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wider attention in the social sciences to consumption, often referred to as the 'con-
sumerist turn'. Second, the Eurocentrism criticism of the second period resulted in
various national studies on environmental reforms in non-EU countries (newly
industrialising countries in especially Southeast and East Asia and the transitional
economies in Central and Eastern Europe, but also, for instance, the USA, Canada,
Australia and Japan), leading to mixed conclusions on the relevance of this theoreti-
cal framework for understanding the processes of environmental reform. Finally,
on the wave of international relations and globalisation studies, growing attention
was paid to the global dynamics of ecological modernisation (e.g. some contribu-
tions in Mol 2001; Sonnenfeld and Mol, 2002; Spaargaren et al., 2006). In the last
section we will turn back to the periodisation of EM studies, by asking whether a
new fourth phase has started following some of the recent debates around globalisa-
tion, materiality and informationalisation.
In spite of national, temporal and theoretical differences, all these contributions
can still be gathered together under the umbrella of the EM theory, not only because
they identify themselves as such, but also because they have in common: (i) that
environmental deterioration is conceived of as a challenge for sociotechnical and
economic reform, rather than the inevitable consequence of the current institutional
structure; (ii) the emphasis on the actuality and necessity of transformation of
modern institutions in the fi elds of science and technology, the nation-state and
global politics, and the (global) market, to achieve environmental reform, and (iii)
a position in the academic fi eld that is distinct from the more or less strict neo-
Marxists, as well as from counter-productivity and post-modernist analyses. Against
this shared background, I will outline the central theoretical notion that lies behind
the variety of contributions to EM theory, as well as its core features.
2
Fundamentals of Ecological Modernisation
The basic idea of EM 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
restructuring of modernity. Ecological restructuring refers to the ecology-inspired
and environment-induced processes of transformation and reform in the central
institutions and social practices of modern society.
Within the so-called 'EM theory' this ecological restructuring is conceptualised
at an analytical level as the growing autonomy, independence or differentiation of
an ecological rationality vis-à-vis other rationalities (cf. Mol, 1995; Spaargaren,
2003).
3
In the domain of states, policies and politics the emergence of an ecological
rationality emerged already in the seventies and early eighties, and 'materialised' or
'institutionalised' in different forms. The construction of governmental organisa-
tions and departments dealing with environmental issues dates from that era.
Equally, environmental (framework) laws, environmental 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, however, this 'green'
ideology assumed an independent status and could no longer be interpreted in terms
of the old political ideologies of socialism, liberalism and conservatism, as argued
by among others Paehlke (1989) and Giddens (1994).