Governance and Sustainability Seminar Series 2009

University of Westminster

Dr. John Barry (Reader in Politics, at Queens University, Belfast) will give
a seminar talk entitled "Greening the Economy: Dispatches from the front
line in Northern Ireland".

Date:        Tuesday 5th May, 2009

Location:   Westminster Forum, 5th Floor, 32-38 Wells Street, London, W1T 3UT.

Time:        5.30pm - 7pm (reception to follow)

Dr John Barry, Co-Editor of Environmental Politics, is a leading scholar in
the field of environmental politics and has published widely in the fields
of ecofeminism, the implications of green theory for thinking about justice,
and theories of political economy in relation to the environment. John has
also worked on a number of funded projects from subjects as diverse as
renewable energy, waste and regulatory change in world financial markets.

Abstract

Perhaps the weakest dimension of the 'triple bottom line' understanding of
sustainable development has been the 'economic' dimension. Much of the
thinking about the appropriate 'political economy' to underpin sustainable
development has been either utopian (as in some radical green political
views) or 'business as usual' approaches. While critical of the reformist
'policy telos' of ecological modernisation, supporters of more radical
versions of sustainable development need to also be aware of the strategic
opportunities of this policy discourse. In particular, the discourse of
'economic security' ought to be used as a way of articulating a radical,
robust and principled understanding of sustainable development, which offers
a normatively compelling and policy-relevant path to outlining a 'green
political economy' to underpin sustainable development. This paper will
offer some theoretical and policy -relevant analysis of some of the main
issues in the greening of the economy, and will illustrate it with examples
and experience of the less than conducive political context of post-conflict
Northern Ireland.

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