pricing of ‘natural capital’ will do away with the need to engage with multiple,
contested changes that may (or may not) add up to a broader politics of green
transformations. Given the diversity of accumulation strategies being pursued by
states and corporations in different parts of the world and the ways in which they
enrol and collide with so many other social actors, we can expect a diversity of
pathways. The contribution of a more political analysis of green transformations
that this book offers helps clarify some of the trade-offs, highlighting the distribu -
tional implications and therefore enabling engagement and support for transform -
ations that seem to be more ‘just’, ‘equitable’, ‘inclusive’ and ‘democratic’ – and
consequently sustainable.
Second, recognizing, celebrating and encouraging diversity in transformative
pathways is not the same as saying ‘let all flowers bloom’. Power relations do need
to change and transformations that are narrowly based – whether around technology
or markets or bottom-up politics, for example – are unlikely to gain much traction,
despite the illusions of order and clarity that they may afford. Likewise, scepticism
about knowledge claims does not amount to critiques of the value of science, but
highlight the politics of knowledge around such claims. As many of the chapters
argue, there is therefore a need for more inclusive knowledge (co-)production in
order to increase the robustness and credibility of knowledge for transformation.
Third, the emphasis on questions of equity and justice that run through many
of the chapters underscore the imperative of ensuring transformations are ‘just’:
that they pay due attention to those whose livelihoods are dependent upon the
existing way of doing things and who stand to lose out under many proposals for
green transformations, and that benefits and risks from change are fairly distributed.
Democratic politics are vital to this, despite some calls that they are a luxury we
cannot afford given the urgency of change. Political analysis is again required to
understand how modes of governing, deliberating and participating can be adapted
to help address the challenges thrown up by green transformations.
The chapters in this book therefore offer different perspectives on the politics
of green transformations; there is no standard answer, and much depends on context,
sector, political economy, timing, and so on. These politics will continue to play
out on a terrain of competing discourses, institutions and material interests in diverse
contexts. The challenge for all of us is to engage on that terrain in defining and
realizing pathways that are both green and just. A political analysis, as outlined in
the chapters in this book in different ways and from diverse perspectives, is central
to this very practical and urgent aim.
Note
1 See, for example, The Great Transformation (Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2013), echoing
the title of the earlier classic work by Polanyi (1980 [1944]).
24 Ian Scoones, Peter Newell and Melissa Leach
contested changes that may (or may not) add up to a broader politics of green
transformations. Given the diversity of accumulation strategies being pursued by
states and corporations in different parts of the world and the ways in which they
enrol and collide with so many other social actors, we can expect a diversity of
pathways. The contribution of a more political analysis of green transformations
that this book offers helps clarify some of the trade-offs, highlighting the distribu -
tional implications and therefore enabling engagement and support for transform -
ations that seem to be more ‘just’, ‘equitable’, ‘inclusive’ and ‘democratic’ – and
consequently sustainable.
Second, recognizing, celebrating and encouraging diversity in transformative
pathways is not the same as saying ‘let all flowers bloom’. Power relations do need
to change and transformations that are narrowly based – whether around technology
or markets or bottom-up politics, for example – are unlikely to gain much traction,
despite the illusions of order and clarity that they may afford. Likewise, scepticism
about knowledge claims does not amount to critiques of the value of science, but
highlight the politics of knowledge around such claims. As many of the chapters
argue, there is therefore a need for more inclusive knowledge (co-)production in
order to increase the robustness and credibility of knowledge for transformation.
Third, the emphasis on questions of equity and justice that run through many
of the chapters underscore the imperative of ensuring transformations are ‘just’:
that they pay due attention to those whose livelihoods are dependent upon the
existing way of doing things and who stand to lose out under many proposals for
green transformations, and that benefits and risks from change are fairly distributed.
Democratic politics are vital to this, despite some calls that they are a luxury we
cannot afford given the urgency of change. Political analysis is again required to
understand how modes of governing, deliberating and participating can be adapted
to help address the challenges thrown up by green transformations.
The chapters in this book therefore offer different perspectives on the politics
of green transformations; there is no standard answer, and much depends on context,
sector, political economy, timing, and so on. These politics will continue to play
out on a terrain of competing discourses, institutions and material interests in diverse
contexts. The challenge for all of us is to engage on that terrain in defining and
realizing pathways that are both green and just. A political analysis, as outlined in
the chapters in this book in different ways and from diverse perspectives, is central
to this very practical and urgent aim.
Note
1 See, for example, The Great Transformation (Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2013), echoing
the title of the earlier classic work by Polanyi (1980 [1944]).
24 Ian Scoones, Peter Newell and Melissa Leach