different narratives, and respond to different imperatives of green transformation.
What this all suggests is that, rather than there being one big green transformation, it is more likely that there will be multiple transformations that will intersect,
overlap and conflict in unpredictable ways. Many indeed may already be underway,
competing with one another for the political attention, support and financial
resources of states, businesses and publics. There will be failures, setbacks and
unintended consequences, as with any project of reorganizing society.
Change will therefore come about in a multitude of different arenas and sites,
and through diverse alliances and movements. We are likely to see a series of
competing – at times divergent, other times convergent – green transformations.
How might these come about? Drawing from the chapters, four broad, and
overlapping, strategies for change are seen.
Shaping and resisting structures
As already alluded to, one key fissure in debates about green transformations is
around the scope for change within capitalism. Most chapters here emphasize the
diversity and unevenness of capitalist development in relation to varieties of
capitalism (Lockwood, this book) and fractions of capital (Newell, this book) as a
way of getting a more differentiated handle on the possibilities of transformations within capitalism(s). Newell (this book) shows how activists have sought
to mobilize the power of finance capital given its heightened power to drive
decarbonization, while Spratt (this book) shows, in turn, how important it is to
disaggregate different types of finance in order to appreciate what transformative
potential (if any) they might have.
Due to prevailing structures of capital and finance, some strategies of green
transformation might gain traction in the neoliberal heartlands of the US and Europe,
but are far less likely to work elsewhere. In neoliberal settings, the power of trans -
national corporations reshapes democratic possibilities, due to their market power,
lobbying influence and control of states and claims to be in the vanguard of social
and environmental responsibility (Crane et al., 2008; Crouch, 2011). This suggests
new challenges for the ‘post-democratic’ era, where organized civil society becomes
crucial to challenge the power of the corporation (Crouch, 2004; Crouch and
Streeck, 2006).
As well as appreciating the macro context, what this points to is the need for
more nuanced, and regionally and nationally specific theories of change (Lockwood,
this book), given that common structures of power express themselves in distinct
forms around the world. This requires the building of national strategies and locating
transformations within understandings of national political dynamics.
Reframing knowledge
Structures of power are not just economic, of course. Many contributors place
emphasis on discursive structures that limit how we see and imagine problems and
The politics of green transformations 21
What this all suggests is that, rather than there being one big green transformation, it is more likely that there will be multiple transformations that will intersect,
overlap and conflict in unpredictable ways. Many indeed may already be underway,
competing with one another for the political attention, support and financial
resources of states, businesses and publics. There will be failures, setbacks and
unintended consequences, as with any project of reorganizing society.
Change will therefore come about in a multitude of different arenas and sites,
and through diverse alliances and movements. We are likely to see a series of
competing – at times divergent, other times convergent – green transformations.
How might these come about? Drawing from the chapters, four broad, and
overlapping, strategies for change are seen.
Shaping and resisting structures
As already alluded to, one key fissure in debates about green transformations is
around the scope for change within capitalism. Most chapters here emphasize the
diversity and unevenness of capitalist development in relation to varieties of
capitalism (Lockwood, this book) and fractions of capital (Newell, this book) as a
way of getting a more differentiated handle on the possibilities of transformations within capitalism(s). Newell (this book) shows how activists have sought
to mobilize the power of finance capital given its heightened power to drive
decarbonization, while Spratt (this book) shows, in turn, how important it is to
disaggregate different types of finance in order to appreciate what transformative
potential (if any) they might have.
Due to prevailing structures of capital and finance, some strategies of green
transformation might gain traction in the neoliberal heartlands of the US and Europe,
but are far less likely to work elsewhere. In neoliberal settings, the power of trans -
national corporations reshapes democratic possibilities, due to their market power,
lobbying influence and control of states and claims to be in the vanguard of social
and environmental responsibility (Crane et al., 2008; Crouch, 2011). This suggests
new challenges for the ‘post-democratic’ era, where organized civil society becomes
crucial to challenge the power of the corporation (Crouch, 2004; Crouch and
Streeck, 2006).
As well as appreciating the macro context, what this points to is the need for
more nuanced, and regionally and nationally specific theories of change (Lockwood,
this book), given that common structures of power express themselves in distinct
forms around the world. This requires the building of national strategies and locating
transformations within understandings of national political dynamics.
Reframing knowledge
Structures of power are not just economic, of course. Many contributors place
emphasis on discursive structures that limit how we see and imagine problems and
The politics of green transformations 21