Global environmental politics and competition between nation-states: On the regulation of biological diversity

Global environmental politics is often seen as an area where cooperation am ong nation-states can be improved and common and trans-border issues can be regulated. The article criticizes this view which tends to ignore the comp lex crisis of the relationships between societies and ongoing economic comp etition among nation-states. Therefore, the difference between intentional political control and the unintended stabilization of social contradictions (regulation, in the usage of the French regulation school) is shown, and u sed to analyse the broader context of the regulation of societal relationsh ips with nature. For an adequate understanding of such a network of interna tional regulation, however, one must carefully analyse the transformation o f the nation-state within the process of capitalist globalization and its r ole in this network which goes beyond environmental regimes. Global biodive rsity politics is an interesting example of such a network: it can be seen that capital interests in the use of genetic resources for the 'life scienc e industry' is a driving force in this area of contention. National regulat ions, in the sense of intentional politics, constitute a necessary aspect o f the process of creating stable conditions for the commodification and val orization of genetic resources. At the same time, environmental politics be comes part of global capitalist competition and regional and national compe tition.