Ecological Modernisation: Promises and Prospects

Abstract

Sustainable development (SD) relies on an economy’s capacity to grow within ecological constraints. Most economies will seek to do so in ways that do not diminish their economic and competitive advantages. An ecological modernisation (EM) approach that promises to simultan-eously generate economic growth and environmental sustainability within the existing political economy paradigm is thus very appealing. It helps explain why EM is one of today’s major sustainability discourses and ‘one of the dominant perspectives in the environmental social sciences’ (Scheinberg and Mol, 2010: 20). For many, its capacity to generate ecologically benign growth is without peer (Jänicke, 2008: 563). Through decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth, EM promotes a paradigm of co-benefits or ‘win-win’: ‘a posi-tive-sum game’ where technological innovation generates economic buoyancy at the same time as it protects the environment (Hajer, 1995: 64). This paradigm, or ‘discourse of reassurance’ (Dryzek, 2005: 172), is fundamental to explaining EM’s widespread appeal. It promises not only to contain costs and create opportunities, but also to do so in a manner that only minimally disrupts economy and society. These qualities have rendered EM central to the pragmatic task of SD. In one way or other, it is the dominant approach to environmental reform today.