The contemporary state is not only the main force behind environmental change, but the reactions to environmental problems have played a crucial role in the modernisation of the state apparatus, especially because of its mediatory role.

"The Political Ecology of the State "is the first book to critically assess the philosophical basis of environmental statehood and regulation, addressing the emergence and evolution of environmental regulation from the early twentieth century to the more recent phase of ecological modernisation and the neoliberalisation of nature. The state is understood...