Papers
Ian Welsh
Risk, Global Governance and Environmental Politics
Abstract
This
paper examines the role of risk as an analytical category
shaping the politics of the environment in an era of
accelerating globalization. Particular attention is given to
defining the environment in a manner which subordinates
neither natural nor social scientific approaches. With this
accomplished the global turn in environmental governance is
assessed in relation to domestic political consequences. It is
argued that Northern definitions of risk shape both regulatory
strategies aimed at the avoidance of negative futures and
accumulation strategies prioritizing Northern solutions.
Finally it is suggested that environmental politics are being
transformed through the emergence of discourses linking the
environment and social justice in both North and South.
Marian
K. Deblonde
Envriomental Economic Scientists and Politics
Abstract
A
conventional way of societal problem-solving consists of,
firstly, translating the problem into disciplinary, scientific
- and often more specifically: economic - terms, secondly
formulating a disciplinary solution, and thirdly recommending
this solution as a neutral instrument for public policy. The
supposed political relevance of (economic) theory is narrowly
connected with its status as a positive science. Ecological
problems, however, challenge the supposed objectivity of
economics. Different economists react to this challenge in
different ways. In this paper, I give a general overview of
three main positions within the community of economic
scientists. Each time, I show the link between the presupposed
status of economics and its perceived legitimate political
role. More science or more democracy (or a democratic version
of science): that remains my principal question.
Colin Gill
Environmental Protection in Europe: The 'Greening' of
Industrial Relations?
Abstract
This
paper which is based on a comparative EU study, shows that the
social partners in some countries have begun to discuss
environmental protection as part of their industrial relations
agenda, but such discussions are limited in scope. Seven case
studies carried out in European companies point to a number of
themes related to the dynamics of environmental policy
processes which can assist employers and unions in the
‘greening’ of industrial relations in Europe.
Benno
Galjart
Sustainability as the Maintenance of Things: Analogies
for an Environmental Sociology
Abstract
Care
for the natural environment consists of nothing else than
maintenance activities with respect to a large number of
material objects. The question is whether these activities can
be compared with the maintenance of other things. Things are
variously ‘embedded’, social in terms of ownership and use,
as well as culturally in terms of value. Perhaps because
objects differ so much in their embeddedness and are so
differently maintained, a sociology of maintenance does not
exist, although the activities and even some of the
institutions through which they have been carried out have
existed for a long time. Maintenance consists of careful
handling, preventive protection against any kind of damage,
curative maintenance (the repair of malfunctions) and finally,
in most cases, replacement. Owners as well as users can be
individuals, but also corporate groups, publics or authorities.
The maintenance of things is not a matter of course but in
many cases has to be organized. It is argued that a
comparative study of how people in the past have successfully
–or unsuccessfully—maintained analogously embedded things
can suggest appropriate solutions for environmental
maintenance problems; at least if it is recognized that terms
like environment or ecosystem encompass many differently
valued and embedded material objects.
Thomas
Cordier
Cleavages in Green Parties: The Case of the Dutch,
French and German Greens
Abstract
The
paper presents a comparison of the political stands and the
cleavages in the Green parties of Germany, France and the
Netherlands. Soon after their foundation, Green parties were
forced to extend their platform beyond ecology and, as a
consequence, dissent arose about giving up autonomy and
searching for alliances, about the stands to adopt on
non-environmentalist issues and about the choice of a policy
style. The paper presents a comparison of the three parties'
stance. The analysis of cleavages in each of the three parties
reveals that the internal conflicts are still dominated by
questions concerning alliances, the character and scope of the
party’s leftist agenda and the opposition between a
pragmatic and a radical policy style. Though the cleavages in
all three parties refer to these conflicts, there are
differences as to which cleavage is the most significant: the
French Greens are preoccupied with the question of alliances,
while the German and Dutch Greens are much more divided on the
question of policy style and characterized by an opposition
between 'Socialist greens' and 'Social-Democratic greens'. The
data stem from a two-year field study and a membership survey
in the three parties.
Masja Nas
and Paul Dekker
Envrionmental Involvement in Four West European
Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Attitudes and Action
Abstract
Much
research on collective environmental action has been conducted
within the broader context of the study of new social
movements. The environment as a universal object of
political participation is taken for granted, also
cross-nationally. However, collective actors organize a wide
range of activities in different institutional settings, with
different goals, and with different addressees, not only
governments but also consumers and producers. There is not
much reason to assume a fixed distinction between collective
and individual environmental behaviour and uniform processes
of getting involved in collective action. Using data from
Eurobarometer 37A (1992) for Belgium, Great Britain, the
Netherlands and West-Germany, the simple notion of collective
environmental action is empirically criticized by showing a)
dissimilar positions of collective involvement for the
environment in national polities;
b) distinct national patterns of individual activities
in favour of the environment; and c) diverse relationships
between in involvement in collective action and environmental
and general political attitudes for subpopulations.
