Whose environment?: the end of nature, climate change and the process of post-politicization

Abstract

The paper explores how the elevation of the environmental question, in particular the problem of climate change, to a global and consensually established public concern is both a marker of and constituent force in the production of de-politicization. The paper has four parts. First, I problematize the question of Nature and the environment. Second, the case of climate change policy is presented as cause célèbre of de-politicization. The third part relates this argument to the views of political theorists who argue that the political constitution of western democracies is increasingly marked by the consolidation of post-political and post-democratic arrangements. Fourth, I discuss the climate change consensus in light of the post-political thesis. I conclude that the matter of the environment and climate change in particular, needs to be displaced onto the terrain of the properly political.<br>Este artigo explora como a eminência da questão ambiental, particularmente da problemática das mudanças climáticas, para uma preocupação pública global e consensualmente vigente é ao mesmo tempo um marco e uma força constituinte na produção da despolitização. Este artigo tem quatro partes. Primeiro, eu problematizo a questão da natureza e do meio ambiente. Segundo, o caso das políticas de mudanças climáticas é apresentado como cause célèbre da despolitização. A terceira parte relaciona este argumento com as visões de teóricos políticos que argumentam que a constituição política das democracias ocidentais é, cada vez mais, marcada pela consolidação de arranjos pós-politicos e pós-democráticos. Na quarta parte eu discuto o consenso das mudanças climáticas à luz da tese pós-política. Eu concluo que a questão do meio ambiente e, particularmente, das mudanças climáticas precisam ser deslocadas para o terreno do propriamente político

Anthropocene: another academic invention?

“…These views appeared even earlier (Levins and Lewontin (1985) and correspond to the concept emphasized by Swyngedouw (2011).…”

Om miljöproblemen hänger på mig : Individer förhandlar sitt ansvar för miljön

“…I takt med att klimatförändringarna har fått en alltmer framträdande plats i miljödebatten har individualiseringstendensen visat sig på delvis nya sätt. Miljöpåverkan har till exempel översatts till koldioxidutsläpp (Swyngedouw, 2011). För individer har det inneburit att deras miljöpå-verkan kan åskådliggöras i form av en personlig "koldioxidbudget".…”

“…Istället för att betraktas som politiska aktörer tilltalades människor som målgrupper för en redan förde-finierad och okontroversiell miljöpolitik (Hedrén, 2002:326f ). Geografen Erik Swyngedouw (2011) hävdar att särskilt klimatpolitiken har präglats av en sådan falsk konsensus. Inför det överväldigande gemensamma hotet, som klimatförändringarna har beskrivits som, verkar det som att alla är överens.…”

Contesting energy transitions: wind power and conflicts in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

“…In this regard, the perceived inevitability of the market economy has diluted democratic disputes that might emerge, due to the reproduction of unequal social relations (Swyngedouw 2011). This can be observed for the particular case of renewable energies, where scientific expertise, institutions and policies widely support their deployment (Barry et al 2008), disregarding their potential impacts in the global peripheries.…”

“…Even when claims and mobilizations might not deliberately allude to environmental and climate justice, their struggles represent dissent over the uneven character of the business-as-usual model involved in current mitigation and renewable energy strategies (see also : Chatterton et al 2013). By visualizing social dissent, conflicts therefore push for the democratization of the debate on energy transitions, while opening the possibility of other "socio-ecological futures" (Swyngedouw 2011). When analyzing the temporal process of the conflict in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it is possible to observe that reactive and proactive movements reinforce each other in a dialectical and productive way.…”