Changing socio-economic and political context of globalization: competing perspectives on transformation

In this research field, we conduct projects at both the meso and macro levels of social formations. We study past struggles between competing factions of firms and social partners concerning climate policy and future planning (futuring), which involve various, to some extent mutually exclusive, ideological and political perspectives.

a) The Atlas Network-led coalition of 500 neoliberal and conservative think tanks, many of which are committed to obstructing climate policy and global climate governance.

b) The World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the We Mean Business Coalition, which advocate for the goals of the Paris Agreement.

c) The Balaton Network of ecological intellectuals from leading research institutes, founded in 1980 by Donella and Dennis Meadows, authors of the Club of Rome-funded study "Limits to Growth."

These three groups represent, on one hand, fossil reactionary and pragmatic neoliberal transformation perspectives, and on the other hand, post-neoliberal ecological transformation perspectives.

I Global Atlas network and Global Warming

In this project, we examine the global Atlas Network of think tanks, along with a number of other academic and civil society organizations, across five world regions from 2000 to 2022. Drawing on literature related to transnational class formation, global elites and organizations, we have created an extensive empirical database that includes information on the partner organizations within this network, their staff and board members, the primary employers of board members, climate policy-related outputs and authors, as well as funding from corporate foundations.

We investigate the relationships between think tanks across borders (including board member interlocks) and the connections between think tanks and their constituencies, represented by board members from corporations, philanthropic organizations, academic institutions, and civil society organizations. We contextualize think tanks and think tank networks within the socio-economic landscape and analyze the climate policy-relevant output of members of the Atlas Network to identify significant climate policy discourses, both in opposition (which constitutes the majority of contributions) and in support of mitigation and adaptation (which is represented by a minority of contributions).

With Ruth McKie, Subject Lead and Head of Criminology at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Funding support for data collection was provided by the Climate Social Science Network based at Brown University, USA, and the High Tide Foundation.

II One global capitalist class? Competing projects of great transformation and (transnational) class formation

This project challenges sociological and historical scholarship on transnational capitalist class formation, which posits a singular dominant global class structure. A recent contribution has advanced the literature by focusing on transnational business associations and the leadership of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Based on the influence of this transnational business association of leading global corporations on global climate policy agendas, Kaplan (2024) argues for the relevance of a singular transnational capitalist class that leads the mainstream transformation process under the banner of a corporate version of sustainability. However, rather than a unified transnational class formation project pursuing moderate neoliberal climate governance and public-private partnerships, we observe competing and contending transnational projects: a) reactionary fossil fuel business strategies, and b) social and ecological transformations that extend beyond the business mainstream.

Project a) Fossil reactionary cluster

Likewise, based on transnational capitalist class power, a competing corporate sector alliance focuses not on shaping global policy but rather on replacing global climate policy goals and undermining global climate governance. Originally represented by the Global Climate Coalition (1989-2002), this pro-fossil, reactionary cluster has supported climate denial and obstruction strategies promoted by think tanks such as the Heartland Institute and its corporate sponsors. In this part of the project, we examine the corporate and philanthropic constituencies of think tanks that are members of the Atlas network, which includes over 200 think tanks that have published a wide range of materials opposing ambitious climate mitigation efforts between 2000 and 2022. We anticipate minimal, if any, overlap between the constituencies of these climate obstruction think tanks and those of the WBCSD and related business actors, such as the We Mean Business Network. If the corporate bases of these two factions do not overlap, we interpret this as further evidence supporting our claim of competing transnational class projects pursuing distinct and conflicting agendas.

With Esra Elif Nartok, lecturer at Leiden University, Institute of Political Science.

Project b) Balaton Group

In this project, we study the papers of Donella Meadows secured from Dartmouth College and conduct a number of interviews with leading members of the Balaton Group (Dennis Meadows and Alan AtKisson among others). A particular focus is on the contribution of this group to the development of indicators to measure and promote sustainable development and the controversies around these ideas at evidence in the backlash against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Indicators succeeding the SDIs. Another focus is on the role of the concept of planetary boundaries in the development of transformation perspectives.

III Reinsuring Catastrophe: The Business and Politics of Reinsurers in Times of Climate Change and Financialization

Collaboration with Sebastian Kohl, FU Berlin, DFG project studying Reinsurance Industry dynamics in the age of accelerated global warming. Find more information here.