The Theoretical Basis of Market Liberalism and Institutionalism What is Ecological Modernization The restructuring of institutions to follow environmental interests perspectives and rationalities ID: 619401
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Slide1
Ecological Modernization
The Theoretical Basis of Market Liberalism and InstitutionalismSlide2
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)Slide3
Defined in opposition to…
Demodernization
and deindustrialization
End-of-pipe solutions (curative policy)
Postmodern/social constructivist discourseSlide4
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.Slide5
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. Slide6
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).Slide7
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.Slide8
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. Slide9
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.