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Ecological Modernization

The Theoretical Basis of Market Liberalism and Institutionalism. Ecological Modernization. What is Ecological Modernization?. The restructuring of institutions to follow environmental interests, perspectives, and rationalities.

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Ecological Modernization

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  1. The Theoretical Basis of Market Liberalism and Institutionalism Ecological Modernization

  2. What is Ecological Modernization? • The restructuring of institutions to follow environmental interests, perspectives, and rationalities. • Restructuring follows the “centripetal movement of ecological interests, ideas, and considerations within the social practices and institutional developments of modern societies.” (Mol)

  3. Defined in opposition to… • Demodernization and deindustrialization • End-of-pipe solutions (curative policy) • Postmodern/social constructivist discourse

  4. Main Arguments • The “ecological” comes to have autonomy and significance within the major institutions of society (state, civil society, industry, commerce) • Economic behaviour (production and consumption) is planned according to both economic and ecological criteria; Profit remains a necessity, but environmental considerations are also part of the accounting.

  5. Main Arguments • Changes are “semi-permanent,” and cumulative. • No reason to believe that changes will be “revolutionary” in terms of fundamentally altering the nature of capitalism or liberal democracy.

  6. Two Versions of Eco-Mod 1. Market Liberalist Best exemplified by the hypothesis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Environmental improvement driven by market processes: price signals, consumer preferences. The state’s role is limited to creating missing markets and getting prices right (removal of market distorting taxes and subsidies).

  7. The EKC Mechanisms hypothesized to drive the downward portion of the EKC • Industrial Transformation: • Technology and Corporate Social Responsibility • Shift to service/knowledge-based economies • Driven partly by globalization (dissemination of environmental management practices from the West, requirements of global competition, eg. of PetroChina from Mol. 2. Political Transformation: Demand for environmental protection at the policy level grows as people become more affluent and secure. 3. Consumption Transformation: Consumers become “postmaterialist” and demand environmental responsibility from companies.

  8. Two Versions of Eco-Mod 2. Institutionalist • The downward slope of the EKC is NOT automatically produced by growth • Transformations in political process: • More weight on environmental issues; rise of the “environmental state.” • “Subpolitics:” (Beck); rise of NGOs and other non-state actors • Transformations in the market: • Business, consumers, financiers, utilities become “social carriers” of ecological restructuring. • Transformations in Civil Society: • Rise of a more powerful environmental movement with more policy clout, autonomous knowledge and organizational resources, and more resonance with the public.

  9. Critiques of the EKC • Empirical evidence is mixed, and varies widely depending on the specific form of pollution or environmental degradation being examined (holds up for sulfur dioxide, for example, but not for carbon dioxide). • Unit of measurement: Problem of “leakage” across political boundaries.

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