Ecological modernisation or risk society? The politics of environmental ideas

Abstract

In contemporary environmental research two sociological theories are dominant: ecological modernisation and risk society. While being different in many respects, both approaches claim to capture current developments in environmental politics. Being possibly somewhat too ambitious, however, they might not be able to grasp more finegrained political changes, particularly differences occurring between countries and/or policy fields. I therefore suggest an analytical framework that is more open to the dynamic of eco‐social development. The interpretation of ecological modernisation and risk society as political ideas opens up a research perspective that makes possible to analyse the political processes in which these ideas gain influence. This conception allows accounting for variations in environmental policy developments.