S u s t a i n a b l e C o n s t r u c t i o n R e l a t i v e t o a C o n c e p t u a l A n a l y s i s
543
An approach commonly identified with this category is ecological modernisation (Mol and
Sonnenfeld 2000; Mol, Sonnenfeld and Spaargaren, 2009), which can be defined by its
support for moderate environmentalism, market-/consumer-driven change rather than
excessive regulation, and the utilisation of progressive technology to increase material
and energy efficiency and repulse the (material) barriers to economic growth. The focus
of this effort is not purely rooted in the techno-industrial; cultural and governance
considerations are considered by many proponents to be essential elements of
ecological modernisation (Murphy 2000). However, this course of action tends to have
less concern for issues associated with equity, justice and human well-being (Alier 2003)
and has been criticised for favouring an unrealistic ‘have your cake and eat it’ approach
which points to the political dissimulation of environmental issues (Dresner, 2008: 38-39).
Furthermore, Jänicke (2008) identifies a number of inherent limitations with the
ecological modernisation method including a lack of marketable, technical solutions to
counteract the loss of non-human species and the neutralising effect that economic
growth has on environmental improvements.
Mebratu (1998)
Organisation or Movement
Hopwood, Mellor and
O’Brien (2005)
Ecological Modernisation
Status quo
Institutional
Governments and Agencies
Supranational Organisations
Commercial Entities
WCED (tending towards Status Quo)
Reform
Appropriate Technology (tending towards
Transformation)
Academic
Academia
Environmental Economics
Deep Ecology
Transformation
Social Ecology
Ideological
Eco-feminism
Eco-socialism
Eco-theology
Table 1: Comparison of organisations and movements ascribed to conceptual groupings of
sustainable development per Mebratu (1998) and Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien (2005)
Reformist / academic perspectives
Reformists are critical of The Establishment’s inability to affect genuine change but do
not believe in the need for the fundamental revision of existing power structures. Neither
do they hold with views that predict impending social and environmental disaster.
Associated approaches are techno-optimistic, support appropriate market reorientation
(Daly and Cobb 1989) and government intervention for the benefit of the environment,
and identify issues concerning knowledge accumulation and distribution as the principle
