ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 expands on one particular element of the transition to a more flexible environmental statehood, namely the progressive dominance of neoliberal institutions over socioecological systems. This emerged as both a response to the ecological crisis of Keynesian capitalism and as novel business opportunities. Neoliberal policies entailed the destruction and reconstruction of previous forms of environmental statehood, but in practice there were some activities which the state was never able to delegate to the market. This is demonstrated with examples from the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the European Union and the neoliberalisation of water services in Peru.
