Social theories of environmental reform - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 78

paths and production systems were put on the public and political agen-
das. In a similar way, systematic environmental information collection
via monitoring and subsequent modelling of economic and ecological
systems 18 formed a key input for environmental policy making. Scien-
tific controversies on the environment did exist but remained largely
internal to the scientific community.
Within ecological modernisation the monitoring and making visible
of environmental flows and qualities was believed to be one of the cru-
cial processes for environmental reform. Only via this visualizing of
largely invisible environmental flows could environmental reform pro-
grams in terms of, for instance, taxation, command-and-control and
labelling work. Initially, environmental knowledge and information
was interpreted in an equally unproblematic way as during the envi-
ronmental reform of protests and policies. Visualizing and articulating
environmental interests via information was a key first step in envi-
ronmental reform, and consequently resulted in debates and struggles
on transparency and access to data, but not so much in fundamen-
tally questioning the scientific underpinnings of environmental infor-
mation. Especially through debates with social constructivism (e.g.,
Steven Yearley, 1991 ; John Hannigan, 1995 ; Bryan Wynne, 1996 ),
and the in-migration of reflexive modernity debates (e.g., Mol, 1996)
this 'simple' Enlightenment position started to shift within the ecolog-
ical modernisation perspective. A more 'reflexive' approach was called
for, especially when dealing with the role of science and technology
in promoting sustainable production and consumption. Von Prittwitz
( 1993 ) and Cohen ( 1997 ) are exemplary for the scholars that have
addressed the challenge to confront ecological modernisation perspec-
tives with the debate on late or reflexive modernity. Under the condition
of reflexive modernity, the ecological modernisation of production and
consumption can no longer be thought of or designed in terms of undis-
puted facts, values, and futures. From a reflexive modernity point of
view, ecological risks are no longer simply accepted on the authority
of (natural) scientists, nor do scientists have a privileged position in
pointing out the best or most promising route towards a sustainable
future. Science and technology are indeed disenchanted and deprivi-
leged, and this has potentially far-reaching consequences for the ways

18

The MIT report to the Club of Rome (Meadows et al., 1972 ) was a landmark
in the scientific modelling of ecological and economic systems.