Values, ideology and politics in ecological economics

Ecological economics is built on a value-commitment to study environmental issues and to contribute constructively to a more sustainable development path. However, many ecological economists still hesitate, it appears, to depart too much from other scholars by openly addressing issues of values and ideology. In this essay, the role of the scholar’s orientation with respect to values and ideology is addressed. It is observed that not only scholars but also actors in society are guided by their ‘ideological orientation’. This leads to the idea that some of the weaknesses of Economic Man and ‘profit maximising firm’ assumptions can be mitigated by introducing a Political Economic Person and a Political Economic Organisation. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.