The Concept of Green Economy and its Role in Hegemonic Neoliberal Capitalism

Abstract

Since 2008 the term “Green Economy” has been highly discussed on international and national political agendas, and it was the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) which promoted the idea of “green stimulus packages” to avoid a global recession in the context of the financial crisis in 2008. This article examines the concept of a Green Economy and its role in neoliberal capitalism using neo-Gramscian theoretic terms, namely ‘hegemony’ and ‘passive revolution’. Thus, different ways of establishing and maintaining hegemonic power are central issues. Due to several crises in recent years, and especially since the financial crisis in 2008, the hegemonic predominance of neoliberal capitalism has come under pressure and now faces a functional crisis. Consequently, the necessity to address this issue arises and is required in order to ensure hegemonic power. I suggest that the concept of a Green Economy embodies a new hegemonic project of neoliberal capitalism and represents a “passive revolution” to calm critics and prevent counter-hegemonic approaches.
It becomes obvious that the promoting of a Green Economy will not question the inherent contradictions of neoliberal capitalism that have led to the current multiple crises, but rather aims to transform the present economic progress towards a socio-ecological compatibility through carbon-independent economic growth. I conclude that a Green Economy, which operates within a capitalistic mode of production, will produce other forms of exclusion and exploitation and is not likely to overcome the inherent contradictions.