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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The green economy in South Africa: global discourses and local politics
Author:Death, CarlISNI
Year:2014
Periodical:Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (ISSN 1470-1014)
Volume:41
Issue:1
Pages:1-22
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:sustainable development
environmental economics
government policy
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2014.885668
Abstract:Global interest in the 'green economy' has heightened since 2008, and this article contributes to these discussions by elaborating on (a) four alternative, and sometimes competing, discourses of the green economy, and (b) the particular politics of the green economy in South Africa. Most research on the green economy tends to focus on European and North American countries, however, in the context of a changing global economy and the 'rise of the South' the politics of the green economy in countries like South Africa is of increasing importance. South Africa faces many challenges in pursuing a transition to a more sustainable development path, yet has been cited as a global green economy leader. The article argues that this is related to the particular discourse of 'green growth' which is dominant in South Africa, and proposes two significant lines of critique of this discourse. The first cautions that commitment to the green economy may not be particularly deep-rooted, sustained or coherent; and the second highlights some of the more troubling political implications of the type of green growth advocated, even if it were to be pursued with more determination. With this in mind, it is important to consider whether transitions to a green economy might produce new power relations of inequality and injustice, just as the industrial revolution helped produce today's deeply unequal world. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]
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