Shifts within ecological modernization in South Africa: Deliberation, innovation and institutional opportunities

Sustainable development is now widely accepted as a policy framework in planning and development both internationally and in South Africa. Within this framework, technocentric scientific approaches to environmental management, which are reflective of weak ecological modernization, have dominated environmental practice both in the developed and developing world. South Africa is a country in transition and as a result environmental law and policy have undergone significant reform. However, implementation and practice remains embedded within a weak ecological modernization approach. Through the lens of two case studies reflecting changing approaches and practices within state institutions, this paper explores the shifts taking place in the construction, adaptation and application of policy frameworks and tools used in the drive towards sustainability in South Africa. The research uses critical approaches to ecological modernization (Hajer, 1995 Hajer, M. 1995. The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]; Christoff, 1996 Christoff, P. 1996. Ecological modernisation, ecological modernities. Environmental Politics, 5(3): 476–500. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) and deliberative policy analysis (Hajer and Wagenaar, 2003 Hajer, M. 2003. “A frame in the fields: policy making and the reinvention of politics”. In Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Edited by: Hajer, M. and Wagenaar, H. 88–112. Cambridge, , England: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Hajer, 2003 Hajer, M. 2003. “A frame in the fields: policy making and the reinvention of politics”. In Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Edited by: Hajer, M. and Wagenaar, H. 88–112. Cambridge, , England: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2003 Hajer, M. 2003. “A frame in the fields: policy making and the reinvention of politics”. In Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Edited by: Hajer, M. and Wagenaar, H. 88–112. Cambridge, , England: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Hajer, 2004 Hajer, M. Three dimensions of deliberate policy analysis: the case of rebuilding ground zero. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. 2–4 September, Chicago. [Google Scholar]) to explore these shifts. It suggests that the shift towards strong ecological modernization has taken place as a result of the adaptation of international practice to the South Africa context, the global acceptance of more integrated approaches, the opportunities for change that ‘institutional ambiguity’ and ‘multi-signification’ create, and pockets of innovation that have developed when intellectual actors shift the boundaries of environmental practice.