Ecological modernisation capacity: finding patterns in the mosaic of case studies

In: Andersen , M S 2015 , Ecological modernisation capacity: finding patterns in the mosaic of case studies . in S C Young (ed.) , The emergence of ecological modernisation. Integrating the Environment and the Economy? . 2 edn , Routledge , London , Environmental Politics , pp. 107-132 . https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315812540

Open Access

Abstract

The concept of ecological modernisation has several connotations, but it refers primarily to the modernisation of industrial society on the premise of a more sustainable development. The theory of ecological modernisation seeks to explain why different political systems have different capacities for such modernization. This chapter presents and discusses Martin Janicke's theory and the assertion that corporatist political structures should improve the capacity for ecological modernization. Janicke's theory of ecological modernisation offers one of the few available theoretical approaches to comparative environmental policy studies. Problem pressure and policy style affect the choice of pollution control strategies. Both problem pressure and policy style may also affect the outcome of pollution control strategies. The chapter shows that some questions related to methodology and research strategy are raised regarding the aggregated country-by-country comparison employed in Janicke's present work. It also shows a different research strategy based on the approach of 'the mosaic of sectoral case studies'.