“ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AND GLOBALIZATION: FARMED SALMON INDUSTRY IN CHILE”
Author: Rivas, Ricardo E, ricardorivas@email.arizona.edu
Department: Sociology
University: The University of Arizona, USA
Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Schwartzman
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Environmental Governance
, Farmed Salmon
, Chile
Areas of Research:
Environment and Society
, Economy and Society
, Stratification
Abstract
Economic globalization challenges institutional arrangements at a national level, especially in reference to developing countries. Since the 1980s, Latin American countries have faced a liberalization of economic policies and the retreat of the state as guarantor of economic development and market regulation. Consequently, several environmental and social externalities emerged under these neoliberal regimes. Environmental governance has been an important issue for Latin American countries trying to be inserted in the global market and, at the same time, responding to internal demands for sustainability. Studying the farmed salmon industry in Chile as a successful case of export-led economy, this research aims to shed light on the evolution of environmental governance associated with this sector and the role of economic globalization. Different theoretical frameworks are considered to formulate alternative hypotheses to explain this environmental governance trajectory. Ecological Modernization and Treadmill Theory account for endogenous factors such as ecological crises. World society approach considers progress in environmental governance as an unavoidable effect of the globalization era being a contagious diffusion of global practices. Finally, global commodity chain perspective focuses on the role of big supermarket chains demanding endorsement from market-led regulations.
