A transformative post-developmental state? State institutions as change-makers in the Anthropocene

From its very incipient form, the environmental critique of ‘development’ understood as modernization, industrialization and economic growth, was accompanied by a critique of the state as a modernizing actor. The main driver of protection of natural resources and sustainable livelihoods was rather expected to be social movements that could conduct social action ‘from below’. Transnational advocacy networks, rather than modern states, were entrusted with scaling up action. However, it is increasingly evident that large scale collective action is needed to meet the challenges of simultaneously mitigating climate change and protect natural resources while also providing adequate livelihoods for the world’s population. An urgent question is thus: What actors and institutions should be responsible for a transformation capable of responding to this triple crisis? This chapter explores the question of what role the modern state can play in a transition towards sustainability. It reviews the literature on ‘green’ or ‘ecological’ states, and argues that such are based on two questionable ideas: that the development model based on growth can be ‘decoupled’ from its environmental impact, and that basic problems of security and state legitimacy are resolved. The paper goes on to discuss how a transformative state that takes on these challenges would look like. It argues that such a state could emerge as the protector of the population against the most devastating consequences of climate change and the nature crisis, while seeking to combine strategies of degrowth and exploiting potential for growth in sectors that may contribute to a sustainable transformation. This requires new forms of alliance building and construction of both domestic and international legitimacy.