Environmental Economics, Military, Ecology, Environmental Science, Nature & Ecology, Environmentalism, Human Geography, Social Services & Welfare, Environmental Studies, Geography 

The idea of ecological modernisation originated in Western Europe in the 1980s, gaining attention around the world by the late 1990s. At the core of this social scientific and policy-oriented approach is the view that contemporary societies have the capability of dealing with their environmental crises. Experiences in some countries demonstrate that modern institutions can incorporate environmental interests into their daily routines. Elsewhere, economic and political interests dominate development trajectories and environmental deterioration continues, challenging the premises of ecological modernisation. This volume brings together research on ecological modernisation practices around the world. Studies on Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, the USA, and Southeast Asia examine the applicability of this approach to advanced industrial countries, transitional economies and developing countries respectively. Authors critically examine the premises of ecological modernisation theory, assess its value for understanding past and present environmental transformations, and outline paths for designing future sustainable development. Taken together, the studies in collected this volume offer significant refinements, extensions and critiques of ecological modernisation theory and suggest important directions for future research on social and policy dimensions of environmental change. - from Amzon 

CONTENTS

1. Ecological Modernisation Around the World: An Introduction
Arthur P.J. Mol and David A. Sonnenfeld ...........................................p. 3

Theoretical Perspectives
2. Ecological Modernisation Theory in Debate: A Review
Arthur P.J. Mol and Gert Spaargaren ....................................................p. 17

3. Lifestyles, Consumption and the Environment:
The Ecological Modernisation of Domestic Consumption
Gert Spaargaren and Bas van Vliet ....................................................p. 50

4. Ecological Modernisation, Environmental Knowledge and
National Character: A Preliminary Analysis of the Netherlands
Maurie J. Cohen ...................................................................................p. 77

Case Studies From Around the World Advanced Industrial Countries
5. Putting the Ecological Modernisation Thesis to the Test:
The Promises and Performances of Urban Recycling
David N. Pellow and Allan Schnaiberg and Adam S. Weinberg ......................p. 109

6. Europeanisation and Ecological Modernisation:
Agri-environmental Policy and Practices in Finland Pekka Jokinen ..............p. 138

Transitional Economies
7. Ecological Modernisation as Cultural Politics: Transformation of Civic Environmental Activism in Lithuania Leonardas Rinkevicius ......................p. 171

8. Legacy of Waste or Wasted Legacy? The End of Industrial
Ecology in Post-Socialist Hungary Zsuzsa Gille .........................................p. 203

Developing Countries
9. Contradictions of Ecological Modernisation: Pulp and Paper
Manufacturing in South-east Asia David A. Sonnenfeld ..............................p. 235

10. Ecological Modernisation Theory and Industrialising Economies: The
Case of Viet Nam Jos Frijns and Phung Thuy Phuong and Arthur P.J. Mol......p. 257

Notes on Contributors .....................................................................p. 293