The Politics of Germany’s eco-social transformation

Abstract

In Germany, at first glance there is general political agreement between the green-progressive camp and the capitalist-industrial centre-right on the need for the eco-social transformation. However, there are considerable gaps between ambitions to implement policies towards an eco-social transformation and its actual implementation. As this Special Issue (SI) shows, the acceptance of green welfare systems or adding social policies to the green transition projects is not matched by substantial policies. The Special Issue offers eight original research papers on ideas, actors and conflicts and multi-level governance of the “Politics of Germany’s eco-social transformation”. Current trends point to a deepening marketization of green policies, a reluctance in lifestyle changes and dissonance in the design of concrete eco-social policies. The authors contribute to a better understanding of the political affordances and challenges of the eco-social transformation in Germany.