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State—Capital Relations in Voluntary Environmental Improvement

University of Toronto, norah.mackendrick{at}utoronto.ca

Debra J. Davidson

University of Alberta, debra.davidson{at}ualberta.ca

The relationship between the environment and society is an increasingly prevalent theme in the study of contemporary social systems, with research often focused on the interactions between capital, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and the state. Ecological Marxist and ecological modernizationist lines of enquiry, for example, both presume that close relations between states and environmental organizations will increase the likelihood of substantive state environmental action. Both also highlight the central role of state—capital relations in environmental transformation, although the latter views this relationship as potentially facilitative, while the former accords a much greater likelihood for environmental degradation resulting from close state—capital relations. Using interview data from a case study of natural resource management in Alberta, the article examines the role of state—capital relations in voluntary environmental improvement efforts. The findings suggest that capital sectors each have a distinct relationship with the state, neither of which abides closely with ecological modernizationist or ecological Marxist conceptions of state—capital relations. The natural resource regulatory regime itself, furthermore, has proven to constrain voluntary environmental improvement efforts, and the marginalization of ENGOs in the environmental policy community has limited the political consideration of alternative development paths. Finally, complexities within the state itself are identified, illustrating significant differences in incentives, costs and relative power among state bureaucratic agencies with the ability to mobilize institutional reform, which then serves to restrict environmental advancement.

Key Words: ecological Marxism • ecological modernization • environmental policy • environmental sociology • state theory

Current Sociology, Vol. 55, No. 5, 674-695 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0011392107079923


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