0000000000541357
AUTHOR
Carme Melo Escrihuela
The citizen-consumer dilemma: green consumerism or critical sustainable consumption?
This article focuses on the concept of the citizen-consumer to examine the role of consumption as a tool for environmental sustainability. An ethical view of both citizenship and consumption is introduced to assess the potential of the citizen-consumer as an agent for socio-environmental change. To this end, the notions of ecological citizenship and sustainable consumption are used as a framework for analysis. Ecological citizenship is described as an ethical account of citizenship aimed at changing behaviours and attitudes, and spreading environmental values. Sustainable consumption is an archetypical manifestation of ecological citizenship that seeks to nurture ethical and pro-environment…
Informe editorial, número 5 (2019)
Informe editorial de TERRA. Revista de Desarrollo Local, relativo al número 5, publicado en 2019. Instituto Interuniversitario de Desarrollo Local
Promoting ecological citizenship: the state, civil society and the green public sphere
This thesis analyses the conditions for the promotion of ecological citizenship, using the tools of political theory. I examine the role of the state, the green state, the green public sphere and civil society in the articulation of ecological citizenship. The dominant position in this debate is that states should be actively involved in the greening of citizenship, using different strategies to encourage ecological habits and values among citizens. These possibilities are analysed and assessed. Some have argued, drawing on studies of the ecological reform of the state, that in order to foster ecological citizenship, states should undergo transformations so as to become green states. This v…
The ecological state, environmental democracy and ecological citizenship: a productive relationship?
This contribution focuses on this relationship and asks whether it is a productive one. My aim is twofold. On one front, I examine the political system of the ecological state in view of assessing the ways in which it could encourage ecological citizenship. On a second front, I pay attention to how eco-states are going to emerge and be sustained, and in this sense, the role ecological citizens shall play in this task is stressed. This analysis is undertaken from a green political theory perspective. I take as a point of departure Robyn Eckersley’s theory of the green state (2004) for various reasons, namely, because it is, in my view, the most sophisticated and comprehensive analysis of the…
Ciudadanía y consumo: ¿una relación sostenible?
Asistimos a una explosión del consumo sin precedentes, hasta el punto de que ésta, la sociedad en que vivimos, es descrita como la sociedad de consumo. Los límites del crecimiento, la finitud de los recursos y la puesta en boga del término “desarrollo sostenible”, convergen en la insostenibilidad del modelo actual de consumo. “Consumo sostenible” y “consumo ético” forman ya parte de la retórica de las autoridades y de los discursos del movimiento ecologista y otros grupos en la sociedad civil, aunque la definición del concepto de consumo sostenible no deja de ser ambigua. La difusión de productos publicitados como de escaso impacto socioambiental –con la consiguiente consolidación de la “in…
A conversation on green democracy
Este capítulo indaga en la relación entre democracia y medio ambiente
Ecologismo, democracia y deliberación política
Esta comunicación analiza la relación entre democracia deliberativa y política ecológica. Para ello, se ilustran los argumentos que sugieren que el modelo deliberativo es el más adecuado para el ecologismo, y se señalan algunos de los problemas que plantea esta conexión. La parte central examina el concepto de “democracia ecológica” de Robyn Eckersley, en tanto que incluye los elementos más característicos de las teorías democráticas deliberativas y los adapta a las aspiraciones del pensamiento político ambiental. La visión de Eckersley es puesta en relación tanto con la teoría política ecológica como con las principales tendencias en el estudio de la democracia deliberativa. A estos efecto…
Conflictos ambientales y ciudadanía ecológica: el caso de Gualeguaychú y los pulp mills
This article deals with interactions between citizenship and political ecology by examining the ‘pulp mills conflict’ in Gualeguaychú, Argentina. The conflict burst in 2003 when the Uruguayan authorities announced the construction of a cellulose plant on the shore of the Uruguay River. The citizens of Gualeguaychú, a city right across the border, initiated a movement of protest that soon transcended the local dimension. I argue that this protest was a battle over sovereignty and an environmental conflict between different conceptions of development and diverse views of the use of a common resource, the river. The notion of ecological citizenship formed in this process is assessed by examini…
The democratic road to sustainability: an environmental critique of liberal democracy
Ecologists have long been critical with liberal democracy. This critique is not directed at the concept of democracy but at a particular type of it: representative liberal democracy. Many ecological thinkers consider that liberal democracy and the liberal democratic state are not well-equipped to deal with current environmental problems. What is more, they argue, liberal democracy and the liberal state cannot offer a solution because they are part of the problem. The “deliberative turn” in democratic theory could represent a way out of the shortcomings of liberal democracy. Several arguments have been put forward to claim for an alliance between ecologism and political deliberation; to name…
Ciudadanía y transformación social: Nuevos discursos y acción contra el cambio climático
El canvi climatic protagonitza el debat mediambiental des de fa tres decades. Malgrat els acords internacionals adoptats, la humanitat no ha aconseguit frenar l’augment de la temperatura planetaria. La crisi del coronavirus ha relegat el debat sobre l’emergencia climatica a un segon pla, encara que les connexions entre canvi climatic i pandemia demostren les multiples raons que tenim per a actuar pel clima. Les politiques publiques han afavorit regulacions, instruments de mercat i estrategies de modernitzacio ecologica que consoliden un capitalisme verd que agreuja el problema i el despolititza. La lluita contra el canvi climatic necessita un nou enfocament, basat en la politica ciutadana i…
Promoting ecological citizenship: towards a conceptual framework
Citizenship has been a hot topic of debate within the green literature since the 1990s. Concepts like ecological and environmental citizenship capture the linkage between green politics and theories of citizenship. Although a significant number of contributions to the meaning of ecological/environmental citizenship have been made, their practical implications remain under-theorized. With the purpose of addressing this gap, my paper explores the conditions necessary for ecological citizenship to flourish. While pointing to the connection between questions of meaning and promotion, I seek to move debates from discussions on the theoretical concept to the possibilities for its cultivation. Two…