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Certification Regimes in the Global Agro-Food System and the Transformation of the Nature-Society Relationship: Ecological Modernization or Modernization of Ecology?
Abstract
Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of environmental certification regimes in the global agro-food system—a trend characterized as an example of the ecological modernization approach—which emerged largely because of the rise of consumer sovereignty and the neoliberal push for environmental and social “quality” in food production and processing. Based on a robust analysis of global aquaculture, the article argues that the environmental certification regimes privilege some actors, species, and cultures while marginalizing others. While the fundamental tenet of the ecological modernization approach is to shape capitalism by ecological principles, I argue instead that through environmental certification, ecology or nature itself is largely shaped, transformed and restructured to fit into and thereby serve neoliberal global governance and accumulation in a normalized manner. The example of certification regimes is therefore more like a “modernization of ecology” rather than ecological modernization.
... This study addresses that gap by empirically testing how China's OFDI supports green productivity, not only through capital flows but also as a moderating force that amplifies the benefits of digital and ecological modernization. Furthermore, this research acknowledges critiques of EMT, such as its potential to be co-opted into neoliberal frameworks that prioritize market logic over deep environmental reform (Islam 2022). By explicitly linking OFDI to both digital transformation and green productivity within an EMT framework, this study provides a nuanced understanding of how economic globalization can support ecological transitions-when guided by strategic policy and innovation. ...
This research focuses on the impact of intelligent transformation on Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) within China's manufacturing enterprises over a period from 2010 to 2022. To assess the extent of intelligent transformation across the sector, the study adopts Natural Language Processing and the non-radial SBM-ML index to measure GTFP. Utilizing threshold and mediation analysis we explore how Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) affects intelligent transformation and GTFP whilst additional robustness tests supplement the analysis. The study also considers the variability in the impact of intelligent transformation at enterprise, industry, and regional levels. The results reveal a significant positive relationship between intelligent transformation and GTFP, notably stronger in non-OFDI firms and more pronounced in heavily polluting industries. In particular, enterprises with smaller scale of FDI and those in China's middle region see more substantial benefits.
... In addition to the official global monitoring and food safety agencies, there are also non-governmental organizations (NGOs) certifying bodies, and global institutions that have the potential to influence authorities and consumers through the dissemination of reports and news related to the monitoring of risks posed by chemical substances used in agriculture [13]. Some of these organizations have a significant direct impact on the global food market, such as ALDI, Utz, Rainforest, among others [14][15][16]. ...
Developing active ingredients for the global market requires substantial investment, often exceeding 300 million euros. This process takes an average of 12 years from initiation to commercialization. Despite this lengthy timeline, the industry frequently encounters significant restrictions and bans on active ingredients due to stringent international regulations and evolving environmental safety requirements. In this context, the analysis of regulatory lists using advanced machine learning and statistical modeling techniques becomes crucial for identifying the key parameters that influence the restriction and banning of active ingredients. This study aims to provide insights that enhance decision-making processes, thereby contributing to sustainability by reducing unnecessary environmental research and development efforts. The findings indicate that Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations, as well as Blacklists, are key influencers in the restriction and ban of active ingredients for agricultural use, with Codex Alimentarius acting as a regional influencer depending on the specific country. Ultimately, the insights derived from this research can assist industries and policymakers in developing more effective regulatory strategies, promoting sustainable practices, and ensuring that new active ingredients are selected based on comprehensive and informed criteria that consider both safety and environmental impact.
... In order to study the efficacy and sustainability of the resilience strategies adopted by the commercial shrimp industry in Bangladesh, this research employed ecological modernization (EM) theory. In explaining the ecological crises associated with modern capitalist society, proponents of the EM theory believe that capitalism as a system is flexible enough to find solutions to the environmental issues and evolve toward "sustainable capitalism" [23,24]. EM theory, originating as a concept in a debate in the Berlin municipal parliament on 22 January 1982 [25] and through the writings of its founding father Joseph Huber [26,27], supports the basic economic and political foundations of the capitalist modernization project. ...
Climate change, one of the severest environmental threats to humankind, disproportionately affects low-income, developing countries in the Global South. Having no feasible mitigation alternatives, these countries resort to adaptation efforts to address climate perturbations. Climate change adaptation (or resilience) is primarily a localized course of action that depends on individuals , social networks, economies, ecologies, political structures, and the capabilities of all those to work collectively to absorb, learn from, and transform in the face of new realities. With a view to controlling the floods that shattered the life and economy of the then East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh, during the mid-twentieth century, the coastal embankment project (CEP) was instituted as an adaptation strategy to natural disasters in Southwestern Bangladesh. Based on a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary data, this paper seeks to critically evaluate the efficacy of the CEP in terms of the space for feasible action and ecological modernization. The findings of this research indicate that the CEP has become an unrealistic venture that hinders the growing economic activity of shrimp aquaculture in the area. This paper is expected to contribute to generating further theoretical and empirical discourse on the evaluation of similar development projects around the globe.
... In order to study the efficacy and sustainability of the resilience strategies adopted by the commercial shrimp industry in Bangladesh, this research employed ecological modernization (EM) theory. In explaining the ecological crises associated with the modern capitalist society, proponents of the EM theory believe that capitalism as a system is flexible enough to find solutions to the environmental issues and evolve toward 'sustainable capitalism' (Islam 2013(Islam , 2022. EM theory, originating as a concept in a debate in the Berlin municipal parliament on January 22, 1982(Janicke 1993:30) and through the writings of its founding father Joseph Hubert (Mol 1995, Murphy andGouldson 2000), supports the basic economic and political foundations of the capitalist modernization project. ...
Climate change, one of the severest environmental threats to humankind, disproportionately affects low-income developing countries in the global South. Having no feasible mitigation alternatives, these countries resort to adaptation efforts in addressing the climate perturbations. Climate change adaptation (or resilience) is primarily a localized course of action that depends on individuals, social networks, economies, ecologies, political structures, and the capabilities of all those to work collectively to absorb, learn from and transform in the face of new realities. With a view to controlling the floods that shattered the life and economy of the then East Pakistan, which is Bangladesh now, during the mid-twentieth century, the coastal embankment project (CEP) was instituted as an adaptation strategy to natural disasters in southwestern Bangladesh. Based on the qualitative analysis of primary and secondary data, this paper seeks to critically evaluate the efficacy of the CEP in terms of the space for feasible action and ecological modernization. The findings of this research indicate that the CEP has become an unrealistic venture that hinders the growing economic activity of shrimp aquaculture in the area. This paper is expected to contribute to generate further theoretical and empirical discourse on evaluating similar development projects around the globe.
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