Copyright © 2015. Routledge. All rights reserved.

The Politics of Green Transformations, edited by Ian Scoones, et al., Routledge, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sodertorn/detail.action?docID=1924433.
Created from sodertorn on 2019-04-12 10:26:20.
 THE POLITICS OF GREEN
TRANSFORMATIONS

Multiple ‘green transformations’ are required if humanity is to live sustainably

on planet Earth. Recalling past transformations, this book examines what makes
the current challenge different, and especially urgent. It examines how green
transformations must take place in the context of the particular moments of
capitalist development, and in relation to particular alliances. The role of the state
is emphasised, both in terms of the type of incentives required to make green
transformations politically feasible and the way states must take a developmental
role in financing innovation and technology for green transformations. The book
also highlights the role of citizens, as innovators, entrepreneurs, green consumers
and members of social movements. Green transformations must be both ‘top-down’,
involving elite alliances between states and business, but also ‘bottom up’, pushed
by grassroots innovators and entrepreneurs, and part of wider mobilisations among
civil society. The chapters in the book draw on international examples to emphasise
how contexts matter in shaping pathways to sustainability
Copyright © 2015. Routledge. All rights reserved.

Written by experts in the field, The Politics of Green Transformations will be of

great interest to researchers and students in environmental studies, international
relations, political science, development studies, geography and anthropology, as
well as policymakers and practitioners concerned with sustainability.

Ian Scoones is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS),

Sussex, UK and Director of the ESRC STEPS Centre.

Melissa Leach is Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex,

UK.

Peter Newell is Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex,

UK.

The Politics of Green Transformations, edited by Ian Scoones, et al., Routledge, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sodertorn/detail.action?docID=1924433.
Created from sodertorn on 2019-04-12 10:26:20.
 Pathways to Sustainability Series
This book series addresses core challenges around linking science and technology
and environmental sustainability with poverty reduction and social justice. It is based
on the work of the Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustain-
ability (STEPS) Centre, a major investment of the UK Economic and Social
Research Council (ESRC). The STEPS Centre brings together researchers at the
Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and SPRU (Science and Technology Policy
Research) at the University of Sussex with a set of partner institutions in Africa,
Asia and Latin America.

Series Editors:
Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling
STEPS Centre at the University of Sussex

Editorial Advisory Board:

Steve Bass, Wiebe E. Bijker, Victor Galaz, Wenzel Geissler, Katherine Homewood,
Sheila Jasanoff, Melissa Leach, Colin McInnes, Suman Sahai, Andrew Scott

Titles in this series include:

Dynamic Sustainabilities
Technology, environment, social justice
Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling

Avian Influenza
Science, policy and politics
Edited by Ian Scoones

Rice Biofortification
Lessons for global science and development
Copyright © 2015. Routledge. All rights reserved.

Sally Brooks

Epidemics
Science, governance and social justice
Edited by Sarah Dry and Melissa Leach

Regulating Technology
International harmonization and local realities
Patrick van Zwanenberg, Adrian Ely, Adrian Smith

The Politics of Asbestos

Understandings of risk, disease and protest
Linda Waldman

The Politics of Green Transformations, edited by Ian Scoones, et al., Routledge, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sodertorn/detail.action?docID=1924433.
Created from sodertorn on 2019-04-12 10:26:20.
 Contested Agronomy
Agricultural research in a changing world
Edited by James Sumberg and John Thompson

Transforming Health Markets in Asia and Africa

Improving quality and access for the poor
Edited by Gerald Bloom, Barun Kanjilal, Henry Lucas and David H. Peters

Pastoralism and Development in Africa

Dynamic change at the margins
Edited by Ian Scoones, Andy Catley and Jeremy Lind

The Politics of Green Transformations

Ian Scoones, Melissa Leach and Peter Newell
Copyright © 2015. Routledge. All rights reserved.

The Politics of Green Transformations, edited by Ian Scoones, et al., Routledge, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sodertorn/detail.action?docID=1924433.
Created from sodertorn on 2019-04-12 10:26:20.
 An all-star team provides a clear, critical and fascinating discussion of the concept and
practice of green transformations for a more sustainable and just world. Drawing on
critical social theory they show us who has the power to define and implement trans-
formations – comparing technocentric, marketized, state-led and citizen-led movements
for sustainability – and the politics of knowledge and science that defines environmental
crisis and responses. What adds depth to their arguments is that these authors are not
isolated academics – they have been out there in the world of international relations,
government policy, and NGOs with a thoughtful and engaged approach to change.
Diana Liverman, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, USA
In the twenty-first century environmental imperatives will increasingly define economic
policy and societal choices. Key questions such as who will make these choices, who
could be the winners and losers and how will our political and governance systems
mediate this process of transition are key to understanding the political economy of
green transformation. The dynamics of innovation and policy discourse on the green
economy have been remarkably fast and diverse. The questions and interpretations put
forward by the authors in The Politics of Green Transformations are timely and provide
important context and focus for a rapidly evolving paradigm of sustainable development.
Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director,
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Kenya
The world has moved from why to what? No longer is the question why we should
act. Instead the question is what should we do, at the scale that can make a real
transformation? The problem is that current solutions are small because they are at best
transitional. The world needs real solutions that can be scaled up at speed to meet
the needs of all – transformational solutions. What then can we do? What is working
and where? This is what the ‘politics of green transformations’ is about. This is what
we must understand so that we can move beyond the fluff of green verbiage to real
pathways that can bring us real change. I would encourage you to read this book because
we must relearn the message of sustainability for a world that is increasingly warmer,
riskier and unjust.
Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, India
Copyright © 2015. Routledge. All rights reserved.

This book is a thoughtful and robust exploration of the concept of green transformation.
It will make a significant contribution to better understanding this complex and
sometimes contested issue. The authors offer an essential reading for anyone who wants
to invest in making development more sustainable.
Youba Sokona, Co-Chair IPCC WGIII and Special Advisor,
South Centre, Switzerland
If you have ever wondered why there is so much talk about green transformations and
so little action, this is the book to read. It is a fascinating and enlightening tour of the
green political map in all its complexity. It won’t give you all the answers, but it will
enable you to ask the right questions.
Carlota Perez, London School of Economics, UK and Nurkse Institute,
Estonia, author of Technological Revolutions and
Financial Capital: the Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages.

The Politics of Green Transformations, edited by Ian Scoones, et al., Routledge, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sodertorn/detail.action?docID=1924433.
Created from sodertorn on 2019-04-12 10:26:20.