Industrial ecology: a new field or only a metaphor? [An article from: Journal of Cleaner Production]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Cleaner Production, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In the 10 years since industrial ecology first became a topic of academic interest, it has grown as a field of inquiry and has produced a community of practice in several sectors including academia, business, and government. Even as the shape of industrial ecology becomes clearer, questions remain as to its lasting power beyond the metaphor that gave it its distinctiveness. This paper examines the development of industrial ecology and assesses its progress towards becoming a field of academic inquiry. And, in a related analysis, I look at the progress industrial ecology has made in establishing itself as an institutional (cultural) basis for action in the above sectors. Ideas like industrial ecology must become institutionalized if they are to have much effect on the reality of everyday activities.