Informational governance - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 81

that are to a significant extent structured and 'ruled' by informa-
tion, informational processes, informational technologies and struggles
around access to, control over, and production and use of (environmen-
tal) information. Information thus becomes a crucial element, resource
and domain of power struggles in environmental governance, not only
in developed OECD countries but also beyond these 'information soci-
eties'.
As in most of the recent literature on governance, the notions of
environmental (cf. Davidson and Frickel, 2004 ) and informational
governance have a positive, constructive undertone. These governance
notions refer to the outlook of giving direction to social developments,
to the ability of - at least to some extent - controlling and steering social
processes, and to knowledgeable and capable actors and agencies that
make a difference (be it conditioned by structures and systems). At
the same time, governance notions contrast overly structuralist per-
spectives of system domination and determination. In that sense, infor-
mational governance seems to be at odds with some versions of the
sociology of networks and flows, such as the systemic perspectives of
global complexity.
Although, when everything is set and done, such a systemic per-
spective might indeed not be useful in understanding environmental
governance in the Information Age, my interpretation and framing of
informational governance does build on the (environmental) sociology
of networks and flows and moves far away from any simple, volun-
taristic idea of governance that could relatively easy (environmentally)
restructure society. Structural properties of global modernity do con-
dition, influence and structure governance in its various forms and
outlooks. But also, in a complex global order, we will still have environ-
mental governance practices and institutions, now - as hypothesised -
strongly conditioned and structured by informational processes. To
balance both sides, I focus in Section 3 on an ecological modernisation
perspective of information flows, whereas in Sections 4 to 7 I coun-
teract a too naive, optimist and positivist framing of informational
governance of the environment (and will regularly use the term infor-
mational politics and governance). These later sections elaborate on
power, uncertainties, and multiple knowledge claims, the undermining
state authority and global inequalities, respectively, which all 'struc-
ture' the production and control of, access to and manipulation of
information around environmental controversies.