Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernization: Boundary Discourses between “Strong” and “Weak” Approaches

Abstract

The concepts of “sustainable development” and “ecological modernization” are todays’ main discourses of action on the global environmental crisis. However, the quest of priorities interpretation within concepts is raised: there is a path dependence of the hegemonic worldview of techno-economic progress that was supposed to be overcome. The objective of this text is to analyse how this dependence influenced the evolution of such concepts and their operational proposals. Methodologically, the research is based on a literature review on discourses of these concepts. A typology of “strong” and “weak” discourses highlights the possibilities of “business as usual” in its operational interpretation as well as the ways to overcome it. The results show that the confrontation between them lead to a conceptual evolution of sustainable development and ecological modernization that merges into a common agenda: the governance of ambivalence between economic and social progress and environmental frontiers. The text concludes by proposing the existence of a discursive game between “survival” and “tranquillity”. This highlights an essential tension between environmental mitigation and institutional change that has accompanied the political agenda in the past 50 years. The resulting reflexive governance as a choice implies a broad participation in decision-making processes so that environmental trade-offs are collectively discussed, and responsibilities are shared. Notwithstanding, the article claims that this essential tension further implies questioning if governance may not also be a new discourse of appeasement and political unaccountability.

Beyond a Czech-The-Box Exercise: Proposals for Meaningful Stakeholder Participation in the Just Transition

“…The EU's just transition policies and mechanisms often blend 'strong' and 'weak' conceptions of ecological modernisation (Dias et al 2020), where participation levels differ. While there is an attempt to involve diverse actors in a participatory manner and reform certain economic and institutional structures ('strong' ecological modernisation), the practical implementation tends to be 'weak', rigid, and technocratic, with a focus on expert and technological solutions to complex challenges (Rösch/Epifanio 2022).…”

Innovative Use of Plastic for a Clean and Sustainable Environmental Management: Learning Cases from Ghana, Africa

“…These innovative ideas, which aim to serve as environmental goals, can boost managing plastic waste and improve environmental sustainability in developing countries. Sustainable innovation can be classified into weak and strong sustainability [46][47][48], depending on the environmental impact level [49]. The environmental impact level improves and minimizes ecological damage and promotes business [45].…”

Interweaving Industrial Ecology and Ecological Modernization: A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis

“…In the early stage of industrialization, because of shallow environmental awareness and lack of planning, industrial development was characterized by a fragmented structure and a low environmental threshold, which led to the traditional industrial development approach of "pollute first, control later" [4]. The intensification of environmental hazards and the emergence of the global energy crisis have raised awareness in human society regarding the environmental crisis, spurring the exploration of a green, circular, and sustainable development model to improve the ecological environment [5]. In 1987, sustainable development was introduced in "Our Common Future," which encouraged the global population to consider achieving the harmonious mutual development of society, economy, and environment [6].…”