Lecture 3: modernity and the environment Flashcards
What marks the onset of Modernity?
The onset of Modernity is generally placed in the 17th century.
What key features characterize Modernity?
Key features include market society, capitalism, nation-state, liberal democracy, belief in progress, and environmental degradation.
What is the main belief about human agency in Modernity?
Modernity is characterized by the belief in human agency to know, create, and control.
How has Modernity impacted the planet?
While it has improved material standards, it has also led to significant environmental degradation.
What is the relationship between Modernity and environmental issues?
Modernity’s development, especially industrialization, is directly linked to environmental harm, but modernity’s capacities can be redirected for environmental solutions.
What is Ecomodernism?
Ecomodernism is a belief that industrialization caused environmental degradation but that technological innovation can green industry and make it sustainable.
How does the environmental solution to Modernity propose to fix the climate crisis?
The solution involves using modern technological innovation and human rationality to address the environmental crisis and promote sustainability.
How does Ecomodernism view the future of the human population and the environment?
Ecomodernism anticipates a decline in global population growth, which would help reduce consumption and facilitate greener technologies.
What is the key idea behind ecological modernization in Ecomodernism?
It aims to make industrial production sustainable using technological innovation, promoting cleaner production processes that are detached from environmental harm.
What is “green super-industrialization” in the context of Ecomodernism?
It is the vision of a new stage of human development where industrial processes are environmentally sustainable, promising a harmonious relationship with the natural world.
What does Green Keynesianism advocate for in response to environmental degradation?
Green Keynesianism suggests massive public investment to transition to a renewable economy, with state intervention to make capitalism more sustainable.
How does Green Keynesianism view capitalism’s role in environmental harm?
Green Keynesianism argues that capitalism, if left to its own devices, is inherently harmful to the environment and needs state intervention for sustainability.
What is the primary economic approach of Green Keynesianism?
Green Keynesianism supports state-directed investment, regulation, and coordination to transition economies to greener production and consumption.
What challenge does Green Keynesianism face in terms of state intervention?
Green Keynesianism argues that the state must intervene, but the power of states has been diminished by neoliberalism and globalization, limiting their ability to control capital.
What are the challenges of promoting Green Keynesianism in a globalized economy?
A global sovereign would be required to coordinate efforts on a global scale, making it a politically infeasible solution under current conditions.
What issue arises from stimulating production and consumption in Green Keynesianism?
Stimulating production and consumption can still harm the environment, as the constant production of goods can have material impacts even with clean energy.
What is a key critique of Ecomodernism’s approach to environmental improvement?
Ecomodernism’s efficiency gains in green technology may lead to increased production and consumption, ultimately undoing environmental benefits.
How does the social impact of green technology complicate Ecomodernism?
Technological improvements might have socially regressive effects, such as worsening labor conditions or increasing social inequality.
What is the problem with the modern ethos in relation to environmental degradation?
Modernity’s self-conceited view of human mastery over nature leads to an instrumental relationship with the environment, encouraging exploitation.
How does modernity’s ethics contribute to environmental harm?
Modernity’s belief in human supremacy and autonomy encourages exploitation of nature, seeing it as a means to human ends rather than valuing it as an end in itself.
How did modernity alter human socio-political and environmental views?
Modernity shifted beliefs, placing humans in control of social, political, and natural orders, which led to a self-centered approach to environmental interactions.
What were the pre-modern views on social and political order?
Before modernity, social and political order was thought to be dictated by forces beyond human control, such as nature or divine will.
