An original study looking at the nature of contemporary environmental politics, analysing the emergence and sustenance of institutional perceptions of environmental problems.

This path-breaking study looks at the nature of contemporary environmental politics, analyzing the emergence and sustenance of institutional perceptions of environmental problems. The book argues that a new perspective-- "ecological modernization," which stresses the opportunities of environmental policy for modernizing the economy and stimulating technological innovation--has come to replace the antagonistic debates of the 1970s.

this is an important book which will interest many political scientists apart from those focusing on the environment ... There are excellent summary tables and a model of an index. For environment specialists, there are fresh insights on issues such as risk; the role of scientists and scientific data; and the emergence - with its institutional repercussions - of ecological modernization as the dominent way of conceptualizing environmental problems. The way he draws from German and Dutch primary and secondary sources is especially valuable.