Environmental Engineering Reference
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transformations in how hybrid arrangements blur conventional classi-
fications of states, markets and civil society in governing environmental
challenges. Equally, we lack the tools to grasp the changing position of
conventional regulatory resources and actors, and the emergence and
strength of new resources and arrangements that are so crucially tight
up with information. Why are state actors on an increasing number
of issues unwilling, unable or hesitant to use their regulatory power
to push the sustainability agenda in a globalising world? Why are all
kind of actors so preoccupied and worried with information disclo-
sure, labelling and certifications systems, reputation and legitimacy,
transparency and accountability, the old and new media, tracking and
tracing, and monitoring among others? We cannot understand this by
focusing on state command-and-control politics, relying on economic
cost arguments for polluters and/or highlighting the necessary infor-
mation preconditions for regulatory actions by state authorities. It is
exactly the interpretative shortcomings of the conventional paradigm
in understanding these contemporary changes and innovations in envi-
ronmental governance that motivated me - and others - to search for
new governance frames.
If indeed it becomes essential to include informational processes into
the centre of our analysis of environmental governance, this does not
necessarily means a change for the better. This can be seen as a second
claim of continuity scholars: although perhaps the modes of environ-
mental governance change, the success and impact of this new mode
or form of governance is not any better than conventional systems of
environmental regulation that were so strongly related to notions of
state failure. Some scholars even claim that these new fashions and ten-
dencies only weaken environmental governance, as the strong position
that the environmental state has built up over the past three decades,
becomes now seriously undermined. If formulated in this way, the con-
clusion of continuity scholars might be largely correct; but at the same
time their analysis misses depth and understanding. Webster ( 2001a ,
Schnaiberg and colleagues ( 2002 ), and, to some extent, also Paehlke
( 2003 ), among others, are all correct in claiming that we are still deal-
ing with a (global) capitalist economic order, which forms the setting
for environmental governance. 1
And in such a setting environmental
1
Through their study of car advertising, Paterson and Dalby ( 2006 ) provide a
recent example on how information and symbolism works towards what they
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