From climate change to fossil fuel dependency, from the uneven effects of natural disasters to the loss of biodiversity: complex socio-environmental problems indicate the urgency for cross-disciplinary research into the ways in which the social, the natural and the technological are ever more entangled. This ground breaking text moves between environmental sociology and environmental geography, political and social ecology and critical design studies to provide a definitive mapping of the state of environmental social theory in the age of the anthropocene. Environments, Natures and Social Theory provokes dialogue and confrontation between critical political economists, actor network theorists, neo-Malthusians and environmental justice advocates. It maps out the new environmental politics of hybridity moving from hybrid neo-liberals to end times ecologists, from post environmentalists to cyborg eco-socialists. White, Rudy and Gareau insist on the necessity of a critical but optimistic hybrid politics, arguing that a more just, egalitarian, democratic and sustainable anthropocene is within our grasp. This will only be brought into being, however, by reclaiming, celebrating and channeling the reconstructive potential of entangled hybrid humans as inventive hominids, creative gardeners, critical publics and political agents. Written in an accessible style, Environments, Natures and Social Theory is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students across the social sciences.

The natural world has been "humanized": even areas thought to be wilderness bear the marks of human impact. But this human impact is not simply physical. At the emergence of the environmental movement, the focus was on human effects on "nature." More recently, however, the complexity of the term "nature" has led to fruitful debates and the recognition of how human individuals and cultures interpret their environments. This book furthers the dialogue on religion, ethics, and the environment by exploring three interrelated concepts: to recreate, to replace, and to restore. Through interdisciplinary dialogue the authors illuminate certain unique dimensions at the crossroads between finding value, creating value, and reflecting on one's place in the world. Each of these terms has diverse religious, ethical, and scientific connotations. Each converges on the ways in which humans both think about and act upon their surroundings. And each radically questions the damaging conceptual divisions between nature and culture, human and environment, and scientific explanation and religious/ethical understanding. This book self-consciously reflects on the intersections of environmental philosophy, environmental theology, and religion and ecology, stressing the importance of how place interprets us and how we interpret place. In addition to its contribution to environmental philosophy, this work is a unique volume in its serious engagement with theology and religious studies on the issues of ecological restoration and the meaning of place.

" Gary Bryner's brief, readable, capstone book: " Features a forward by Mark A. Boyer Outlines the major environmental challenges facing the world today Applies international relations theory to these challenges Covers such key topics as development, sustainability, and market capitalism Offers a social justice perspective to environmental problems and solutions Borne of an amalgam of social science, fieldwork, and a passionate commitment to justice, this book brings debates about climate change to a new level, compelling readers and researchers to rethink the reasons for reversing global environmental trends. The book lays out three inspirations for improving environmental prospects: effective markets, sustainable development, and environmental justice for the most vulnerable. It also projects three possible scenarios flowing from the success or failure of these inspirations one bleak, one breakthrough, and one of status quo. Gary Bryner is not sanguine about humanity s ability to make the right choices, but this does not deter him from asking us to think beyond our own generation and our own species in urging environmental action now."

"Society and Nature" is a lively and highly accessible introduction to the sociology of the environment. The book provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary issues and current debates - including society, nature and the enlightenment, industry and environmental transformation, commodification, consumption, the network society and human identity, human biology, citizenship and new social movements.

Combining insights from contemporary sociology, politics, developmental biology and psychology, Peter Dickens suggests that environmental degradation is largely due to humanity's narcissistic demand that the environment be made into a commodity to be consumed. Meanwhile, human biology is also being modified: people's bodies are being rebuilt in ways that reflect their class positions. People and their surroundings have always adapted according to the demands of society. But modern capitalist society is changing the environment and its people in profound, potentially catastrophic, ways, shaping both human and non-human nature in its own image.

The book contains a number of student features to interest and guide the reader as well as an attractive and clear layout. It will be particularly useful for students and teachers of sociology, human ecology, environmental studies and social theory.

Dickens' insight won his work the American Sociological Association's Outstanding Publication Award 2006, in the Environment and Technology section.

Beyond Recycling critically explores unasked questions around recycling and its prominent position in contemporary thinking about sustainability. It examines and challenges assumptions about why we appear to have so wholeheartedly committed to recycling as a cultural project. Recycling has become a commonplace notion and widespread practice. Yet its social, cultural and even environmental value has not been considered carefully enough. This book considers recycling as a contemporary cultural idea related to - but not wholly defined by - our response to material waste. It seeks to reclaim recycling from the environmentalists and waste management specialists, to explore the role it plays in wider contemporary discourse. As we become increasingly satiated, and in many cases sickened, by the excesses of modern consumerism, we are rethinking our relationship with the physical stuff that fills our lives. Dissatisfied with empty materialism, we seek new ways to reuse our material culture. Recycling, turning something considered to be waste into something with renewed value, is our primary collective response to the problems arising from consumption; and it is ripe for critical examination. Beyond Recycling is a fascinating read for conscious consumers and students in the creative arts, design, cultural studies, sustainability and environmental studies.

The victims of environmental destruction are often sidelined in eco-theology and environmental discourse. Movements for ecological justice fail to take into account the voice of those at the grassroots. 'Alternatives Unincorporated' presents an environmental ethics that begins with those on the margins. Using the key example of the Narmada Dam in India and the popular resistance movement which built up against the project, the book examines the collective action of subaltern communities in caring for their local environment. The book frames these movements as theological texts that inform a life-affirming earth ethics. The aim of the book is to challenge prevailing social and ecological dynamics and to affirm the interconnectedness of social justice and environmental action.

This book brings together state-of-the-art papers describing comprehensive approaches to residuals management and emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary solutions to complex environmental problems.Originally published in 1972

'Inspiring. [...] Crammed with lively interviews and grounded examples' Ashish Kothari, founder of Kalpavriksh Permaculture is an environmental movement that makes us reevaluate what it means to be sustainable. Through innovative agriculture and settlement design, the movement creates new communities that are harmonious with nature. It has grown from humble origins on a farm in 1970s Australia and flourished into a worldwide movement that confronts industrial capitalism. The Politics of Permaculture is one of the first books to unpack the theory and practice of this social movement that looks to challenge the status quo. Drawing upon the rich seam of publications and online communities from the movement as well as extensive interviews with permaculture practitioners and organisations from around the world, Leahy explains the ways permaculture is understood and practiced in different contexts. In the face of extreme environmental degradation and catastrophic climate change, we urgently need a new way of living.

A bestseller on Amazon.com within months of its first release, Alan AtKisson's debut book quickly became a modern classic of sustainability literature. Global companies, grassroots groups, university courses, government agencies, and even the US Army ordered it by the box. Now fully revised and updated, Believing Cassandra: How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World is even more relevant, fresh, and motivating than when it first appeared in 1999. In a style that's refreshingly candid and vivid, with unforgettable personal anecdotes, AtKisson provides us with a bridge over the sea of despair, and shows us how to catch the wave to an enticing, sustainable future. He empowers the reader to join the pioneers who created the ideas, techniques and practices of sustainable living - the people who prove Cassandra's warnings wrong, by believing in them, and taking strategic action.

Environmental philosophy is one of the exciting new fields of philosophy to emerge in the last forty years. "Understanding Environmental Philosophy" presents a comprehensive, critical analysis of contemporary philosophical approaches to current ecological concerns. Key ideas are explained, placed in their broader cultural, religious, historical, political and philosophical context, and their environmental policy implications are outlined. Central ideas and concepts about environmental value, individual wellbeing, ecological holism and the metaphysics of nature set the stage for a discussion of how to establish moral rules and priorities, and whether it is possible to transcend human-centred views of the world. The reader is also helped with an annotated guide to further reading, questions for discussion and revision as well as boxed studies highlighting key concepts and theoretical material. A clear and accessible introduction to this most dynamic of subjects, "Understanding Environmental Philosophy" will be invaluable for a wide range of readers.

Game Theory has become one of the main analytical tools for addressing strategic issues in the field of economics and is increasing its influence in other fields of social sciences. With the increased level of extraction of natural resources and pollution of environments, game theory gains its place in the literature and it is more and more seen as a tool for policy makers and not only for theoreticians.

The book is structured into four parts dealing with the management of natural resources, the negotiation aspects of water management, water allocation through pricing and markets, and how conflicts and regulation shape the management of the environment. The first part explores game theory concepts applied to fisheries and grazing lands, which are two important natural resources. In the next two parts, several game theory methodologies are considered in the negotiation approach to water management and approaches to water pricing and markets. The last section looks at environmental protection as the end process of the interplay between conflict and regulation.

This book includes chapters by experts from developing and developed countries that apply game theory to actual issues in natural resources and the environment. As such the book is extremely useful for graduate students and technical experts interested in the sustainable management of natural resource and the environment. It is also relevant to all Game Theory and Environmental Economics students.

Indigenous, Modern and Postcolonial Relations to Nature contributes to the young field of intercultural philosophy by introducing the perspective of critical and postcolonial thinkers who have focused on systematic racism, power relations and the intersection of cultural identity and political struggle. Angela Roothaan discusses how initiatives to tackle environmental problems cross-nationally are often challenged by economic growth processes in postcolonial nations and further complicated by fights for land rights and self-determination of indigenous peoples. For these peoples, survival requires countering the scramble for resources and clashing with environmental organizations that aim to bring their lands under their own control. The author explores the epistemological and ontological clashes behind these problems. This volume brings more awareness of what structurally obstructs open exchange in philosophy world-wide, and shows that with respect to nature, we should first negotiate what the environment is to us humans, beyond cultural differences. It demonstrates how a globalizing philosophical discourse can fully include epistemological claims of spirit ontologies, while critically investigating the exclusive claim to knowledge of modern science and philosophy. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental philosophy, cultural anthropology, intercultural philosophy and postcolonial and critical theory.

The term "climate justice" began to gain traction in the late 1990s following a wide range of activities by social and environmental justice movements that emerged in response to the operations of the fossil fuel industry and, later, to what their members saw as the failed global climate governance model that became so transparent at COP15 in Copenhagen. The term continues to gain momentum in discussions around sustainable development, climate change, mitigation and adaptation, and has been slowly making its way into the world of international and national policy. However, the connections between these remain unestablished. Addressing the need for a comprehensive and integrated reference compendium, The Routledge Handbook of Climate Justice provides students, academics and professionals with a valuable insight into this fast-growing field. Drawing together a multidisciplinary range of authors from the Global North and South, this Handbook addresses some of the most salient topics in current climate justice research, including just transition, urban climate justice and public engagement, in addition to the field's more traditional focus on gender, international governance and climate ethics. With an emphasis on facilitating learning based on cutting-edge specialised climate justice research and application, each chapter draws from the most recent sources, real-world best practices and tutored reflections on the strategic dimensions of climate justice and its related disciplines. The Routledge Handbook of Climate Justice will be essential reading for students and scholars, as well as being a vital reference tool for those practically engaged in the field.

Sigmund Freud's essay 'The Uncanny' is celebrating a century since publication. It is arguably his greatest and most fruitful contribution to the study of culture and the environment. Environmental Humanities and the Uncanny brings into the open neglected aspects of the uncanny in this famous essay in its centenary year and in the work of those before and after him, such as Friedrich Schelling, Walter Benjamin, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Bram Stoker. This book does so by focussing on religion, especially at a time and for a world in which some sectors of the monotheisms are in aggressive, and sometimes violent, contention against those of other monotheisms, and even against other sectors within their own monotheism. The chapter on Schelling's uncanny argues that monotheisms come out of polytheism and makes the plea for polytheism central to the whole book. It enables rethinking the relationships between mythology and monotheistic and polytheistic religions in a culturally and politically liberatory and progressive way. Succeeding chapters consider the uncanny cyborg, the uncanny and the fictional, and the uncanny and the Commonwealth, concluding with a chapter on Taoism as a polytheistic religion. Building on the author's previous work in Environmental Humanities and Theologies in bringing together theories of religion and the environment, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the environmental humanities, ecocultural studies and religion.

The world is shrinking faster than ever. Goods, money, microbes, pollution, people and ideas are crossing boundaries ever more frequently. The implications for our future and for the health of the planet are profound. Vanishing Borders outlines the ecological challenges posed and then goes on to define the necessary strategies for tackling them. Presently, national governments are singularly ill-equipped for tackling transitional environmental problems-from ozone depletion to soaring trade in commodities such as timbre- problems which are climbing ever higher on the international political agenda. Industrial and developing countries are on a collision course over climate change, and water shortages are creating tensions in several parts of the world. The author argues that only a worldwide commitment to strengthening treaties and institutions needed to integrate ecological considerations into the rules of global commerce holds out hope. Over 200 international environmental treaties exist but most need more stringent conditions and enforcement, and continuing support from NGO and business communities. Significantly, the digital revolution, integral in itself to processes to globalization, offers channels through which powerful coalitions can effect change. The book provides a compelling and accessible analysis and a clear plan of action in pursuit of environmental stability. Originally published in 2000

In today's world - despite the dramatic anthropogenic environmental changes - a proper understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature requires a certain detachment. The pressing problems in their whole extent will only be fully understood and solved with comprehensive and patient analysis. Accordingly, this book develops new perspectives on fundamental questions of biology, ecology, and the economy, integrated within a framework of a terminology specially devised by the authors.

By illuminating the epistemological backgrounds of ecological-economic research, the authors lay foundations for interdisciplinary environmental research and offer guidelines for practical action. In close contact to the findings of present-day biology and economics, they demonstrate the fruitfulness as well as the shortcomings of modern science for the understanding of the proper place of humankind in nature.. Frequently, current problems in the fields of economics, ecology, politics, philosophy and biology are discussed in a kind of "dialogue" with thinkers and poets like Bacon, Quesnay, Kant, Goethe and Novalis. On the other hand, the book offers traits of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of thought: a precise, analytical approach to theory and a pragmatic approach to action. Both approaches are used by the authors complementarily.

Thus the authors lay the foundations for an ecological economical and political practice which is able to tackle concrete environmental problems on an encompassing and long-term basis. This translated volume will be of great use and interest to students of ecology, economics and in particular environmental education, sustainable development and environmental ethics.

This book takes a hemispheric approach to contemporary urban intervention, examining urban ecologies, communication technologies, and cultural practices in the twenty-first century. It argues that governmental and social regimes of control and forms of political resistance converge in speculation on disaster and that this convergence has formed a vision of urban environments in the Americas in which forms of play and imaginations of catastrophe intersect in the vertical field. Schifani explores a diverse range of resistant urban interventions, imagining the city as on the verge of or enmeshed in catastrophe. She also presents a model of ecocriticism that addresses aesthetic practices and forms of play in the urban environment. Tracing the historical roots of such tactics as well as mapping their hopes for the future will help the reader to locate the impacts of climate change not only on the physical space of the city, but also on the epistemological and aesthetic strategies that cities can help to engender. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Urban Studies, Media Studies, American Studies, Global Studies, and the broad and interdisciplinary field of Environmental Humanities.

This title was first published in 2000: The author examines those current theories which purport to explain the emergence and character of 'new' social movements in the 'advanced' industrial societies since the 1960s. In particular, it sets out to test the efficacy of these explanations in relation to the history of the environmental movement in Britain. The book breaks new ground in bringing together both short-term and the more historically orientated long-term explanations into a single volume, thus providing an invaluable resource for students of social movements. Its critical exposition of major theories also points to the need for a more developmental approach which seeks to connect old and new movement forms, thus allowing for a more balanced evaluation of the potential of the environmental movement to bring about significant social change.

James Lovelock's Gaia theory revolutionized the understanding of our place and role in the global environment. It is now accepted that our activities over the past two hundred years have contributed to and accelerated the extreme weather events associated with climate change. The fact that those activities materialized, for the most part, from within Western Christian communities makes it imperative to assess and to change their theological climate: one characterized by routine use of violent, imperialist images of God. The basis for change explored here is that of gift events, particularly as evidenced in Jesus's life and sayings. Its legacy of love of enemies and forgiveness offers a basis for nonviolent theological and practical approaches to our situatedness within the community of life. These are also Gaian responses, as they include foregoing a perception of ourselves as belonging to an elect group given power by God over earth's life-support systems and over all those dependent on them, whether human or more-than-human. The degree to which we change this self-perception will determine how we affect, for good or ill, not only the givenness of the climate in future but the givenness of all future life on earth.

James Lovelock's Gaia theory revolutionized the understanding of our place and role in the global environment. It is now accepted that our activities over the past two hundred years have contributed to and accelerated the extreme weather events associated with climate change. The fact that those activities materialized, for the most part, from within Western Christian communities makes it imperative to assess and to change their theological climate: one characterized by routine use of violent, imperialist images of God. The basis for change explored here is that of gift events, particularly as evidenced in Jesus's life and sayings. Its legacy of love of enemies and forgiveness offers a basis for nonviolent theological and practical approaches to our situatedness within the community of life. These are also Gaian responses, as they include foregoing a perception of ourselves as belonging to an elect group given power by God over earth's life-support systems and over all those dependent on them, whether human or more-than-human. The degree to which we change this self-perception will determine how we affect, for good or ill, not only the givenness of the climate in future but the givenness of all future life on earth.

We are on the brink of environmental catastrophe. Cutting emissions is essential but won't be enough. We also need to harness the power of nature, recognising that the natural world is not only priceless, but has measurable economic value. Restoring biodiversity aided by technological and financial innovation will unlock environmental protections and economic benefits. The Case for Nature sets out with powerful clarity how protecting nature is both the right thing to do, and in our economic interests; how, taking a cue from a range of indigenous worldviews, nature must be woven into our modern societies, not set apart. Siddarth Shrikanth introduces the pioneers of the nature-positive revolution, and gives us the tools to understand how we can work with, not against, our living planet.

From Jamestown to 9/11, concerns about the landscape, husbanding of natural resources, and the health of our environment have been important to the American way of life. Natural Protest is the first collection of original essays to offer a cohesive social and political examination of environmental awareness, activism, and justice throughout American history. Editors Michael Egan and Jeff Crane have selected the finest new scholarship in the field, establishing this complex and fascinating subject firmly at the forefront of American historical study.

Focused and thought-provoking, Natural Protest presents a cutting-edge perspective on American environmentalism and environmental history, providing an invaluable resource for anyone concerned about the ecological fate of the world around us.

Environmentalism defined here as activism aimed at protecting the environment or improving its condition is undergoing significant change in the United States. Under attack from the current administration and direct questioning from its own ranks, environmentalism in the US is at a crossroads. This special issue will explore the changing patterns of and challenges to environmentalism in the contemporary US. More specifically, it will examine the following dynamics:

the re-conceptualisation of core ideas and strategies defining US environmentalism;

questions of identity and relations with other advocacy groups (including labour, global justice and women s groups);

institutional change (especially the shift away from regulatory policies and approaches);

the expanding arenas of activism, to both above and below the state;

environmentalists response to Bush administration policies and priorities.

This book was previously published as a special issue of Environmental Politics.

Since the early 2000s, authoritarianism has risen as an increasingly powerful global phenomenon. This shift has not only social and political implications, but also environmental implications: authoritarian leaders seek to recast the relationship between society and the government in every aspect of public life, including environmental policy. When historians of technology or the environment have investigated the environmental consequences of authoritarian regimes, they have frequently argued that authoritarian regimes have been unable to produce positive environmental results or adjust successfully to global structural change, if they have shown any concern for the environment at all. Put another way, the scholarly consensus holds that authoritarian regimes on both the left and the right generally have demonstrated an anti-environmentalist bias, and when opposed by environmentalist social movements, have succeeded in silencing those voices. This book explores the theme of environmental politics and authoritarian regimes on both the right and the left. The authors argue that in instances when environmentalist policies offer the possibility of bolstering a country's domestic (nationalist) appeal or its international prestige, authoritarian regimes can endorse and have endorsed environmental protective measures. The collection of essays analyzes environmentalist initiatives pursued by authoritarian regimes, and provides explanations for both the successes and failures of such regimes, looking at a range of case studies from a number of countries, including Brazil, China, Poland, and Zimbabwe. The volume contributes to the scholarly debate about the social and political preconditions necessary for effective environmental protection. This book will be of great interest to those studying environmental history and politics, environmental humanities, ecology, and geography.

For more than 40 years politicians, activists, advocates, and individuals have been seeking ways to solve the problem of climate change. Governments and the United Nations have taken an economic path, while others seek solutions in the equality of climate justice. Taking the step from green consumer to the streets at climate summits and protest camps, as well as taking direct action recasts activists as everything from tree huggers, to domestic extremists, to ecoterrorists. Political policing and new legislation increasingly criminalizes environmental activism, supported by media reporting that recasts environmental activism as actions to be feared. Why this has happened and how activists have learned to circumvent the media's recasting is the story of Environmental Activisim and the Media: The Politics of Protest. Through media movements to persuade the moveable middle, high court challenges, and gatekeeping, activists have found ways to challenge media and political discourse. This book identifies four key areas to tie together diverse sets of green governmentality, traditional media discourse, and activism: (1) environmental governance and green governmentality; (2) historical media discourse; (3) alternative communication infrastructures; and (4) local to the global. Using data from 50 interviews, archival research, and non-participatory observation from environmental activists from the UK, USA, and Australia, this text will show why protest is important in democratic political participation. From activists to slacktivists, Environmental Activism and the Media: The Politics of Protest is for those with an interest in cultural, social, and political studies; democratic processes; climate and social justice; governmentality; and/or the study of environmental politics, human geography, communication, and sustainability.