The “liberal compromise” and after: Realities and fictions of global climate governance

Leon Wansleben
This issue of Economic Sociology explores the promises and realities of governing society’s nexus with the planetary system and the role that capitalism plays in doing so. Coincidentally, attempts to govern society-earth system couplings started in earnest during capitalism’s most triumphant moment. In 1992, in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, parties at the United Nations Conference in Rio adopted the first Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).

Stéphanie Barral
Environmental sociology now clearly attests the unequal contribution made by corporations and individuals to climate change (Rieger 2024, previous issue) and more generally to the ecological crisis (Freudenburg 2006; Collins et al. 2020), and advocates for focused and constraining regulations directed toward “big polluters.” And yet, a glimpse at the current direction of environmental policies shows a very different reality.

Matthias Täger
Both the global financial crisis and its aftermath and the Covid-19 pandemic shone a bright spotlight on the extensive powers of central banks. The magnitude of interventions in financial markets in both instances dwarfed efforts by fiscal authorities, not just illustrating the relative significance of central banks’ role in economic governance vis-à-vis other state institutions but also highlighting the vital role they have come to play in the governance of financial capital that no longer simply governs itself.

Jose Maria Valenzuela and Nacxitl Calva
The revolution of deregulation that swept national markets with particular force in the Americas was followed by the rise of complex and diverse regulatory institutions. Mexico was the poster child of governance by regulators as, in the 2000s and 2010s, its governing being used, in the energy sector the true innovation of liberal elites was the repurposing of state-owned companies to maintain economic order and de-risk private investments – a role which was meant to be transitory.

Kohei Saito
Today, rising economic inequality, ecological degradation, and the erosion of democracy have plunged Western values into a deep crisis. The normative force of modern ideals – universal human rights, progress, justice – proves ineffective against xenophobia, genocide, and the climate crisis. The Global South’s critique of these ideals as hypocritical and double-standard seems entirely justified. In fact, Western elites passionately defend these “universal” values against Russia, China, and Hamas, while they remain indifferent to the suffering and death in the Global South.

Javier Moreno Zacarés · 2024
Residential Capitalism: Rent Extraction and Capitalist Production in Modern Spain (1833–2023)
New York, NY: Routledge
Reviewer: Alejandro Fernàndez Pérez

Agustina Paglayan · 2024
Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education
Princeton: Princeton University Press
Reviewer: Martín Cortina Escudero

Gareth Bryant and Sophie Webber · 2024
Climate Finance: Taking a Position on Climate Futures
Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing
Reviewer: Giorgio Cuconato

Charlotte Cavaillé · 2023
Fair Enough? Support for Redistribution in an Age of Inequality
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Reviewer: Jonathan Hopkin