Contemporary Discourses of Green Political Economy: A Q Method Analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Sorting distribution.

		Most disagree			Neutral			Most agree
Value		−4	−3	−2	−1	0	1	2	3	4
Frequency	2	3	6	8	10	8	6	3	2

Table 2. Q-sort matrix (Completed by participant THVK).

−4	−3	−2	−1	0	1	2	3	4
36	31	32	9	30	2	6	1	10
44	33	41	43	22	3	12	37	11
	21	7	14	4	5	20	39
		8	48	13	17	23
		45	16	19	18	29
		15	24	27	28	42
			25	34	35
			26	38	47
				40
				46

Figure 1. View of all Q sorts on Factors 1 and 2.

Table 3. Shortened statements, with values (and Z scores) on each factor.

Shortened statement	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3
1. Poor and marginalized to control environmental resources	3 (1.327)	1 (0.624)	1 (0.706)
2. Inequality undermines sustainability; redistribution necessary	2 (1.018)	2 (1.373)	3 (1.642)
3. Gender equality essential for environmental sustainability	2 (0.850)	1 (0.612)	0 (−0.095)
4. Governments responsible for transitioning workers into fair and sustainable work	0 (0.099)	1 (0.487)	2 (0.897)
5. Working week should be reduced	0 (0.346)	−2 (−1.048)	3 (1.017)
6. Progress should be measured in terms of ‘wellbeing’ and ‘happiness’ criteria, not GDP	1 (0.697)	0 (0.196)	3 (1.695)
7. ‘Happiness’ too subjective and problematic to pursue as a policy goal	−1 (−0.767)	0 (0.050)	−4 (−1.983)
8. Strong economic growth is necessary in all countries	−3 (−1.532)	0 (−0.026)	−3 (−1.687)
9. Should focus on decoupling rather than abandon growth-based economies	−1 (−0.830)	1 (0.676)	−2 (−0.854)
10. Wealthy countries need to move away from growth-based economies	4 (1.410)	−3 (−1.122)	4 (2.250)
11. Economic growth is a major social and environmental problem	2 (1.134)	−3 (−1.151)	0 (0.134)
12. Cooperative-based economies more sustainable than market-based economic relations	3 (1.309)	0 (−0.155)	2 (0.832)
13. Our economic system should be less anthropocentric	1 (0.751)	2 (0.725)	0 (0.014)
14. The poor need to be safeguarded against impacts of a sustainable transition	0 (0.242)	2 (1.351)	1 (0.717)
15. Energy-intensive sectors should be compensated in countries with ambitious policies	−2 (−1.047)	−2 (−0.769)	−1 (−0.387)
16. Most effective way to protect nature is to put an economic value on it	−4 (−1.738)	−1 (−0.325)	1 (0.576)
17. Putting an economic value on nature is necessary, but shouldn't allow nature to be commoditized and traded	−1 (−0.639)	1 (0.649)	4 (1.854)
18. Putting a price on nature is dangerous and undesirable	4 (1.513)	0 (−0.074)	−2 (−1.315)
19. We need to accelerate technology transfer from North to South	−1 (−0.294)	2 (1.125)	0 (0.051)
20. We cannot rely on ‘technological fixes’ to reconcile economic development with planetary limits	1 (0.714)	1 (0.473)	2 (0.805)
21. ‘Green growth’ should be promoted by reducing barriers to international trade and foreign investment	−3 (−1.529)	0 (−0.163)	−1 (−0.525)
22. Some countries are using environmental standards as an excuse for restricting trade	−1 (−0.432)	−2 (−1.054)	−2 (−1.192)
23. We need to abandon market liberalization which damages the environment and exacerbates inequalities	1 (0.655)	−2 (−1.066)	0 (−0.094)
24. Leading businesses are already integrating sustainability into their corporate culture and decision-making	−2 (−1.228)	1 (0.647)	2 (0.963)
25. SMEs are better suited to promoting sustainability and human wellbeing than MNCs	0 (0.407)	−1 (−0.392)	−1 (−0.327)
26. Capitalism is the only viable economic system	−4 (−2.030)	−1 (−0.425)	−1 (−0.526)
27. Sustainable development cannot exist within a capitalist system	1 (0.771)	−4 (−2.118)	−3 (−1.456)
28. We need policies to reduce the power of TNCs	2 (0.923)	0 (−0.196)	2 (0.755)
29. Governments need to eliminate subsidies for environmentally damaging activities	1 (0.793)	3 (1.468)	2 (0.833)
30. No more fossil fuel energy infrastructure should be built anywhere	1 (0.790)	−2 (−1.036)	−2 (−0.775)
31. Low-income countries will need to continue to use fossil fuels for the foreseeable future	−2 (−1.110)	−1 (−0.419)	−2 (−1.184)
32. Human nature is a major impediment to living sustainably	−1 (−0.917)	0 (−0.210)	−1 (−0.296)
33. The only sustainable economy is a steady-state economy	0 (0.152)	−2 (−0.974)	0 (−0.190)
34. People should be legally prohibited from engaging in behaviour that damages the environment	0 (0.570)	−1 (−0.533)	1 (0.413)
35. Industrialized countries have an ‘ecological debt’ which must be paid to developing countries	0 (0.282)	−1 (−0.473)	0 (0.330)
36. We don't need to choose between environmental sustainability and economic growth	−2 (−1.509)	4 (1.976)	0 (−0.083)
37. We should be aiming to consume less rather than just use resources more efficiently	2 (0.883)	2 (0.760)	1 (0.600)
38. The Earth is a living sentient being and deserves the same rights as are accorded to human beings	1 (0.592)	−1 (−0.475)	−1 (−0.561)
39. Our economies should become much more regionalized and localized	3 (1.314)	0 (−0.140)	0 (0.199)
40. Collaborative governance is essential for envisaging and implementing a sustainable economy	0 (−0.110)	3 (1.440)	1 (0.475)
41. Democracy is an impediment to transitioning to a sustainable economy	−3 (−1.547)	−4 (−2.410)	−3 (−1.631)
42. All forms of life, nature, and scientific knowledge should be considered common property	0 (0.472)	−1 (−0.435)	−1(−0.316)
43. Ideas like ‘green economy’ promoted by Western governments only benefit the rich and big business	2 (0.902)	−3 (−1.922)	−4 (−2.281)
44. By greening our economies we can accelerate growth, generate new and decent jobs, and reduce poverty	−1 (−0.784)	2 (0.716)	1 (0.627)
45. We can integrate sustainability concerns into production without abandoning markets or free trade	2 (−0.953)	3 (1.434)	0 (−0.008)
46. Developing a truly green economy is probably not possible; should aim for ‘greener economies’	−1 (−0.568)	0 (0.073)	−2 (−0.623)
47. Everyone contributes to environmental degradation so everyone should reduce their individual impact	0 (0.007)	4 (1.791)	1 (0.500)
48. The global economy is slowly but surely becoming green	−2 (−1.360)	1 (0.466)	−1 (−0.498)

Table

Attribute	Values
Author region	Asia-Pacific
	Africa
	Europe
	North America
	International
	Latin America
	Middle East
Author type	NGO (civil society and bloggers)
	Intergovernmental
	Governmental
	Multiple
	Academic
	Trade union
	Private sector
	Media
	Unknown
Key concept	Green economy
	Green growth
	Buenvivir
	Harmony with nature
	Steady state economy
	De-growth
	Sustainable development
	Environmental sustainability
	Low-carbon development
	Sustainable economy
	Other
Relevance	High
	Medium
	Low

Table

	Loadings
Q-Sort	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3
LTW7THVK	0.7142	−0.0259	0.3809
DVNLFS41	−0.1635	0.7272	0.2629
3TLC1LYR	0.2317	0.5967	0.2377
VI9DYODC	0.1624	0.5638	0.1662
A3ANPQFZ	0.7355	0.1401	0.4251
4O2YUYVW	0.2727	0.4470	0.6263
2YWCJX6U	−0.3614	0.6148	0.0806
HUK2ZAM8	0.3463	0.0872	0.6810
LNETGH6V	0.0287	0.3407	0.4971
CEXB1Q2V	0.6947	0.1123	0.3559
UAZW9MHB	0.6599	0.2175	0.1035
51PDGNDY	0.7143	−0.1726	0.2598
UWUY8OET	0.7862	−0.2054	0.1260
PKTMJN0F	0.7200	0.2386	0.2998
I4O30QUQ	0.6812	0.1232	0.0776
GXOA0HTF	−0.7179	0.4026	0.0427
LYQVNMH7	0.6014	0.1807	0.5053
VGHUB3DO	0.4572	0.2810	0.5768
6HUDA0XP	0.5611	0.0785	0.4943
0AI24HSF	−0.1354	0.7301	0.1039
XHK2XNHJ	0.1995	0.4105	−0.0990
Q2GWNMSZ	0.5817	0.2777	0.3244
MJNV4PDY	0.2210	0.2327	0.5545
3O5N48KD	0.7382	−0.1678	0.1619
W0BWUPVL	0.5988	−0.1146	0.0479
PE4VLEFI	−0.1206	0.1234	0.5684
SXXD6KRQ	−0.3610	0.6035	0.0742
UP0AIZH8	0.3898	0.4068	0.4265
KMKODEW2	0.6168	0.1941	0.6250
E7PERDBA	0.5715	0.0604	0.0167
AMGSHVEX	−0.0087	0.6108	0.2255
FNUNCSHO	−0.2275	0.6886	0.1890
TBJ7GCNM	0.7145	−0.1042	0.4317
TD5PNKWJ	0.1773	0.3046	0.3399
R3OX0PEK	0.4312	0.6407	0.1195
VYJPNMIT	0.6420	0.1221	0.5003
GI4DRZ0C	0.8000	−0.1703	0.1479
QNQLVMOZ	−0.3411	0.2900	0.4323
05H6HGIS	0.3659	0.1881	0.5958
KQKBFNUI	−0.0678	0.5729	0.3859