The Spirit of Green Capitalism in Four Motifs

• In Event: 254 - Section on Environment and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 10. Theory

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand the increasingly ubiquitous acceptance and promotion of green capitalism as an emergent ‘spirit’ of capitalism. Here spirit is used, pace Boltanksi and Chiapello’s work, to refer to a legitimizing discourse, motivating the bearers of wealth and providing ethical and moral grounds for a renewed investment (socially and psychically, not just financially) in economic growth and capital accumulation.

This paper stems from a critical discourse analysis of mass-market texts published over the past two decades, which advocate for various forms of green capitalism as a solution to our mounting climate crisis. Four interconnected yet discrete motifs define this emergent ideological institution. Each motif falls back upon a different moment in the history of capitalism and a different historical attempt to legitimize specific engagements with capitalist social relationships: 1) Planetary Improvement returns to the discourses and ideology of early agrarian capitalism and the enclosure movement. 2) Eco-utopian Socialism rehashes the 19th century interest in small-scale market socialism and planned communities. 3) EcoFordism builds upon the mythology of Henry Ford and a libertarian hero-worship of industrial entrepreneurs. 4) Green Developmentalism looks to the early 20th century legacy of state-led development, ultimately proposing a neo-Keynsian turn to state-led growth with a decidedly neoliberal twist.

Understanding the heterogeneity of green capitalist ideology can be a valuable tool in challenging its increasing hegemony, allowing critiques to develop beyond summary rejection, so as to instead target the core affective presuppositions that make this new green spirit of capitalism resonate so broadly.

Author

• Jesse Goldstein, Virginia Commonwealth University