Critical Reviews of Books Relevant to Participatory Forestry

Ecological Economics
By Peter Soederbaum
London, Earthscan, 2000
Pages: 152; Price: GBP 14.95

(Reviewed by Prof J. Bandyopadhyay and K. Mukhopadhyay, Centre for Development and Environment Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata )

The theme of this book is a critique of the 'environmental blindness' of neoclassical economics, on the basis of which the author has tried to construct a methodology for policy making on sustainable development. Soederbaum finds that tackling environmental issues through 'environmental economics' - the new branch based on received paradigm of neoclassical economics to address the current environmental challenges - is grossly inadequate. He describes neoclassical economics to be dominated by the concepts of physics and other natural sciences, with objectivity and value neutrality as the guiding principles. Thus, neoclassical economists are viewed as trying to conceptualise the environmental problems to fit the neoclassical paradigm. The solutions they offer are sought within the limits of markets and prices.

As a mechanism for generating a more acceptable economic framework for sustainable development, the author suggests a strongly pluralist approach based on the coexistence of various ideologies. He does not agree with the Kuhnian concept of paradigm shifts though, and uses a description characterised by complementarity and coexistence of paradigms.

This basic idea of pluralism is embedded in the way Soederbaum defines 'ecological economics' as a transdisciplinary field of study. There is a strong need of a political-economic approach to environmental management and decision making for sustainable development. Advocating pluralism, he contends that neoclassical economics with monetary reductionism as its mentor is not enough, and a willingness to listen and learn is important. This is probably the strongest point made by the author in his critique of neoclassicists. The increased use of environmental impact assessment and lifecycle analysis in business and industry is interpreted as a step towards addressing this dominance of monetary thinking. The widespread acceptance of voluntary environ-mental management systems is taken as a further sign of an increased stress on better environmental performance of organisations.

Such efforts at cleaning up the damaged environment and ensuring environmental safety are described by the author as 'environmentalism', which is committed to economic growth, though guided by a modified concept of a 'Green GDP', yet another monetary indicator. He recommends that an answer may be sought with the help of 'ecologism', which challenges both mainstream thinking and ideology. 'Ecologism' is described as being the basis of ecological economics. <[> The last three chapters of the book are largely devoted to articulating the approach to policy making with the help of ecological economics, subsequently raising questions on the identity of diverse policy makers. He details the roles of the specific interest groups ranging from individuals to organisations such as universities to business and the state.

The concluding pages however do not match the strong stand taken by the author against neoclassical economics. For instance, in the success stories of changes cited, it is difficult to locate the failure of that school of economics to shift to a new paradigm and the coexistence of a multiplicity of paradigms, as has been detailed earlier in the book. In the interest of the ongoing process of environmental sensitisation of economists, the arguments of the author could have become more impressive had he used a less descriptive and abstract approach, and reflected more on some real-life instances. Nevertheless, these shortcomings do not lessen the crucial importance of the argument in favour of democracy and pluralism that runs through the whole book.

INDEX (List of recent publications in the area of participatory forestry)
Books and Articles
Saigal, Sushil, Hema Arora, and S.S. Rizvi. (2002)	The New Foresters: The Role of Private Enterprise in the Indian Forestry Sector. IIED, London.
Joint Forest Management Monitoring Cell, Government of India. (2002)	Joint Forest Management: A Decade of Partnership. Resource Unit for Participatory Forest Management, Winrock International India, New Delhi.
Mayers, James, Jeremy Evans and Tim Foy. (2001)	Raising the Stakes: Impacts of Privatisation. Certification and Partnerships in South Africa. IIED, London.
Campbell Bruce M., and Martin K. Luckert. (2002)	Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: Valuation Methods for Woodland and Forest Resources. Earthscan, London