Economy and Ecology in an Era of Knowledge-Based Economies

Abstract

Among the most widely discussed and hotly disputed contemporary topics, in both political and scientific arenas as well as in the developing and in the developed world, is the alleged contradiction, or at least antagonism, between ecological and economic principles and motives. In modern societies, conceived as knowledge societies, the relations between economy and ecology are transformed. In knowledge societies, the premise of a primacy of politics and of the ability of the political system - both nationally and transnationally - to impose its will on other major social institutions cannot be taken for granted anymore. The expectation that politics may heal the rift between ecology and economy does not hold in modern society. This article analyses what are novel and emergent interrelations between economy and ecology in knowledge societies. Both in the developing and in the developed world, we are moving towards knowledge-based economies. Economic growth is increasingly driven by knowledge. The tempo of social and economic change is accelerating. The changes under way afford unexpected ways of reconciling conflicting economic and ecological imperatives. The possibility of such reconciliation may well be the result of what are largely unintended consequences of purposive action in the pursuit of mundane economic interests.