ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to assess, critique and make a contribution towards ecological modernisation theory as applied to agriculture in a global context by examining and commenting on examples of agri-environmental stewardship in New Zealand. Ecological modernisation theory is a growing body of literature concerned with the analysis of environmentally related social change and a normative commitment to environmentally and economically sustainable change (Hertin and Berkhout 2003). While much of the early ecological modernisation literature was developed by European scholars in relation to industrial practices in Europe (Mol and Sonnenfeld 2000), more recent literature has sought to relate the theory to agriculture. This chapter will suggest that in the New Zealand case, while many producers experience pressures to improve agri-environmental performance as predicted by ecological modernisation theory, global economic processes militate against overall environmental improvements in agriculture. The undermining effects of globalisation include the fact that agri-environmental improvements by individual farmers can be offset by macro-economic drivers to intensify production while problem-specific environmental practices (such as measures to reduce pollution) do not necessarily encourage a broader stewardship ethic or motivation to reduce the array of damaging environmental effects caused by intensified agriculture.
