Radical reformism: towardscritical ecological modernization

Radical Reformism: Towards Critical Ecological Modernization

According to a specialized research area within environmental sociology – ecological modernization theory – the shift towards seeking to protect the environment constitutes a broadly emergent sociological phenomenon: the radicalization of modernity. The understanding of the fundamentals of such phenomenon is, therefore, crucial for both the practice and theorization of organization and environm...

Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernization: a Radical Homocentric Perspective

The commonly discussed forms of ‘strong’ sustainable development are rooted in either ecocentric or anthropocentric perspectives. Both eco-socialism and social ecology constitute anthropocentric (or ‘homocentric’) strong sustainability: being essentially humanistic but also embracing stewardship of nature, environmentally benign but centred on social justice. The bases of this development model...

Ecological modernization as social theory

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-codi®ed 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 soci...

Ecological modernization and the governance of carbon: a critical analysis

In this paper, we use insights derived from a critical evaluation of ecological modernisation (EM) theories to examine the origins and influence of new, market based, forms of carbon governance. Focusing on two key examples of these, namely emissions trading in Europe and the global market in offsets, we argue that EM theories can help us both to understand the processes through which the seemi...

Reformism Revisited: Does Form of Government Matter?