ECOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION: A VIABLE OPTION

The environment has been at the head of the world political agenda since the 1960s. Environmental problems that piled up from the Industrial Revolution onwards such as pollution and resource depletion became crucial after the Second World War (WWII) due to excessive industrialization, technological developments and the prevalent growth paradigm. These problems were initially dealt with an understanding that presumed a deep conflict and a zero-sum game between environmental protection and economic development. Hence, the initial efforts to deal with environmental problems reflected an endeavor to balance these two goals. Soon however, the centrality of economic growth reasserted its position and a way had to be found to achieve economic growth while respecting environmental concerns. Sustainable development, introduced in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was the product of this process and hence the new way of perceiving the relationship between environment and development. Ever since then it has become the main recipe for the international community, national governments and environmental groups for achieving environmental goals. Sustainable development is a vague concept and has ample interpretations. Among these competing interpretations, ecological modernization has established its hegemony. The main aim of this article is to present a thorough analysis of the theory and policy strategy of ecological modernization in order to validate the above claim and to understand the current developments in the global, regional and national politics of the environment