one of ecological modernisation, at the heart of which is a belief in technology, innovation and progress to solve environmental problems (Roberts and Colwell, 2001;Mol, 2002). Thus the green economy, with a combination of new technologies and changing institutions, is increasingly becoming a source of policy responses and initiatives in the developed world (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). Concurrent with this has been a growing interest in the emergence of new types of business that seek to radically alter mainstream economic activity. ...
Purpose – There has been a growing interest in the development of a ‘green’ or ‘low carbon’ economy as a means of reconciling economic development and the environment. Research on green entrepreneurs to date has been upon individual entrepreneurs, neglecting wider economic and social contexts within which they operate. By looking at these wider networks of support, we suggest that discourses of the lone entrepreneur innovating and changing business practices are misrepresentative.
Methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews to investigate green entrepreneurship with green building companies and policy makers.
Findings – Combined with new demands from consumers for more environmentally friendly products and services, the changing shape of national and global economies is leading to new forms of entrepreneurship. We identify a number of tensions between policy intentions and businesses’ experiences on the ground.
Research limitations/implications – To date, research has only been undertaken in the UK – we recommend that future research takes other national contexts into account. Other economic sectors also represent promising areas for future research, potentially including social enterprises in the green economy. Sustainability transitions theories offer a potentially valuable means for understanding the role of businesses in engendering a green economy.
Practical implications – Implications for policy frameworks are outlined in the conclusions.
Originality/value of chapter – By incorporating policy and support organisations, and informal networks of support, the chapter challenges the dominant view of the lone entrepreneurial hero and points to the significance of networks for facilitating green entrepreneurship. This will be of importance for policy makers and funders of entrepreneurship programmes.
... Green states are made by green citizens gathered within civil society forcing states to change. States will not become green by themselves, or at least not in the full sense of green-perhaps the most we can expect of endogenous state transformation is some form of weak ecological modernization (Barry and Paterson 2003). There is also the important issue (as raised in the discussion of green republican conceptions of sustainability citizenship) of the extent to which green citizens require green states in order to remind them of their duty, and to help and encourage them to cultivate those habits and practices that are constitutive of sustainability citizenship an the collective political project of achieving sustainability. ...
... Case-study cities are not selected randomly but take into account existing theoretical hypothesis. Belief in full decoupling is partly based on the environmental Kuznetscurve hypothesis that economic growth in a poor country will in the beginning be coupled with environmental degradation, but only until affluence reaches a certain level, after which environmental degradation will tend to a decrease with increasing GDP (Barry and Paterson, 2003). The outcomes of the case studies can be used to test, challenge, or extend the theory. ...
In this paper I examine the extent to which economic growth and housing stock growth have been decoupled from negative environmental impacts over the latest two decades in the metropolitan areas of Hangzhou (China) and Copenhagen (Denmark). Research results show that housing stock growth and economic growth have been, at best, weakly decoupled from environment impacts, implying that the goal of sustainable housing development has not been fulfilled by the decoupling strategies. On the basis of this, constraints to decoupling strategies for housing sustainable development are discussed, which indicates a long-term incompatibility between housing stock growth and environmental sustainability. Arguably, sustainable housing development should be pursued by nongrowth in the housing stock in affluent countries in order to reduce the environmental impacts from housing consumption to a sustainable level. The visions for a nongrowth housing stock in both city regions are imagined in terms of potential risks and countermeasures.
... "..all major fundamental alternatives to the present economic order have proved unfeasible according to various (economic, environmental and social) criteria" (p 23) Barry and Paterson (2003) exemplify how concerns for traditional economic growth and competitiveness have gained precedence to environmental concerns in the practical policies within two policy fields, transport and genetically modified organisms. They also point to a connection between ecological modernization and a hypothesis which includes the assumption that growth in already affluent societies will contribute to improving rather than reducing environmental quality, because increased wealth implies that more money might be spent on the development of environmentally-friendly technologies. ...
The present global environmental condition is a consequence of the increasing consumption of natural resources whose depletion exceeds what is physically possible to sustain in the long term. The construction sector is a considerable contributor to this resource depletion and sustainability is adopted in the form of the theory of ecological modernization. The implementation depends to varying extents on sustainability demands at the global, national, regional, local, corporate and individual levels. In addition, there appears to be a lack of new knowledge transfer from the international research community to local construction project managers, particularly in the process of construction works in line with the objective of sustainability. According to environmental legislation, it is the client who is the responsibility party, performing activities as owner and administrator of construction works.
The aim of the research is, first, to define what sustainability in construction works is. The understanding and meaning of sustainability can vary considerably through the perspective of a client and a construction project manager, within corporate organizations and through sporadic knowledge transfer. A critical review of the use of the terminology of sustainable construction and sustainable building is carried out and a model for enabling a client to manage sustainability matters in relation to construction works and then validate this model within a defined context is established.
The construction sector is complex and fragmented and has, therefore, a tendency to resist changes leading towards sustainability. Clients and project managers are facing barriers to the implementation of sustainability, e.g. lack of pro-active sustainable measures, conflicts in real and perceived costs and inadequate implementation expertise. A common misunderstanding is that sustainability in construction works is more expensive in terms of investment costs compared to ‘normal’ mainstream buildings. It is critical to transfer knowledge from the research community to mainstream practitioners efficiently to help facilitate the implementation of corporate sustainability without delay or confusion of methodology.
By adopting the standard ISO 15392: “Sustainability in building construction – General principles”, it is possible to interpret sustainability for construction works accordingly, despite the different backgrounds of stakeholders. Therefore, different and confusing interpretations of sustainable building, sustainable construction or green building can be avoided.
To meet the holistic conditions of sustainability according to the standard above, it is crucial to implement a platform of multiple corporate management systems such as those focused on quality-, environment-, work safety-, stakeholders-, and knowledge into an integrated system of sustainability. By utilizing the STEPS (Start-up, Take-off, Expansion, Progressive, Sustainability) maturity roadmap, it is possible to achieve continual improvement in knowledge management in a ‘many- small-steps’ approach on the corporate level. It is also crucial to transfer knowledge horizontally, to formulate a sustainability policy regarding sustainability, to translate corporate activities into adequate key figures/ indicators in order to fulfil the commitment of continual improvement, and meet the community ́s sustainability objectives. This information should be placed within the property instead of being held by the owner. A framework of assessment is necessary, objective-led, taking into account site-specific, corporate-specific and service-life issues.
The STURE (Stakeholder-Urban Evaluation) model is a product of the research and represents an approach that optimizes the sustainability demands and abilities of a client, stakeholders and authorities relevant to a single or multiple construction works. Five cases of construction works were used as input to validate the STURE model in line with the principles of the ISO 15932 standard. The cases studies were drawn from different phases in the life-cycle of construction works and in different stages of construction process. Furthermore, the cases represented buildings with different functions. The result of the validation implies the possibility to use the STURE model with some minor adjustments, to assess construction work or works in order to determine whether or not it is heading towards a sustainable, a partly sustainable or non-sustainable development.
The proposed STURE model connects to the STEPS maturity roadmap on the corporate level and the combinations of ISO standards are a way of structuring stakeholder demands or outcomes of expectancy with regard to sustainability objectives, optimized from national, regional, local and corporate levels together with technical and functional demands. Use of these methods also promotes continual improvement in project performance and basic organizational activities. This is, as noted earlier, a ‘many-small-steps’ approach and depends on the client’s ability, level of knowledge and inclination. The aim is not to be a world leader, but rather to recognize that improvement comes through successive small steps and, thus, creates a means for measuring improvement along the path of sustainability in the field of construction works.
Progress towards sustainability in construction works is rather slow, in spite of the short timescale before potential irreversible damage occurs from climate change. In the long run it is not enough to sustain on the level of present environmental depletion; it has to be a regenerative development. By these means, it is time for action by transferring current and new knowledge from the research community into an adaptive and practical framework for implementation. This knowledge must be complete with clearly defined economic incentives, and the gap between researchers and practitioners must be bridged with arguments of economic value. It is also important to bridge the gap of knowledge transfer in both directions between industrialized and developing countries, as local decisions and solutions affecting the built environment have both local and global impact. Last, it is the client/owner/developer, as the responsible performer of activities concerning construction works, who has the main responsibility concerning construction works and the obligation to commit sustainability. At the same time, there is an opportunity and a challenge to make the built environment more sustainable and begin regenerative development in the earnest.
... Thus the green economy, involving a combination of new technologies and changing institutions, is increasingly becoming a mainstream source of policy responses and initiatives in the developed world (Barry and Paterson 2003;Barry and Doran 2006). In the UNEP (2011, p. 16) definition: a green economy is low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive … [where] growth in income and employment should be driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. ...
This article is focused upon exploring the development of the green economy in particular locations, with the aim of identifying why some cities and regions have been successful in engendering green growth. To date we have little idea where the green economy is developing, nor much insight, beyond anecdotal evidence, into why certain cities and regions appear to be more successful than others in this regard. We position our analysis within the context of research on socio-technical transitions that has theorized the potential shift to a more sustainable economy. We review the literature on sustainability transitions and the development of the multi-level perspective encompassing niches, regimes and landscapes. However, most research into socio-technical transitions has not given adequate consideration to the influence of places and spatial scale in these transition processes, and we therefore critique the socio-technical transitions literature from a geographical perspective. In this article we are interested in four key questions. What role does the enabling and facilitative state play in these cities and regions? What new institutional forms and governance structures are being developed? How do actors in particular cities and regions construct their green vision, and how do they encourage other actors to buy-in to this vision? How are links across levels and spatial scales developed to connect niches with the regime? We address these through a focus upon the Boston city-region in the USA, drawing upon both primary and secondary research material. We utilize this case study example to re-examine and re-theorize work on sustainability transitions from a spatial perspective.
... In the 2005 and 2009 municipal plans of Copenhagen, compact city development is seen as conducive to growth (as is protection of local environmental qualities). This reflects an ecological modernization perspective on urban sustainability (Mol & Spaargaren, 2000;Barry & Paterson, 2003). Among the articles in the professional journal Byplan, about one half of the articles expressing a standpoint to the compact city model are more or less supportive to this model. ...
... Barry and Doran (2006) argue that ecological modernisation should be seen as a 'jumping off' point for more radical shifts towards a green economy and politics, rather than as an end in itself. Concepts derived from work on ecological modernisation have become incorporated into the policy agenda, even if their actual implementation is limited and they have so far largely been drawn from 'weak' conceptions of ecological modernisation (Barry and Paterson 2003; see also the UK's Sustainable Technologies Initiative 3 ). In total, then, ecological modernisation envisages a process of the progressive modernisation of the institutions of modern society in order to mitigate ecological crisis. ...
This paper focuses on investigating the role that sustainability entrepreneurship may have in engendering a shift in the practices and operations of contemporary capitalism. Sustainability entrepreneurs are increasingly seen as being in the vanguard of a shift to a new form of capitalist development that can help to address fears over global warming, climate change and their associated negative environmental impacts. Such developments can be set within a wider popular and academic discourse of ecological modernisation, at the heart of which is a relatively optimistic view of the potential for technological change to lead to solutions for environmental problems. This paper focuses on a subset of sustainable entrepreneurs termed ecopreneurs who seek to combine business practice with sustainable development and so transform their business sectors. The paper suggests that work on sustainable entrepreneurship could be substantially improved by an engagement with the literature on transition management in science and technology studies and makes some suggestions as to how such a research agenda could be advanced.
... According to the theory of ecological modernisation, solutions to environmental problems can be found within the context of existing political and economic institutions (Barry and Paterson, 2003). The way to achieve this is supposed to be through decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. ...
The metropolitan areas of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Oslo (Norway) both aim to facilitate economic development, opportunities for choice and growth in the building stock while limiting negative environmental consequences. Since the 1990s, the rate of consumption of land for urban development has been lower than the economic growth rate in both city regions. Land use policies in Oslo and to some extent in Copenhagen have been explicitly geared towards limiting traffic growth. In both cities, public transport improvements have been combined with road capacity increases. Traffic growth has therefore only been weakly decoupled from economic growth. In both city regions, lack of coordination between sectors, levels and administrative territories is conceived a barrier to sustainability.
... Green states are made by green citizens gathered within civil society forcing states to change. States will not become green by themselves, or at least not in the full sense of green-perhaps the most we can expect of endogenous state transformation is some form of weak ecological modernization (Barry and Paterson 2003). There is also the important issue (as raised in the discussion of green republican conceptions of sustainability citizenship) of the extent to which green citizens require green states in order to remind them of their duty, and to help and encourage them to cultivate those habits and practices that are constitutive of sustainability citizenship an the collective political project of achieving sustainability. ...
... Environmental problems are often assumed to be dealt with in cases of continual economic growth. This has been illustrated by the so-called environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, according to which economic growth in poor countries usually entails environmental degradation, whereas wealthier countries spend more money on the development of environmentally friendly technologies (Barry and Paterson 2003). However, the inverted-U-shaped curve of the EKC hypothesis has mainly been found for specific pollutants at a local scale. ...
In industrialized countries, the idea of degrowth has emerged as a response to environmental, social, and economic crises.
Realizing environmental limits to and failures of more than half a century of continual economic growth in terms of social
progress and environmental sustainability, the degrowth paradigm calls for a downscaling of consumption and production for
social equity and ecological sustainability. The call for economic degrowth is generally considered to be delimited to rich
countries, where reduced consumption can save “ecological space” enabling people in poor countries to enjoy the benefits of
economic growth. China, as one of the economically most expanding countries in the world, has dramatically improved its living
standards, particularly along the Eastern coast, over the latest 30 years. However, China is absent from the international
debates on growth. This article discusses the implications of the Western degrowth debates for China. Given the distinctive
features of China’s development, the paper aims to enrich the degrowth debates, which have hitherto been dominated by Western
perspectives. Based upon reflections on social, environmental, and moral dimensions of economic growth, the paper argues that
limited natural resources may not continuously support universal affluence at the current level of the rich countries, a level
that China is likely to reach within a few decades. Priority for growth in China should therefore be given to the poor regions
of the country, and future growth should be beneficial to social and environmental development.
... those relating to science and technology and production and consumption), changing roles of institutions and incorporating new stakeholders as change agents for environmental reform (not only the traditional role of government, but also other stakeholders such as the private sector, e.g. industry, insurers and bankers), political modernisation, for example, flexible decentralised governance structures versus the more traditional top down and technical innovations (Barry and Paterson, 2003;Mol and Sonnenfeld, 2000). The external factors identified in the research show that there is a range of elements necessary for enabling SCP. ...
Abstract One key aspect of moving towards Sustainable Development,is Sustainable Consumption,and Production (SCP) and enabling us to meet our human,needs in more sustainable ways. This is a complex,issue incorporating many facets and stakeholders. Based on the results of recent industry focused research project on these issues , this paper describes the factors necessary to enable SCP as a reality and whether SCP can deliver on the Sustainable Development agenda. Keywords Sustainable Development, Sustainable Consumption and Production, Sustainable Product and Service Development, Eco-design, Life Cycle Management Biographical Notes
... The arguments above have been objected or ignored by some defenders of growth (the so-called environmental economists) and most neoclassical economists who contend that environmental problems are not constraints to economic growth, but can be dealt with by continual growth. The holders of this position often use the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis to support their proposition (Barry & Paterson, 2003). The EKC hypothesizes a relation between environmental damage and economic growth. ...
... The notion of ecological modernisation, for example, sets out a relatively optimistic view of the potential for technological and institutional change in providing solutions to environmental problems (Roberts and Colwell 2001); and some would argue that it offers a good approximation of the dominant approach to environmental policy in western nations since the mid-1980s (Mol 2002). Concepts derived from work on ecological modernisation have certainly become incorporated into the policy agenda, even if their actual implementation is limited and they are largely drawn from 'weak' conceptions of ecological modernisation (Hajer 1995; Harvey 1996; Barry and Paterson 2003). On the face of it, we do appear to be in the midst of an ongoing process of ecological modernisation of the state (Barry and Doran 2006 ). ...
The management of carbon emissions holds some prospect for challenging sustainable development as the organising principle of socio-environmental regulation. This paper explores the rise of a distinctive low-carbon polity as an ideological state project, and examines its potential ramifications for the regulation of economy–environment relations at the urban and regional scale. Carbon control would seem to introduce a new set of values into state regulation and this might open up possibilities for challenging mainstream modes of urban and regional development in a manner not possible under sustainable development. But low-carbon restructuring also portends intensified uneven development, new forms of state control and a socially uneven reworking of state–society relations. In order to explore these issues we start by setting out a framework for conceptualising environmental regulation based around the idea of eco-state restructuring. This idea is introduced to capture the conflicts, power struggles and strategic selectivities involved as governments seek to reconcile environmental protection with multiple other pressures and demands. Overall the paper seeks to make a distinctive contribution to theoretical work on state environmental regulation and the emerging spatial dimensions of climate policy.
This book is concerned with STS research, the study of science and technology in social context. Entailing techno-scientific issues relating to society, STS studies typically involve specific notions and themes based on the topic under investigation and take an interdisciplinary perspective on analyses whose approaches are drawn from a variety of disciplines and encompass a typical vocabulary featuring essential analytic concepts and/or academic discourses. This implies that STS studies differ as to underpinning thematic, conceptual, theoretical, analytical, and methodological tools they propose for exploring subject areas of science-based technologies in society. The aim of this chapter is to provide a conceptual background definition; to explain relevant concepts, theories, and current academic discourses; to outline the chosen research methodologies; and to present and describe the associated analytical techniques and strategies. I postulate that the value of the theoretical framework lies in fulfilling one primary purpose: to explain the nature, meaning, implications, and challenges associated with AmI and the IoT as socio-technological phenomena and as new emerging technologies resulting from an amalgamation of recent discoveries in human-directed sciences and computer science (and its subfield artificial intelligence). I moreover argue that while the analysis of socio-technical imaginaries as discourses may involve a situation where subjectivism may take various forms and formats, depending on the researcher, the nature of the object of inquiry, and the context in which these are embedded, there are still various pathways that can be pursued to produce a good quality interpretive work.
Spaces of Sustainability is an engaging and accessible introduction to the key philosophical ideas which lie behind the principles of sustainable development. This topical resource discusses key contemporary issues including global warming, third world poverty, transnational citizenship and globalization. Combining the latest research and theoretical frameworks Spaces of Sustainability offers a unique insight into contemporary attempts to create a more sustainable society and introduces the debates surrounding sustainable development through a series of interesting transcontinental case studies. These include: discussions of land-use conflicts in the USA; agricultural reform in the Indian Punjab; environmental planning in the Barents Sea; community forest development in Kenya; transport policies in Mexico City; and political reform in Russia. Written in an approachable and concise manner, this is essential reading for students of geography, planning, environmental politics and urban studies. It is illustrated throughout with figures and plates, along with a range of explanatory help boxes and useful web links.
Economic Growth and Sustainable Housing: An Uneasy Relationship critically discusses the possibilities of decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth. The author refutes the belief in combining perpetual economic growth with long-term environmental sustainability based on the premise that economic growth can be fully decoupled from negative environmental impacts. This proposition is underpinned by intensive study in the housing sector from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.
Making the transition to a green economy is a major policy driver in the UK and other countries. Entrepreneurs are suggested as being at the forefront of this transition and as a driving force for sustainability. These “green entrepreneurs” may represent a new type of entrepreneurial behaviour combining economic, environmental and social aims. In this paper, we present empirical work conducted with green entrepreneurs in the UK green building sector. Buildings have significant impacts on the environment, both in terms of materials and post-construction energy demands. Drawing on sustainability transitions theory, we examine the role of green entrepreneurs in affecting change and suggest that green building niches are less consensual than previously theorised. In theorising green entrepreneurs, we also point to the need to consider them within wider networks of activity rather than as lone actors and the implications this has for policy.
The incompatibility between the continual economic growth and the long-term environmental sustainability has been argued. The environmental debate on growth and limits to growth have both been investigated. Then, some strategies for dematerialization have been described while examples have been shown so as to illustrate on how to pursue different settings for the reduction of material resource input and environmental load per unit produced. Furthermore, there is limit within the scope for decoupling the growth in production and consumption from environmental degradation while the decoupling strategy was not able to cope up with the unlimited growth.
The concept of producer responsibility has become a major tenet of EU waste management policy. It forms part of an effort to set a regulatory context for firms supportive of sustainable development. Two contrasting notions of the theory and implementation of sustainable development are ecological modernisation and industrial ecology. Ecological modernisation emphasises economic development and technological advances, within a suitable policy framework. Industrial ecology, by contrast, emphasises inter-firm cooperation and voluntary compliance inspired by eco-efficiency savings. Recently, however, industrial ecologists have shown greater interest in the potential for policy implementation. With aims such as increasing recovery of value from waste, creating a demand for recycled materials, and decreasing the potential harmful effects of waste, the producer responsibility directives can be seen as attempts to implement industrial ecology principles. This paper examines interrelationships of ecological modernisation and industrial ecology to understand the potential and shortcomings of the producer responsibility regulations as a means to promote waste minimisation through eco-design.
The GM debate has been ongoing for over a decade, yet it has been contained in the scientific world and presented in technical terms. Eco Crime and Genetically Modified Food brings the debates about GM food into the social and criminological arena. Eco Crime and Genetically Modified Food highlights the criminal and harmful actions of state and corporate officials. It concludes that corporate and political corruption, uncertain science, bitter public opposition, growing farmer concern and bankruptcy, irreversible damage to biodervisty, corporate monopolies and exploitation, disregard for social and cultural practices, devastation of small scale and local agricultural economies, imminent threats to organics, weak regulation, and widespread political and biotech mistrust – do not provide the bases for advancing and progressing GM foods into the next decade. Yet, with the backing of the WTO, the US and UK Governments march on – but at what cost to future generations?
The concept of ecological modernisation is increasingly being used in policy analysis to indicate deeply embedded and ecologically self‐conscious forms of cultural transformation. Its meaning varies significantly depending on author and context. Without further clarification, there is a danger that the term may serve to legitimise the continuing instrumental domination and destruction of the environment. The normative dimensions of different uses of the concept call for greater attention. These may be weak or strong, and they raise issues relating to the relationship of the term to its ecological and modernist references.
While the release into the environment and marketing of genetically modified organisms - GMOs - and their derivative products, represent issues with global relevance and implications, no singular approach has developed to regulate them in the two decades since gene-splicing technology became commercially viable. The aim of this profile is modest: its main objective is to sketch the histories of the regulatory 'paradigms of assessment and control' [Jasanoff, 1995: 313] concerning rDNA research in the US and EU, outlining the two divergent strategies which ultimately emerged from their experiences. A key factor contributing to the eventual development of two distinct approaches toward the derivative products of genetic modification concerns the level of organisation found in the scientific and industry constituencies in the two blocs. The piece ends by noting the importance of placing the regulation of this specific issue within a template of global politics - a point illustrated with some contemporary examples from Japan and New Zealand.
The focus of this paper will be on how to achieve a better integration of environmental policies with other governmental policies and, particularly, through economic instruments. We will address especially what might be the contribution of an approach based on market instruments with the understanding that such an approach cannot work in isolation and that changes of an administrative or institutional nature have also to be introduced. Thus, drawing upon planned or current work underway in the OECD, this paper reviews the range of policy measures which should be adopted or formulated in order to achieve a better integration of environmental and economic policies. Progress in this direction can be made provided three main needs are addressed: the need for a better internalization of social costs; the need to remove contradictions between environmental and economic and other sectoral policies; and the need to establish appropriate legal, administrative and institutional arrangements. -Author
In this paper I examine some of the reasons for and implications of the ascendance of ecological modernization thought. I stress that its rapid rise to prominence is not because it is a well-developed and highly-codified social theory, but rather because it accords particularly well with a number of intellectual and broader political–economic factors, many of which lie outside the realms of sociology and environmental sociology. I suggest that while ecological modernization is indistinct as a social theory its basic logic suggests two points. First, the most sophisticated versions of ecological modernization revolve around the notion that political processes and practices are particularly critical in enabling ecological phenomena to be “ ‘moved into’ the modernization process” (Mol, A.P.J., 1995. The Refinement of Production. Van Arkel, Utrecht, p. 28). Thus, a full-blown theory of ecological modernization must ultimately be a theory of politics and the state. Second, the logic of ecological modernization theory suggests that it has very close affinities to several related literatures – particularly embedded autonomy, civil society, and state-society synergy theories in political sociology – which have not yet been incorporated into the ecological modernization literature. I conclude by arguing that ecological modernization can benefit by bringing these related – and, for that matter, more powerful – theories into its fold.