Neoliberalism and the Biophysical Environment 3: Putting Theory into Practice

Abstract

There now exists a significant body of theoretically informed empirical research into ‘neoliberal environments’. It comprises numerous studies which together explore the connections between neoliberal principles and policies, on the one side, and the biophysical world on the other. However, making sense of them is by no means straightforward, despite their common focus on neoliberal environments. It is currently left to readers of these studies to synthesize them into a wider, joined-up account of neoliberal environments. This and two companion articles aim for precisely this sort of broad and coherent understanding. The contribution of this third instalment is twofold. First, I link the published empirical studies to the theory proposed in the previous articles. Second, I then try to evaluate these studies critically, since in the previous two contributions I have been implicitly supportive of the research conducted so far. Intellectually honesty dictates that I show readers the other side of the argument.