Overcoming the technophilia/technophobia split in environmental discourse

The environmental discourse has long been split in two camps: one technophilic, the other technosceptic. The former suggests that technical solutions are the primary fix to environmental problems, while the latter favours changes in behaviour over technological remedies. We explore the structure of this discourse by examining the arguments of each camp and their sub-groups along with their respective shortcomings. We also highlight approaches that go beyond this bipolarity and promise practical advances towards more effective interventions. The investigation extends to an analysis of the reasons why such novel and more sophisticated approaches suffer from a frustratingly low level of uptake in the public and private sectors. Among the obstacles identified are ontological differences, institutional structures, economic incentives and issues around complexity and governance. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.