Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The construction of a glass-recycling scheme by Julian constructed a world in
which more glass was needed, rather than less. Such symbolical and material natu-
ralising, a co-construction of the social and the natural (Irwin 2001), goes hand in
hand with drinking. The 'glass waste' was a site at which several habitus inter-
sected - among them drinking. “Drinks construct the world as it is” (Douglas
1987), Julian's 'glass waste' presupposed drinking in bars and drinks are central to
Western European cultures. Agency can be increased as well as limited with
drinks. To illustrate: for Julian, drinks, as objectified history, allowed him to be-
come a central actor in devising a social technology. Julian's agency was con-
strained by his culture, in which recycling had become a ritual, and at the same
time he co-constructed a culture of drinking which sustained his job. Nevertheless,
such agents have some say in - and beyond - their job. In the case provided in this
paper Julian could have easily turned the issue of 'glass waste' in a political prob-
lem and by that might have allowed other actors, i.e., political green agents, to
participate in interpreting and thereby shaping the issue. Thus, if a critical under-
standing of the issue is developed it is more likely that sustainable pathways will
be recognised and, hopefully, used.
22.5 Concluding Thoughts
In this paper I told a partial story about Julian Berger, who co-ordinated environ-
ment-related activities for his organisation, and visited his construction of a recy-
cling network. His story is woven into an introduction to two major bodies of so-
cial theory: Actor-network theory and Bourdieu's thought. Together, it became
possible to problematise the Ecological Modernisation practices of Julian Berger
as well as to highlight limits of manageability. Thus, the paper shows possibilities
of how social theory can be of help in the study of environmental management.
We learned that in the course of constructing a recycling network actually a social
lock-in was created; rather than ending up with a social structure (of the recycling
network) in which reduction of waste or alternative consumption patterns became
the focus the actual network required the production of
enough
waste. If the pro-
duction of waste decreases more waste will be required to sustain the recycling
network!
Furthermore, we found a variety of social implications of the network. Both
approaches, ANT and Bourdieu, stress relationality. With this emphasis we dem-
onstrated that the management practices are embedded in a variety of relations -
material as well as social. The recycling network was designed to be successfully
embedded in a variety of hegemonic relations - amongst them capitalist and tech-
nological ones. This complies very well with the paradigm of Ecological Moderni-
sation which states that problems are approached by way of integrating them into
capitalist market mechanisms and finding technical solutions. The construction of
the recycling network meets these postulations. As we have shown, however, it is
precisely the stabilisation of the material and social relations which renders the
network a problem. Hence, the story of Julian Berger illustrates how the set-up of
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