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Handbook of Critical Environmental Politics
This timely Handbook offers a comprehensive outlook on global environmental politics, providing readers with an up-to-date view of a field of ever-increasing academic and public significance. Its critical perspective interrogates what is taken for granted in current institutions and social and power relations, highlighting the issues preventing meaningful change in the relationship between human societies and their biophysical underpinnings.
This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.
This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This timely Handbook offers a comprehensive outlook on global environmental politics, providing readers with an up-to-date view of a field of ever-increasing academic and public significance. Its critical perspective interrogates what is taken for granted in current institutions and social and power relations, highlighting the issues preventing meaningful change in the relationship between human societies and their biophysical underpinnings.
Featuring contributions from over 60 established and emerging international scholars, the Handbook is organized into six thematic sections. It addresses theoretical approaches, contested notions, key issues, governance processes, mobilizations and emergent directions of inquiry, presenting a vital contemporary analysis of the major social science and political ecology debates over environmental questions.
Scholars and students in the social sciences, in particular those studying politics and public policy, with an interest in the environment and climate change will find this Handbook to be essential reading. It will also be useful to academics in other disciplines related to ecology and environmental politics, as well as politicians and practitioners involved in green transition policies.
Featuring contributions from over 60 established and emerging international scholars, the Handbook is organized into six thematic sections. It addresses theoretical approaches, contested notions, key issues, governance processes, mobilizations and emergent directions of inquiry, presenting a vital contemporary analysis of the major social science and political ecology debates over environmental questions.
Scholars and students in the social sciences, in particular those studying politics and public policy, with an interest in the environment and climate change will find this Handbook to be essential reading. It will also be useful to academics in other disciplines related to ecology and environmental politics, as well as politicians and practitioners involved in green transition policies.
Critical Acclaim
‘This terrific new Handbook is “critical” in multiple senses. First, it is critical of the tired and inadequate politics of global environmental summitry. Second, the established and emerging European scholars collected here demonstrate the rich and varied insights that a critical environmental politics can offer in the face of our multi-dimensional climate crisis. And finally, it is critical to the work of envisioning, strategizing, and building a more just future.’
– John M. Meyer, California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt, US
‘This magnificent Handbook shows how 21st century politics occupies the interstices of everyday life – from the digitised molecule to the spouse tax; from geopower to post-work. The editors are relational thinkers, well aware that the environment, so-called, is not the same as “nature”; rather, their title conveys an academic field subjecting itself to a reflexive process of decolonisation. This open textured epistemological stance owes much to the Frankfurt School''s refusal of modernity. The spectrum of contested themes runs through debates over financialisation of nature, smart cities, genetic engineering, even a psychoanalysis of sustainability narratives! The call is for regulatory proposals and grassroots transitions sensitive to both feminist critique and to epistemic extractivism from Indigenous cultures. That said, the editors want to see discourse deconstruction replaced by a prefigurative politics, grounded in embodied practices. As they say, the task of critique is to make visible other ways of worlding.’
– Ariel Salleh, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
‘This is an excellent collection of different schools of thought that offer critical insights to modern environmental politics. Useful for students and researchers alike.’
– Giorgos Kallis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
– John M. Meyer, California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt, US
‘This magnificent Handbook shows how 21st century politics occupies the interstices of everyday life – from the digitised molecule to the spouse tax; from geopower to post-work. The editors are relational thinkers, well aware that the environment, so-called, is not the same as “nature”; rather, their title conveys an academic field subjecting itself to a reflexive process of decolonisation. This open textured epistemological stance owes much to the Frankfurt School''s refusal of modernity. The spectrum of contested themes runs through debates over financialisation of nature, smart cities, genetic engineering, even a psychoanalysis of sustainability narratives! The call is for regulatory proposals and grassroots transitions sensitive to both feminist critique and to epistemic extractivism from Indigenous cultures. That said, the editors want to see discourse deconstruction replaced by a prefigurative politics, grounded in embodied practices. As they say, the task of critique is to make visible other ways of worlding.’
– Ariel Salleh, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
‘This is an excellent collection of different schools of thought that offer critical insights to modern environmental politics. Useful for students and researchers alike.’
– Giorgos Kallis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Contributors
Contributors: Philipp Altmann, Osman Arrobbio, Viviana Asara, Nathan Barlow, John Barry, Maura Benegiamo, Monika Berg, Kean Birch, Ingolfur Blühdorn, Alina Brad, Ulrich Brand, Seán Brennan, Patrick Bresnihan, Laura Centemeri, Ekaterina Chertkovskaya, Alice Dal Gobbo, Pallav Das, Debra Davidson, Corinna Dengler, Mladen Domazet, Edwin A. Edou, Kajsa Emilsson, Julia Fankhauser, Silvia Federici, Malcom Ferdinand, Andrea Ghelfi, Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Christoph Görg, Matthias Gross, Eleonora Guadagno, Marit Hammond, Oliver Hunt, Stefan Gaarsmand Jacobsen, Sydney Karbonik, Max Koch, Jens Koehrsen (Köhrsen), Emanuele Leonardi, Rolf Lidskog, Ingmar Lippert, Natalia Magnani, Hug March, Damian McIlroy, Naomi Millner, Dario Minervini, Andreas Novy, Dario Padovan, Dimitris Papadopoulos, Luigi Pellizzoni, Gloria Pessina, Etienne Schneider, Ivano Scotti, Alessandro Sciullo, Tone Smith, Clive L. Spash, Birte Strunk, Maristella Svampa, Erik Swyngedouw, Miriam Tola, Isabella Tomassi, Salvo Torre, David Tyfield, Angelos Varvarousis, Marija Brajdić Vuković
Contents
Contents:
Introduction: what is critical environmental politics? 1
Luigi Pellizzoni, Emanuele Leonardi and Viviana Asara
PART I THEORETICAL STRANDS
1 Critical theory: praxis and emancipation beyond the mastery of nature 23
Christoph Görg
2 Decolonial ecologies: beyond environmentalism 40
Malcom Ferdinand
3 Feminisms and the environment 58
Corinna Dengler and Birte Strunk
4 Marxism and ecology: an ongoing debate 71
Emanuele Leonardi and Salvo Torre
PART II CONTESTED NOTIONS
5 Anthropocene 91
Marija Brajdić Vuković and Mladen Domazet
6 Buen Vivir 104
Philipp Altmann
7 Degrowth 116
Ekaterina Chertkovskaya
8 Limits 129
Erik Gómez-Baggethun
9 Sustainability: buying time for consumer capitalism 141
Ingolfur Blühdorn
PART III KEY ISSUES
10 Agrarian development and food security: ecology, labour and crises 157
Maura Benegiamo
11 Bioeconomies 170
Kean Birch
12 Cities and the environment 181
Hug March
13 Climate justice and global politics 192
Stefan Gaarsmand Jacobsen and Oliver Hunt
14 The Common(s) 206
Angelos Varvarousis
15 The cultural political economy of research and innovation: meeting the
problem of growth in the Anthropocene 217
David Tyfield
16 Disasters and catastrophes 232
Laura Centemeri and Isabella Tomassi
17 Energy politics and energy transition 245
Natalia Magnani, Dario Minervini and Ivano Scotti
18 Expertise, lay/local knowledge and the environment 257
Rolf Lidskog and Monika Berg
19 Extractivism and neo-extractivism 270
Maristella Svampa
20 Religion and ecology 282
Jens Koehrsen
21 Social metabolism 295
Dario Padovan, Osman Arrobbio and Alessandro Sciullo
22 Technological fixes: nonknowledge transfer and the risk of ignorance 308
Matthias Gross
23 The values of Nature 318
Clive L. Spash and Tone Smith
PART IV GOVERNANCE
24 Democracy and democratisation 333
Marit Hammond
25 Environmental violence 347
Gloria Pessina
26 Environment-related human mobility 362
Eleonora Guadagno
27 Financialisation of nature 374
Tone Smith
28 Fossil fuels and state–industry relations: a case study in environmental
non-compliance 388
Edwin A. Edou, Debra J. Davidson and Sydney Karbonik
29 Global environmental governance and the state 402
Alina Brad, Ulrich Brand and Etienne Schneider
30 Just transition: a conflict transformation approach 416
Damian McIlroy, Seán Brennan and John Barry
31 Sustainable welfare: urban areas and transformational action 431
Kajsa Emilsson and Max Koch
PART V MOBILIZATIONS
32 Climate change consensus: a depoliticized deadlock 443
Erik Swyngedouw
33 Ecological mobilizations in the Global South 456
Pallav Das
34 Engaging the everyday: sustainability, practices, politics 468
Alice Dal Gobbo
35 Environmental movements 483
Viviana Asara
36 More-than-social movements: politics of matter, autonomy, alterontologies 505
Andrea Ghelfi and Dimitris Papadopoulos
PART VI NEW DIRECTIONS
37 Decolonising environmental politics 521
Patrick Bresnihan and Naomi Millner
38 Digitalisation as promissory infrastructure for sustainability 540
Ingmar Lippert
39 Eco-feminism and the commons: the Feminization of Resistance in
Latin America 554
Silvia Federici
40 Geopower: genealogies, territories and politics 564
Miriam Tola
41 Post-work and ecology 577
Luigi Pellizzoni
42 Transformative innovation 593
Andreas Novy, Nathan Barlow and Julia Fankhauser
Index
Introduction: what is critical environmental politics? 1
Luigi Pellizzoni, Emanuele Leonardi and Viviana Asara
PART I THEORETICAL STRANDS
1 Critical theory: praxis and emancipation beyond the mastery of nature 23
Christoph Görg
2 Decolonial ecologies: beyond environmentalism 40
Malcom Ferdinand
3 Feminisms and the environment 58
Corinna Dengler and Birte Strunk
4 Marxism and ecology: an ongoing debate 71
Emanuele Leonardi and Salvo Torre
PART II CONTESTED NOTIONS
5 Anthropocene 91
Marija Brajdić Vuković and Mladen Domazet
6 Buen Vivir 104
Philipp Altmann
7 Degrowth 116
Ekaterina Chertkovskaya
8 Limits 129
Erik Gómez-Baggethun
9 Sustainability: buying time for consumer capitalism 141
Ingolfur Blühdorn
PART III KEY ISSUES
10 Agrarian development and food security: ecology, labour and crises 157
Maura Benegiamo
11 Bioeconomies 170
Kean Birch
12 Cities and the environment 181
Hug March
13 Climate justice and global politics 192
Stefan Gaarsmand Jacobsen and Oliver Hunt
14 The Common(s) 206
Angelos Varvarousis
15 The cultural political economy of research and innovation: meeting the
problem of growth in the Anthropocene 217
David Tyfield
16 Disasters and catastrophes 232
Laura Centemeri and Isabella Tomassi
17 Energy politics and energy transition 245
Natalia Magnani, Dario Minervini and Ivano Scotti
18 Expertise, lay/local knowledge and the environment 257
Rolf Lidskog and Monika Berg
19 Extractivism and neo-extractivism 270
Maristella Svampa
20 Religion and ecology 282
Jens Koehrsen
21 Social metabolism 295
Dario Padovan, Osman Arrobbio and Alessandro Sciullo
22 Technological fixes: nonknowledge transfer and the risk of ignorance 308
Matthias Gross
23 The values of Nature 318
Clive L. Spash and Tone Smith
PART IV GOVERNANCE
24 Democracy and democratisation 333
Marit Hammond
25 Environmental violence 347
Gloria Pessina
26 Environment-related human mobility 362
Eleonora Guadagno
27 Financialisation of nature 374
Tone Smith
28 Fossil fuels and state–industry relations: a case study in environmental
non-compliance 388
Edwin A. Edou, Debra J. Davidson and Sydney Karbonik
29 Global environmental governance and the state 402
Alina Brad, Ulrich Brand and Etienne Schneider
30 Just transition: a conflict transformation approach 416
Damian McIlroy, Seán Brennan and John Barry
31 Sustainable welfare: urban areas and transformational action 431
Kajsa Emilsson and Max Koch
PART V MOBILIZATIONS
32 Climate change consensus: a depoliticized deadlock 443
Erik Swyngedouw
33 Ecological mobilizations in the Global South 456
Pallav Das
34 Engaging the everyday: sustainability, practices, politics 468
Alice Dal Gobbo
35 Environmental movements 483
Viviana Asara
36 More-than-social movements: politics of matter, autonomy, alterontologies 505
Andrea Ghelfi and Dimitris Papadopoulos
PART VI NEW DIRECTIONS
37 Decolonising environmental politics 521
Patrick Bresnihan and Naomi Millner
38 Digitalisation as promissory infrastructure for sustainability 540
Ingmar Lippert
39 Eco-feminism and the commons: the Feminization of Resistance in
Latin America 554
Silvia Federici
40 Geopower: genealogies, territories and politics 564
Miriam Tola
41 Post-work and ecology 577
Luigi Pellizzoni
42 Transformative innovation 593
Andreas Novy, Nathan Barlow and Julia Fankhauser
Index
