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This thesis analyzes the global ecological crisis. It divides the global ecological crisis in to two major components: Climate change and biodiversity loss. Using a theoretical methodology based on comparing and applying a variety of lenses from within environmental sociology, the thesis asks and answers two questions: What are the causes of the global ecological crisis, and how can we solve it? Drawing on the perspectives of ecological modernization theory, ecological Marxism and deep ecology, the causes of and solutions to the global ecological crisis are identified. The primary causes of the crisis are found to be inefficient industrial technology, capitalism and an instrumentalist and anthropocentric view of the natural world. The primary solutions, therefore, must include a widespread shift towards clean and green technology, a transformative social revolution, and a new ecocentric respect for the intrinsic value of non-human life. The study offers many recommendations for policy makers.

This thesis analyzes the global ecological crisis. It divides the global ecological crisis in to two major components: Climate change and biodiversity loss. Using a theoretical methodology based on comparing and applying a variety of lenses from within environmental sociology, the thesis asks and answers two questions: What are the causes of the global ecological crisis, and how can we solve it? Drawing on the perspectives of ecological modernization theory, ecological Marxism and deep ecology, the causes of and solutions to the global ecological crisis are identified. The primary causes of the crisis are found to be inefficient industrial technology, capitalism and an instrumentalist and anthropocentric view of the natural world. The primary solutions, therefore, must include a widespread shift towards clean and green technology, a transformative social revolution, and a new ecocentric respect for the intrinsic value of non-human life. The study offers many recommendations for policy makers.

Environmental strategies implemented today are strongly influenced by the ideologies capitalism, neoliberalism and ecomodernism. As such, they should promote global economic expansion while mitigating environmental impact. This is in line with the prevailing environmental political discourse of sustainable development, in which economic, ecological and social dimensions are considered compatible and dependent on each other. However, this essay challenges the normative assumption regarding the win-win-win narrative by examining the economic, ecological and social consequences of Max Burgers’ environmental strategies through three critical scientific theories. By posing an ideology critique and through the lens of our theoretical framework, we find that Max Burgers mystifies the apparent relation between local economic growth, global ecological impact and divided social progress, thus reinforcing unequal power dynamics and patterns of uneven development.

Climate capitalism has emerged over the last two decades as the response of a section of the global elite to the crisis of global warming. Greater consciousness of threats to the stability of the global carbon cycle, and thus to the general conditions for capital accumulation, has led certain members of the global elite to design a project of climate capitalism, that holds the promise of a smooth transition out of the crisis and into a new era of accumulation on renewed, ecologically modernized foundations. However, climate capitalism has been contested from the start. For one, many still do not accept that there exists any problem that needs addressing in the first place. At the other end of the spectrum, climate capitalism is challenged on the grounds of its incapacity to reduce GHG emissions and its complicity with neoliberalism in entrenching existing inequality. Debates abound around the latter critique. Should climate capitalism be opposed by all means, or should it be cautiously supported, for want of an alternative that can be realized rapidly enough? The response to this question crucially depends on whether support exists among the corporate and other global elites for a climate capitalism that stands a chance of actually reducing climate impacts in a timely manner. This dissertation directly addresses the issue of the existence and extent of corporate elite support for climate capitalism. It asks specifically, what forces support climate capitalism, how and to what degree they are organized, and how powerful they are relative to the forces of the status quo. This study answers the question of the potential of the climate capitalist project to become entrenched at the core of the neoliberal hegemonic bloc with a qualified yes: although broad support has not yet emerged, it seems poised to develop in the future as the global ecological crisis deepens – perhaps as an outcome of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. As to the question of the content of climate capitalism, and thereupon the issue of whether climate capitalism can actually provide a reduction in GHG emissions, the study finds that the dominant view of climate capitalism is that of a weak ecological modernization, taking place over the long term. In view of the scientific consensus on the urgency of massive GHG emissions reductions in the near term, this confirms the argument put forth by critics that a realistic response to climate change cannot be founded on climate capitalist principles. / Graduate / 0626 / 0700 / 0616

A Zona Franca de Manaus (ZFM), criada em 1967 pela ditadura militar, termina em 2023, mas ha uma proposta de modificacao da Constituicao Federal do Brasil para que ela dure ate 2073. A partir da compreensao do discurso enquanto pratica social (Focault, 1987, 2002, 2005; Hajer, 1995, 2005, 2006) e da categorizacao dos discursos ambientais (Dryzek, 2005), foram analisados 265 pronunciamentos dos parlamentares do Amazonas, 19 edicoes de uma revista institucional e 626 materias do mais importante jornal local, tudo publicado entre 2007 e 2010. Eles revelam um deslocamento do discurso de legitimacao da ZFM do ideario do progresso ao do desenvolvimento sustentavel, guiado pela modernizacao ecologica. As industrias passaram a ser apresentadas como responsaveis pela conservacao das florestas, gracas a geracao de empregos urbanos: afirma-se que se os incentivos fiscais acabarem, havera desemprego e desmatamento. Esse roteiro fatalista, autoritario, nao reconhece o papel dos povos e comunidades tradicionais na conservacao da floresta nem esta aberto ao debate publico sobre outros modelos de desenvolvimento para a regiao amazonica. / The Manaus Free Trade Zone (ZFM) will end in 2023, but there is a proposal to amend the Brazilian Federal Constitution so that it lasts until 2073. From the understanding of discourse as a social practice (Foucault, 1987, 2002, 2005; Hajer, 1995, 2005, 2006), this paper is based on the critical analysis of 265 parliamentary pronouncements, 19 editions of a institutional magazine and 626 news from the most important local newspaper, all published between 2007 and 2010. It reveals a shift in the discourse about the ZFM, guided by ecological modernization. The industries are now presented as responsible for protecting the rainforest: it is said that if the tax incentives stop, there will be unemployment and deforestation. This fatalistic story line does not recognize the role of traditional peoples and communities in forest conservation and neither is open to the public debate about other models of development for the Amazon.

Denna uppsats syftar till att klarlägga de diskurser som förekommer i Sveriges klimatpolitiska handlingsplan 2019/2020, i relation till perspektiven ekologisk modernisering, säkerhetisering och miljörättvisa. Genom en kritisk diskursanalys påvisas att handlingsplanen, som antas vara en produkt av de diskurser som förekommer i det svenska politiska samtalet generellt, i hög grad reproducerar en diskurs om ekologisk modernisering. Texten relaterar i mindre utsträckning till perspektiven säkerhetisering och miljörättvisa, och den förhärskande diskursen om ekologisk modernisering väcker frågor om hur exempelvis målkonflikter och rättighetsproblematik vid resursutvinning kommer att hanteras av politiken i framtiden. / The purpose of this thesis is to expose what discourses are present in the climate policy action plan presented by the Swedish government in 2019. The material is analysed through acritical discourse analysis, with the three theories of securitization, ecological modernizationand environmental justice as a theoretical frame. The results of the study show that in this particular document, the discourse of ecological modernization is highly present, whereas the discourse of securitization is only present in small parts. The discourse of environmental justice is hardly present at all, and this raises questions about how potential goal conflicts regarding resource extraction, in the name of green transitioning, will be handled by the political sphere in the future.

I takt med tilltagen befolkningsmängd och ökad livslängd har läkemedelsanvändningen eskalerat världen över. I flera årtionden har farmaceutiska substanser hittats i miljön där de uppvisat stor skada på människor, djur och natur. En tydlig effekt är ökningen av antibiotikaresistenta patogener och ett nationellt förslag på åtgärd är att införa miljömärkning på läkemedel. Syftet är att genom en mixed method-studie granska debatten om miljömärkta läkemedel i texter hämtade från svenska medier. Genom en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ innehållsanalys redogör resultatet för debattens omfång, geografiska spridning, dess innehåll och medverkande aktörer. Det finns två samhällsaktörer som dominerar i debatten och de använder argument som har tydliga kopplingar till ekologisk modernisering och greenwash. Etiska överväganden, ekonomiska intressen, konsumentmakt och låg tro till livsstilsförändringar utgör också diskussionen. Miljömärkning av läkemedel visar sig inte vara en åtgärd för naturens bästa och kritiker menar att kraven för miljömärkningen är för svaga för att göra någon miljömässig skillnad. Den miljömärkning som i dagsläget är aktuell på läkemedel kan riskera att vilseleda konsumenter i tro om att de köper någonting som är bra för miljön.

The European Commission has presented a new seed directive that better matches the EU's sustainability goals, The Green Deal. However, the EU's common agricultural policy is based on an idea which means that it is mainly large-scale agriculture that benefits from the technological development that the proposal entails. In the periphery there are small-scale farmers whose opinions are rarely considered. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects that a change in the EU's current seed directive could potentially have on the farmer's ecological health and, in connection with this, the future of smallholder farmers. Finally, the study shows that the EU's proposal for a new seed directive can be understood in accordance with Dryzek's description of the two currently dominant environmental discourses, "sustainability" and "ecological modernization", which are also linked to both small farmers' economic and ecological future. • How does the new Seeds Directive want to increase the EU's agricultural sustainability? What are its concrete proposals? • What ecological effects can come from the new seed directive? • What effects will the different alternatives in the bill have on large and small farmers, respectively? • Which of Dryzek's discourses “ecological modernization” and “sustainability” is most in line with the various alternatives, and what are the implications for the long-term sustainability of agriculture?The study was carried out through a content analysis on the European Commission's proposal and on the report of the consulting firm Inner City Fund (ICF) on which the Commission based its decision. Subsequently, a problematizing dimension, a type of discourse analysis, was applied to examine which discourse is most dominant in the EU proposal and what this dominance means for both the farmer's ecological health and the small farmer's interests and needs.The results indicate that the proposal will to a large extent benefit large-scale agriculture and that there are few interests in meeting the needs of small farmers. The results also indicate that ecological modernization is the most dominant discourse in the proposal, which opens the proposal to the criticism that has also been delivered against ecological modernization as a sustainability discourse. / Europeiska kommissionen har presenterat ett nytt frödirektiv som bättre matchar EU:s hållbarhetsmål, The Green Deal. EU:s gemensamma jordbrukspolitik bygger dock på en idé som gör att det främst är storskaliga jordbruk som gynnas av den tekniska utveckling som förslaget innebär. I periferin finns småskaliga jordbrukare vars åsikter sällan beaktas. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka effekter en förändring av EU:s nuvarande frödirektiv potentiellt kan ha på jordbrukarens ekologiska hälsa och, i samband med detta, framtiden för småjordbrukare. Studien visar till slut att EU:s förslag till nytt frödirektiv kan förstås i enlighet med Dryzeks beskrivning av de två just nu dominanta miljödiskurserna, ”hållbarhet” och ”ekologisk modernisering”, vilka också både sammankopplas till småjordbrukares ekonomiska och ekologiska framtid.  · Hur vill det nya frödirektivet öka EU:s jordbrukshållbarhet? Vilka är dess konkreta förslag?· Vilka ekologiska effekter kan komma av det nya frödirektivet? · Vilka effekter kommer de olika alternativen i lagförslaget ge för stora respektive småjordbrukare? · Vilken av Dryzeks diskurser ”ekologisk modernisering” och ”hållbarhet” stämmer bäst överens med de olika alternativen, och vad har detta för konsekvenser för jordbrukets långsiktiga hållbarhet?  Undersökningen gjordes genom en innehållsanalys på Europeiska kommissionens förslag samt på den rapport av konsultföretaget Inner City Fund (ICF) som kommissionen grundade sitt beslut på. Därefter applicerades en problematiserande dimension, en typ av diskursanalys, för att undersöka vilken diskurs som är mest dominant i EU:s förslag och vad denna dominans innebär både för jordbrukarens ekologiska hälsa samt småjordbrukarens intressen och behov.   Resultatet tyder på att förslaget i stor utsträckning kommer gynna storskaliga jordbruk och att det finns få intressen för att möta småjordbrukares behov. Resultatet tyder även på att ekologisk modernisering är den mest dominanta diskursen i förslaget, vilket öppnar förslaget för den kritik som också levererats mot ekologisk modernisering som hållbarhetsdiskurs.

Medeltemperaturen på jorden har höjts med 1 grad sedan förindustriell tid. Effekterna av denna temperaturhöjning visar sig i form av förhöjda havsnivåer, smältande havsis i Arktis och extrema väderförhållanden. Inom internationell politik är det numera erkänt att migration är och förblir den i särklass största effekten av klimatförändringarna.  Termen ’klimatflyktingar’ används som gemensam benämning för människor som tvingas fly sina hem på grund av klimatförändringar. Studien ämnar undersöka hur klimatflyktingar gestaltas i svenska dagstidningar efter klimatmötet i Paris 2015. Studien syftar vidare till att belysa vilka maktförhållanden som existerar i kontexten kring denna term. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys används för att analysera artiklar från ett antal utvalda svenska dagstidningar. Ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av gestaltningsteori och politisk ekologi hjälper till att tolka de sju teman som analysen resulterat i.  Resultatet visar att klimatflyktingar avhumaniseras och förstås som en negativ effekt av klimatförändringarna. De som rymmer under termen vill dock inte associeras med den. I Sverige finns en tydlig tendens till förnekelse inför de problem som världen idag står inför till följd av den globala uppvärmningen. Samtidigt råder en stark tilltro till ekologisk modernisering. Röster inom internationell politik vill erkänna klimatflyktingar i internationell lag. Inget större agerande görs dock för att hjälpa människor som dagligen förlorar sina hem till kusterosion, förstörda jordbruksmarker eller översvämningar. / The mean global temperatures have been rising with one degree since pre-industrial time. Effects is shown in the world today in terms of sea level rising, loss of sea ice in Artic and extreme weather conditions. International politics now states that migration is the single biggest effect caused by climate change.  The term ‘climate refugees’ is used as a definition of humans forced to flee their homes due to climate change. The purpose of the thesis is to show how the Swedish daily newspapers frame climate refugees after the climate conference in Paris in 2015. The purpose is more over to highlight existing power relations in this context. A qualitative content analysis is used on articles chosen from a number of Swedish daily papers. Political ecology and framing theory construct a theoretical framework, which helps to understand the themes which occurred in the analysis. The result shows a dehumanization of climate refugees. Climate refugees is highlighted as a negative effect of climate change. However, the term is rejected by people associated with it. In Sweden, there is a sense of denial to the problems caused around the world due to climate change. Faith is placed into ecological modernization. Voices in international politics states the urge to acknowledge the definition of ‘climate refugees’ in to international law. Not much help is offered to people who have lost their home to coastal erosion, flooding or destroyed lands.