Traditional views of global environmental politics take the structures and relations of international politics as a given. Solutions to environmental problems, then, must be products of concession, negotiation, and inevitable compromise-a world of top-down planetary management. Lipschutz challenges students to question these conventional approaches. He argues that much light can be shed on global environmental degradation if we look beyond the politics of conflict and cooperation and explore environmental problems from their very "roots." Using a framework that accounts for the ontologies, material conditions, and power relations that structure global environmental problems, Lipschutz is able to more effectively question attempts to clean up the globe and sustain the world's natural resources. Throughout the text, the author uses compelling cases to illustrate the effects of globalization and capitalism, yet is careful to make the link between the local and the global to show how we, as individuals, are both consumers of goods and producers of pollution. A powerful new approach How is the financing of a water system in Bolivia linked to long-standing forestation practices in India? Taking nothing for granted, the root causes of major global environmental problems are exposed and subjected to rigorous analysis. Lipschutz shows, for instance, how privatization operates in different global contexts with strikingly similar consequences. In what ways are liberalism and realism actually two sides of the same coin? Both make self-interest-of the individual and of the state-key operating terms. In a revealing comparison, Lipschutz explores the limits of these dominant political models to effectively frame and solve environmental problems. What kinds of political, social, and environmental practices bring about meaningful change? By emphasizing the global impacts of local actions, the text shows how attempts to control environmental problems may actually reproduce the very systems they are meant to ameliorate. Combined with practical pedagogy Rich historical background helps contextualize contemporary issues. Extensive suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter guide students to further research, while tables and figures elegantly show data and concepts. The emphasis on assessing the root causes of global environmental problems and models encourages critical thinking. Students are also encouraged to rethink their own role in the global environmental system and to get involved in effective forms of social change.
The field of ecological economics developed in the late 1980s at the intersection of the social and natural sciences, with roots in political economy, ecology and biology, and has had a significant impact on research agendas and policy in related fields in subsequent years. This collection of classic and contemporary papers in ecological economics and its precursors includes an introductory essay that explores how the field has developed over time and identifies the main strands in the literature. Volume I reviews the roots and evolution of ecological economics as a field. Volume II examines the methodological and technical challenges posed by the development of a new field at the intersection of a number of mature disciplines. Volume III focuses on the major developments in ecological economics of the last decade. Volume IV looks at the ecological economics of sustainability.
In this informative and essential book, a team of scholars and policy experts from both Indonesia and the larger international community review political and economic developments in post-Soeharto era Indonesia. Together, they consider the kinds of structures that would foster social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The fall of ......
Assessing new strategies prompted by the George W. Bush administration, this work helps students make sense of the underlying trends, institutional shortcomings, and policy dilemmas that shape the contentious world of environmental politics.
This work brings together emerging perspectives from organization theory and management, environmental sociology, international regime studies, and the social studies of science and technology to provide a starting point for discipline-based studies of environmental policy and corporate environmental behaviour. The text has a theoretical and ......
Explores the reasons why a global economic system, geared toward private profit, has spelled vulnerability for the earth's fragile natural environment. The book sets out to take the case for saving the planet beyond visions of doom, arguments about sustainability, and individual solutions.
