Risk, ‘Race’ and Global Environmental Regulation

Abstract

The 1990s are widely regarded as the decade when the environment and ecological issues moved centre stage in terms of the social, political and economic agendas of developed and developing nations alike. Despite this, Gorz’s words remain as relevant today as when they were written. In the 1970s many environmental issues, such as global warming, were simply excluded from serious political consideration by reference to inconclusive or conflicting scientific evidence. Other claims, more amenable to measurement, like the impact of pesticides on birds and humans produced more rapid action (Carson, 1962). In short, the 1970s response to the environment was shaped by the prevailing regulatory climate, which accepted as legitimate only those issues within its technical, economic and political reach.

Ecology is like universal suffrage or the 40-hour week: at first, the ruling elite and the guardians of social order regard it as subversive, and proclaim that it will lead to the triumph of anarchy and irrationality. Then, when factual evidence and popular pressure can no longer be denied, the establishment suddenly gives way — … and fundamentally nothing changes.

(Gorz, 1987, p. 3)