Rethinking the ecological leviathan: environmental regulation in an age ofrisk

Little attention has been given to the changing role of the state in the me diation of environmental risk. This review paper examines three interrelate d themes: first, the extent to which contemporary environmental risks diffe r from those of the past; second, the various ways in which the rationality and legitimacy of environmental regulation have been challenged by a combi nation of political and economic developments; and third, the dilemmas pose d by different institutional strategies for risk management. The paper argu es that in order to better understand the implications of environmental ris k for regulatory institutions it is necessary to develop our conception of risk beyond narrowly conceived technical, technological and micro-political discourses. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.