Social theories of environmental reform - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 61

social science research in the 1990s. Although different concepts have
been used by scholars in this field, I will group the studies that try to
understand, interpret and conceptualise the nature, extent and social
dynamics of environmental reform processes in this era under the label
of ecological modernisation. 4

Fundamentals of ecological modernisation

The basic idea of ecological modernisation is that, at the end of the
second millennium, modern societies witness a centripetal movement
of ecological interests, ideas and considerations in their institutional
design. This development crystallises in a constant ecological restruc-
turing of modernity. Ecological restructuring refers to the ecology-
inspired and environment-induced processes of transformation and
reform in the central institutions of modern society.
Within the so-called Ecological Modernisation Theory this ecologi-
cal restructuring is conceptualised at an analytical level as the growing
autonomy, independence or differentiation of an ecological rationality
vis- a-vis other rationalities (cf. Mol, 1995 ; 1996a; Spaargaren, 1997 ).
In the domain of states, policies and politics an ecological rationality
emerged already in the 1970s and early 1980s, and 'materialised' or
'institutionalised' in different forms. The construction of governmen-
tal organisations and departments dealing with environmental issues
dates from that era. Equally, environmental (framework) laws, envi-
ronmental impact assessment systems and green political parties date
back to that period. The same is true in the domain of ideology and the
life world. A distinct 'green' ideology - as manifested by, for instance,
environmental NGOs, environmental value systems and environmental
periodicals - started to emerge in the 1970s. Only in the 1980s, how-
ever, this 'green' ideology assumed an independent status and could no
longer be interpreted in terms of the old political ideologies of social-
ism, liberalism and conservatism, as argued by, among others, Paehlke
(1989) and Giddens ( 1994 ).

4

A full historical analysis and overview of developments in ecological
modernisation literature until now is beyond the scope of this chapter. For such
overviews, see the volumes edited by Spaargaren et al. (2000) and Mol and
Sonnenfeld ( 2000 ), and special issues of the journals Environmental Politics
(2000, no. 4), Geoforum (2000, no. 31) and Journal of Environmental Policy
and Planning ( 2000 , no. 4).