Blue-greens Research Articles

Prophet in the (degrowth) wilderness: storytelling Herbert Gruhl as a far-right environmental lieu de mémoire

ABSTRACT In this article, we further the understanding of the contemporary far right’s politics of the environment by analysing the (re)construction of a key figure in the history of the modern environmental movement in Germany, Herbert Gruhl (1921–1993). The latter co-founded the Green party and, subsequently, two further right green organizations, as well as authoring bestselling books on the environmental crisis. Articulating themes also found in today’s degrowth movement, Gruhl eschewed green capitalism, ‘globalism’, and technological fixes while advocating for a relationship between humans and the environment consistent with traditional conservative principles of moderation and rootedness. Focusing on the far right’s storytelling of Gruhl-as-unheard-prophet—Gruhl as a lieu de mémoire of the contemporary German far right—we offer a first systematic interrogation of stories regarding the prophet as a type in far-right environmental communication more generally and, more specifically, on how his memorialization as a ‘sacred center’ reproduces contemporary far-right (eco-)politics, that is, the legitimation of such an agenda and the identities built through it. In so doing, we illuminate the far right’s story of the lost opportunity for a conservative/far-right ecology, one which was betrayed by the left-wing Greens, as well as its own vision of an alternative eco-future.

Green konsumerisme Sebagai Kritik Terhadap Peran Manusia Dalam Gerakan Lingkungan

As public awareness and government pressure increases, industries are undertaking "green marketing" efforts. Green marketing is a combination of activities, including product modifications, changes to the production process, packaging changes, and advertising modifications to promote environmentally friendly products (Mishra and Sharma, 2014). Green marketing seeks to tempt green consumers in an effort to expand the market and increase profits. Environmentally friendly production practices are no longer seen as an obligation, but rather as a strategic business tactic that is profitable. Thus, green consumerism is part of green capitalism that seeks to reduce environmental impacts by utilizing market forces and profit motives (Scales, 2014). Scales also adds that green consumerism refers to the formation of a new commodity fetishism, whose impact is greater than it seems. Because in trying to provide information about the "greenness" of a product, green consumerism simplifies what green is. Environmental impacts are simplified and abstract concepts such as "green" are reduced to labels, symbols and metrics. This can direct consumers' focus to one issue and forget about others. Departing from the facts above, this paper will provide an understanding of how biased the role of humans in environmental preservation is today. Using descriptive qualitative research methods by focusing on literature reviews and research data from journals and documentary videos related to invisible hand practices and the ecogreen industry.

What is a green capitalism? Insights from the social system theory

AbstractIn this paper, it is argued that the economy as a social system is a conditio sine qua non to the environmental observations of the other social systems. Economic code of payment or nonpayment pre‐code environment, observed from the other social systems (for example, politics and science). By using this approach, the paper discusses the ways in which capitalism as an economic program is interpreted by other systems most of the time as the conditio sine qua non for their own autopoiesis regarding ecological challenges.It is debated that green capitalism is a form of a functionally differentiated economic system which is made as a conditio sine qua non for the other systems observation of ecological challenges. In the time dimension, money as a medium of economic system (and payment or nonpayment) comes first, and with it, tries to determine the ways other systems can observe ecology ‐ and it is successful.

Beneath the insuperable barrier: accumulation, state managers and climate policy in Britain

ABSTRACT This article presents the first archival case study of the drivers of UK climate policy and the creation of the UNFCCC. I contribute to the literature on the green state and green capitalism, firstly by arguing that existing approaches do not fully capture the state’s and most importantly policymakers’ position in capitalism. Secondly, there remains scope for more refined empirical examination of policymakers and how they navigate the contradictions of environmental policy. I address these weaknesses by analysing newly declassified British governmental documents through form-analytic Marxism, demonstrating the drivers behind the Thatcher government’s climate policies and push for an international convention. I argue that policymakers occupy the site of the state’s contradictory pressures, and thus find themselves ‘beneath the insuperable barrier’ as their commitment to accumulation and capitalist logics supersedes their drive to design ambitious environmental measures. This reveals fundamental tensions with policymakers’ ability to address the climate crisis.

Valuation conflicts in Madagascar’s mining reform: A pragmatic inquiry into surplus distribution from strategic transition minerals

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) production as a central part of decarbonisation strategies is driving mineral extraction in countries of the global South, where they exacerbate existing conflicts over the creation and distribution of value. Value, however, is a contested concept. Following the pragmatic sociology of values, we argue that the analysis of value creation and distribution cannot be separated from the intersubjective and normative conflicts over valuation. We examine valuation controversies in Madagascar as a mining dispute by describing the grammar of values on the example of taxation design in Madagascar’s mining reform influenced by LIB production. Empirical evidence from ethnographic fieldwork and expert interviews on negotiations between stakeholders’ different principles of value helped identify conflicting value justifications and finding local compromises. Here, the pervasive nature of neoliberal economisation is monopolised by a specific interpretation of value wired to investors’ expectations and complicated by path-dependent legacies. Our analysis illustrates how asymmetric economic power favours particular economic and operating registers of a ‘green capitalism’ valuation system. Building on the analytical gain of Heinich’s novel pragmatic value approach, we show how the recent mining reform in Madagascar is contested and that compromise around value remains fragile (or impossible) in the current institutional context.

Ljubljana—European Green Capital 2016: From Strategic Spatial Planning to Governance

Ljubljana was the first post-socialist city awarded with the title European Green Capital. The title awarded by the European Commission is given to a city that is achieving high environmental standards, is setting ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and can act as a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices to all other European cities. The article is based on a hypothesis that at the moment when Ljubljana applied for (and was awarded) the European Green Capital title, it had strong strategic spatial planning and successful territorial governance, as well as the interweaving of both. To prove the hypothesis, the timetable and characteristics of the strategic spatial planning and territorial governance in Ljubljana are presented in this article and critically evaluated. Critical evaluation and analyses are also assessed using a qualitative research method, i.e., semi-structured in-depth interviews among experts from four professional fields including spatial planning, urbanism, architecture, and management. The results confirmed the hypothesis: Ljubljana’s sustainability-oriented strategic spatial plan prepared by a variety of stakeholders, experts, and citizens, as well as the effective governance system established by the mayor, a manager by profession, were two factors that coincided at a crucial moment. This was recognized by the European Commission and Ljubljana was awarded a prestigious title. Ljubljana can therefore serve as an excellent sustainable example for other post-socialist cities in terms of strategic spatial planning and governance.

RESOLVING A REALISTIC MIDDLE GROUND TOWARDS THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON GREEN CAPITALISM

In 2019, a climatic wake-up call was made by the IPCC as the world’s temperature is projected to increase by 4-6°C. With the systematically ingrained capitalist imperatives in the political and economic landscape, the notion of “green capitalism” was introduced in the justification of limitless economic growth with less energy consumption than the world can sustainably produce (Schweickart, 2010). Prior research has identified heterogenous stances on green capitalism. However, sustainable transition research has neither clarified the realistic middle ground that it should pursue, nor has it determined whether a pro- or anti-capitalistic stance should be taken in the first place (Feola, 2020). Through a literature review, the analysis of heterogeneous stances on green capitalism based on its debate scopes reveals the need to exploit capitalist imperatives to a sustainably appropriate extent rather than forcing it to produce a midway standpoint of the “Net Zero” global consensus. The findings suggest the need for a potential reconceptualization of capitalism in the political and economic landscape as a tool of green revolution toward sustainable transition, providing a realistic middle ground.

RESOLVING A REALISTIC MIDDLE GROUND TOWARDS THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON GREEN CAPITALISM

In 2019, a climatic wake-up call was made by the IPCC as the world’s temperature is projected to increase by 4-6°C. With the systematically ingrained capitalist imperatives in the political and economic landscape, the notion of “green capitalism” was introduced in the justification of limitless economic growth with less energy consumption than the world can sustainably produce (Schweickart, 2010). Prior research has identified heterogenous stances on green capitalism. However, sustainable transition research has neither clarified the realistic middle ground that it should pursue, nor has it determined whether a pro- or anti-capitalistic stance should be taken in the first place (Feola, 2020). Through a literature review, the analysis of heterogeneous stances on green capitalism based on its debate scopes reveals the need to exploit capitalist imperatives to a sustainably appropriate extent rather than forcing it to produce a midway standpoint of the “Net Zero” global consensus. The findings suggest the need for a potential reconceptualization of capitalism in the political and economic landscape as a tool of green revolution toward sustainable transition, providing a realistic middle ground.

Cyanobacterial Proteomics: Diversity and Dynamics.

Cyanobacteria (oxygenic photoautrophs) comprise a diverse group holding significance both environmentally and for biotechnological applications. The utilization of proteomic techniques has significantly influenced investigations concerning cyanobacteria. Application of proteomics allows for large-scale analysis of protein expression and function within cyanobacterial systems. The cyanobacterial proteome exhibits tremendous functional, spatial, and temporal diversity regulated by multiple factors that continuously modify protein abundance, post-translational modifications, interactions, localization, and activity to meet the dynamic needs of these tiny blue greens. Modern mass spectrometry-based proteomics techniques enable system-wide examination of proteome complexity through global identification and high-throughput quantification of proteins. These powerful approaches have revolutionized our understanding of proteome dynamics and promise to provide novel insights into integrated cellular behavior at an unprecedented scale. In this Review, we present modern methods and cutting-edge technologies employed for unraveling the spatiotemporal diversity and dynamics of cyanobacterial proteomics with a specific focus on the methods used to analyze post-translational modifications (PTMs) and examples of dynamic changes in the cyanobacterial proteome investigated by proteomic approaches.

With Endless Articulations

Abstract The evolution of information infrastructures has shaped nature conservation related to wild species, landscapes and collections of biological diversity, efforts that are germane to nation-building and many other political projects. Extensive practices of quantification are now embedded in environmental monitoring, biodiversity protection and the banking of plant genetic resources. This suggests a kaleidoscope of human intentions and institutional mandates that are embodied within fluidly changing information systems. These technologies have come to condense cultural assumptions, values, and orientations to the Anthropocene. The conservation of biodiversity must continually generate not only spectacles of nature, but also spectacles of expert knowledge and management. Information itself is the new frontier of green capitalism, affirming a paradigm of perpetual growth.

Review of Buller, Adrienne. 2022. The value of a whale: On the illusions of green capitalism.

 

Research on Option Pricing Strategies for Forestry Carbon Sinks Based on Black-Scholes Modeling-Take Sanming City as an Example

Sanming City, Fujian Province, is known as the green capital of China. This paper focuses on the local forestry carbon sink projects in Sanming City and analyzes their carbon trading prices based on the real option pricing theory and the Black-Scholes model and concludes that the value of the forestry carbon sink projects in Sanming City has been underestimated. This paper seizes the undervalued situation and puts forward certain suggestions for working on projects to develop forestry carbon sink in Sanming, such as increasing the well-being of residents by utilizing forestry carbon sink projects, increasing the number of trading entities in the carbon market, and perfecting the carbon trading market, etc. It also points out that the rationalization of forestry carbon sink products should be carried out reasonably. At the same time, it also points out the significance of reasonable pricing of forestry carbon sink products for the local carbon trading market, which leads to the significance of the rational development of forestry carbon sinks for China’s green development.

From South America to the United States: Guayakí and the Transformation of Yerba Mate

In the early 2000s, California-based Guayakí popularized the caffeinated drink, yerba mate, among young people and creative types. With revenues of $100 million, Guayakí dominates the U.S. market where it is synonymous with yerba mate. This essay explores how Guayakí transformed a foreign product with deep local meaning, widespread popularity, and a long history in southern South America from a shared beverage and social practice into a healthy energy drink. Typically, localization entails multinational companies and local consumers adapting and giving new meanings to an exotic foreign product or brand. In contrast, local entrepreneurs radically changed yerba mate while preserving part of its narrative. Guayakí promotes product authenticity based on a narrative of South American Indigenous origins, stimulating qualities, and health benefits that fits with superfoods, while a narrative of green capitalism promotes brand authenticity. But that was not enough to popularize yerba mate. The product had to be adapted to consumer taste preferences and values that challenge the foundational ideas of superfoods and green capitalism. As a result of consumer input acquired through grassroots marketing, Guayakí transformed a shared infusion into something closer to a soft drink—a pre-prepared, individual-sized beverage served in a single-use bottle or can with flavoring and sugar levels tailored to U.S. consumers. The essay exposes the role of local entrepreneurs and consumers in shaping product development and localization. It complicates our understanding of product authenticity and brand authenticity while exposing the limitations of green capitalism, ethical consumerism, and activist entrepreneurship.

Ecological crisis and green capitalism: toward a climatization of extractive industries?

Ecological crisis and green capitalism: toward a climatization of extractive industries?

Relationships between Military Spending and Green Capital Formation: Complementary or Substitutes?

The world’s so-called rich countries have still been spending a huge sum of their budgets on military heads, in spite of there being no such fears of multilateral formal wars. Further, there is no such strong evidence that military expenditures are capable of raising the GDPs of the concerned countries. The countries, as a result, have been squeezing allotments in their budgets upon real asset building spending such as on the social sectors and natural resource development. There is thus a trade-off between military spending and real asset building. The present study examines the long-run relationships with causal interplays between military spending and green capital and also identifies the crowds-in or crowds-out effects of military spending on green capital in the top 20 military power-owning countries for the period 1991–2020. The results show the existence of long-run relations between the two in the majority of the countries and military spending makes a cause to green capital in the long run. But, for a few countries, the study observes causal interplay between military heads and green capital heads. Finally, the study finds that the militarization practices crowd out the green capital formation in eight countries and the opposite outcome, the crowding-in effects, works in twelve countries.

Giving the green light to sustainability: Key political factors behind the European Green Capital Award applications

ABSTRACT Nowadays, cities’ involvement in sustainability efforts is becoming increasingly important. Of particular relevance are the horizontal networks and international initiatives that promote sustainability actions and help the participating cities to exchange knowledge and experience. Participation in such initiatives and the degree of involvement is largely determined by the political leadership of cities. This paper investigates the political determinants of applying for a European sustainability initiative, the European Green Capital Award, using binary logistic regression with data on the real applicants and control cities, up to the round of 2024. The results show that cities with left-wing leadership and more green party representatives in the city council are more willing to apply for the award. The finalist status in the competition was positively influenced by the city council’s environment-friendly attitude and the experience of previous applications.

Green capitalism and unjust sustainabilities

Climate change and other global environmental challenges are pushing societies and political systems to critically reflect on the role of business as a problem and as a solution to these crises. Sustainability has become a commodity itself, to be traded, bought, sold and managed like all others. How lead firms in global value chains address sustainability issues has become a key competitive element and a source of value creation and capture – facilitating a process of ‘green capital accumulation’. In this article, I briefly examine how green capitalism is leading to new forms of inequality and provide an agenda for ‘just sustainabilities’ that can help building a social foundation for an inclusive and stable economic and productive system operating within our environmental planetary boundaries.

Mining out of the crisis? The role of the state in the expansion of the lithium frontier in Extremadura, Spain

The increasing demand for transition minerals, such as lithium, to decarbonize energy and transportation systems has led to the emergence of new mining projects within the Global North. This paper explores the role of state actors in the contested expansion of the lithium frontier in Europe, using the Spanish region of Extremadura as a case study. It combines historical-materialist policy analysis and politics of scale to examine how state actors at multiple scales of regulation promote domestic lithium mining through legislative and non-legislative initiatives. The paper also investigates the discursive legitimizations of expanding the lithium frontier in Extremadura, highlighting how state authorities produce and refer to various “scales of meaning" (Towers, 2000) to discursively legitimate a green capitalist mode of crisis regulation. The analysis demonstrates the crucial role of state actors in shaping conflicts around lithium mining in Extremadura and contributes to the emerging literature on green extractivism and lithium onshoring in the Global North.

Middle-class responses to climate change: An analysis of the ecological habitus of tech workers

The question of how the digital economy responds to ecological issues has gained salience in recent years. So far, though, social scientists have primarily taken interest in the ecological positionings of tech entrepreneurs. Little attention has been paid to the middle-class fraction of ‘tech workers’ who are responsible for programming, designing, and managing the digital technologies that reconfigure socio-material relations. Based on 52 interviews with data scientists and user experience designers, the article analyzes the ecological habitus of this new professional segment. Four central ecological schemas are identified: (1) managing limited resources, (2) critical techno-optimism, (3) academic concern, and (4) lifestyle struggles. Simultaneously, the article discusses how these four schemas relate to the different forms of capital held by tech workers. This mapping of the ecological habitus of tech workers shows how social relationships with nature are underpinned by class positions. The article thus pursues dual aims, contributing to research on green capitalism as well as to debates on how the middle class relates to climate change.

Urban Green Infrastructure Accessibility: Investigating Environmental Justice in a European and Global Green Capital

Access to green spaces offers numerous benefits to citizens and is key to achieving environmental justice. This article explores accessibility to green infrastructure (GI) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, the European and Global Green Capital in 2012 and 2019. Vitoria-Gasteiz was selected as a case study because it combines actions aimed at promoting green infrastructure in the city along with an urban model that in recent years has favored more expansive urbanism. Manhattan distance and configurational analysis is used to investigate accessibility to the most relevant elements of the GI system and their integration in the urban tissue. Considering the actual pedestrian mobility network, configurational accessibility is examined globally and locally with 1 km and 300 m radii. The analysis reveals great differences both in global and local configurational accessibility across fifty components of the GI system that are greater than 0.5 ha and open for public use. It also shows that, while almost all inhabitants (97.9%) reside within 1 km from these green areas, 27.7% of the population live more than 300 m away. The investigation demonstrates the need to improve the city’s GI to provide universal accessibility to green spaces. It offers useful methods that planning professionals and local administrations can use to assess residents’ access to green areas and guide future GI transformation and development towards environmental justice.