This study of the complicated disputes between 1945 and 1970 over the nationalisation of the British steel industry offers original insights into the distribution and exercise of power in a capitalist state. It examines in detail the ways in which the views of different classes and pressure groups in society were reflected in the history of steel nationalisation, and shows that the issue of nationalisation brought out inherent conflicts within the capitalist class. This class opposed the Labour governments' attempts to nationalise steel, but Doug McEachern shows that those attempts were in fact securing, perhaps unwittingly, the interests of capital. In this sense the opposition of capital to nationalisation made it a class arguing against itself, against its own long-term interests. Unlike many other studies of either power or the state, this analysis is based on the sustained assessment of the complex issues involved in a long-drawn out dispute about a policy of real social significance.

Environment and Politics is a concise introduction to the study of environmental politics, explaining the key concepts, conflicts, political systems and the practices of policy-making. The authors examine a diverse range of environmental problems and policy solutions within different nations and cultures. This third edition expands the discussion of the differences in environmental politics between liberal democracies, military dictatorships and one party states, drawing on research conducted in Burma, Thailand, China and Iran. Topics covered include: * the connections between green social movements and anti-globalization movements * the impact of globalization on NGOs * the rise in local environmental governance and international bureaucratic regimes * the global role of the World Bank and WTO * the case of Kyoto * the current phase of US unilateralism and its impact upon the global environment. This text offers readers a greater understanding of international, national and local environmental politics and looks at future developments for effective local and international environmental diplomacy and both global and region-specific problem solving.