IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v41y2009i10p2324-2341.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Theorising Transitional Pathways in Response to Climate Change: Technocentrism, Ecocentrism, and the Carbon Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Ian Bailey
  • Geoff A Wilson

Abstract

The carbon economy has emerged over the last decade as an important but controversial development in the harnessing of economics to address the challenge of climate change. In this paper we utilise the concepts of policy change and transition theorisations to analyse carbon commodification within the broader range of possible responses to the climate problem. We argue that the neoliberal, technocentric, and ecological modernisation values underpinning the carbon economy create serious obstacles for the incorporation of alternative or complementary transitional strategies, particularly those involving ecocentric changes, into mainstream policy. From this we contend that a more holistic approach to the conceptualisation of change processes is needed, and that transition theory provides a useful lens for identifying and assessing existing constraints and future possibilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian Bailey & Geoff A Wilson, 2009. "Theorising Transitional Pathways in Response to Climate Change: Technocentrism, Ecocentrism, and the Carbon Economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(10), pages 2324-2341, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:41:y:2009:i:10:p:2324-2341
    DOI: 10.1068/a40342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a40342
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a40342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lomborg,Bjørn, 2001. "The Skeptical Environmentalist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521010689, October.
    2. Mathews, John, 2007. "Seven steps to curb global warming," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 4247-4259, August.
    3. Arthur P. J. Mol, 2003. "Globalization and Environmental Reform: The Ecological Modernization of the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262632845, April.
    4. Adam G. Bumpus & Diana M. Liverman, 2008. "Accumulation by Decarbonization and the Governance of Carbon Offsets," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 84(2), pages 127-155, April.
    5. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, October.
    6. Roger A. Pielke, 2006. "What just ain't so," Nature, Nature, vol. 443(7113), pages 753-754, October.
    7. Jean-Paul Ceron & John Broderick & Paul Upham & Ghislain Dubois & Paul Peeters & Wolfgang Strasdas, 2007. "Voluntary carbon offsetting schemes for aviation : efficiency and dredibility," Post-Print hal-00527632, HAL.
    8. Adam G. Bumpus & Diana M. Liverman, 2008. "Accumulation by Decarbonization and the Governance of Carbon Offsets," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(2), pages 127-155, April.
    9. Dieter Helm, 2003. "The Assessment: Climate-Change Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 349-361.
    10. Jeremy Richardson, 2000. "Government, Interest Groups and Policy Change," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1006-1025, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bridge, Gavin & Bouzarovski, Stefan & Bradshaw, Michael & Eyre, Nick, 2013. "Geographies of energy transition: Space, place and the low-carbon economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 331-340.
    2. Auke Hoekstra & Maarten Steinbuch & Geert Verbong, 2017. "Creating Agent-Based Energy Transition Management Models That Can Uncover Profitable Pathways to Climate Change Mitigation," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2017, pages 1-23, December.
    3. Fischer, Alexandra Paige, 2018. "Pathways of adaptation to external stressors in coastal natural-resource-dependent communities: Implications for climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 235-248.
    4. Gibbs, David & O'Neill, Kirstie, 2017. "Future green economies and regional development: a research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68392, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Van Criekingen, Mathieu & Bassens, David, 2019. "Moving past the sustainable perspectives on transport: An attempt to mobilise critical urban transport studies with the right to the city," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 24-34.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anderson, Blake & M'Gonigle, Michael, 2012. "Does ecological economics have a future?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 37-48.
    2. Burke, Joshua & Gambhir, Ajay, 2022. "Policy incentives for greenhouse gas removal techniques: the risks of premature inclusion in carbon markets and the need for a multi-pronged policy framework," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115010, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Markus Lederer, 2012. "Market making via regulation: The role of the state in carbon markets," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 524-544, December.
    4. Spash, Clive L. & Theine, Hendrik, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Discussion Papers 2016/04, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
      • Clive L. Spash & Hendrik Theine, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2016_04, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. MacKerron, George J. & Egerton, Catrin & Gaskell, Christopher & Parpia, Aimie & Mourato, Susana, 2009. "Willingness to pay for carbon offset certification and co-benefits among (high-)flying young adults in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1372-1381, April.
    6. Jayme Walenta, 2020. "Climate risk assessments and science‐based targets: A review of emerging private sector climate action tools," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), March.
    7. Anna Davies & Niamh Kirwan, 2010. "Rescaling climate justice: sub-national issues and innovations for low carbon futures," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp340, IIIS.
    8. Nabernegg, Stefan & Bednar-Friedl, Birgit & Muñoz, Pablo & Titz, Michaela & Vogel, Johanna, 2019. "National Policies for Global Emission Reductions: Effectiveness of Carbon Emission Reductions in International Supply Chains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 146-157.
    9. Heather Lovell & Harriet Bulkeley & Diana Liverman, 2009. "Carbon Offsetting: Sustaining Consumption?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(10), pages 2357-2379, October.
    10. Mahtab Kouhizadeh & Joseph Sarkis, 2018. "Blockchain Practices, Potentials, and Perspectives in Greening Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, October.
    11. Yonn Dierwechter & Anne Taufen Wessells, 2013. "The Uneven Localisation of Climate Action in Metropolitan Seattle," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(7), pages 1368-1385, May.
    12. Svenja Keele, 2019. "Consultants and the business of climate services: implications of shifting from public to private science," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 9-26, November.
    13. Eric Helleiner & Jason Thistlethwaite, 2013. "Subprime catalyst: Financial regulatory reform and the strengthening of US carbon market governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 496-511, December.
    14. Thoyre, Autumn, 2015. "Energy efficiency as a resource in state portfolio standards: Lessons for more expansive policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 625-634.
    15. Lauren Gifford, 2020. "“You can’t value what you can’t measure”: a critical look at forest carbon accounting," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 291-306, July.
    16. Mark Whitehead, 2013. "Neoliberal Urban Environmentalism and the Adaptive City: Towards a Critical Urban Theory and Climate Change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(7), pages 1348-1367, May.
    17. Gareth A S Edwards & Harriet Bulkeley, 2017. "Urban political ecologies of housing and climate change: The ‘Coolest Block’ Contest in Philadelphia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(5), pages 1126-1141, April.
    18. Wolfgang Buchholz & Jonas Frank & Hans-Dieter Karl & Johannes Pfeiffer & Karen Pittel & Ursula Triebswetter & Jochen Habermann & Wolfgang Mauch & Thomas Staudacher, 2012. "Die Zukunft der Energiemärkte: Ökonomische Analyse und Bewertung von Potenzialen und Handlungsmöglichkeiten," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 57.
    19. Mark H Cooper, 2015. "Measure for measure? Commensuration, commodification, and metrology in emissions markets and beyond," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(9), pages 1787-1804, September.
    20. Timothy W Luke, 2008. "The Politics of True Convenience or Inconvenient Truth: Struggles over How to Sustain Capitalism, Democracy, and Ecology in the 21st Century," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(8), pages 1811-1824, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:41:y:2009:i:10:p:2324-2341. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.