New Earth Politics: Essays from the Anthropocene

by Simon Nicholson (Editor), Sikina Jinnah (Editor)

Overview

Prominent scholars and practitioners consider the role of global environmental politics in the face of increasing environmental stress.

Humanity's collective impact on the Earth is vast. The rate and scale of human-driven environmental destruction is quickly outstripping our political and social capacities for managing it. We are in effect creating an Earth 2. 0 on which the human signature is everywhere, a “new earth” in desperate need of humane and insightful guidance. In this volume, prominent scholars and practitioners in the field of global environmental politics consider the ecological and political realities of life on the new earth, and probe the field's deepest and most enduring questions at a time of increasing environmental stress. Arranged in complementary pairs, the essays in this volume include reflections on environmental pedagogy, analysis of new geopolitical realities, reflections on the power of social movements and international institutions, and calls for more compelling narratives to promote environmental action.

At the heart of the volume is sustained attention to the role of traditional scholarly activities in a world confronting environmental disaster. Some contributors make the case that it is the scholar's role to provide activists with the necessary knowledge and tools; others argue for more direct engagement and political action. All the contributors confront the overriding question: What is the best use of their individual and combined energies, given the dire environmental reality?

Contributors
Erik Assadourian, Frank Biermann, Wil Burns, Ken Conca, Peter Dauvergne, Daniel Deudney, Navroz Dubash, Richard Falk, Joyeeta Gupta, Maria Ivanova, Peter Jacques, Sikina Jinnah, Karen T. Litfin, Michael F. Maniates, Elizabeth Mendenhall, Simon Nicholson, Kate O'Neill, Judith Shapiro, Paul Wapner, Oran R. Young

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262529198
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/04/2016
Series:	Earth System Governance
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Simon Nicholson is Assistant Professor of International Relations and Director of the Global Environmental Politics Program at American University.

Sikina Jinnah is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the author of the award-winning book Post-Treaty Politics: Secretariat Influence in Global Environmental Governance (MIT Press).

Ken Conca is Associate Professor of Government and Politics and Director of the Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda at the University of Maryland.

Oran R. Young is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Institutional Dynamics: Emergent Patterns in International Environmental Governance (MIT Press) and other books.

Michael Maniates is Professor of Political Science and Environmental Science at Allegheny College. He is the coeditor, with Thomas Princen and Ken Conca, of Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002).

Peter Jacques is completing his Ph.D. in environmental policy and international relations, looking at environmental security. He has published in the areas of environmental security, US environmental policy, ocean policy, and political economy. He is the co-author of Ocean Politics and Policy: A Handbook (forthcoming).

Simon Nicholson is Assistant Professor of International Relations and Director of the Global Environmental Politics Program at American University.

Paul Wapner is Professor of Global Environmental Politics in the School of International Service at American University. He is the author of Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics, winner of the 1997 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for the best book on international environmental affairs.

Peter Dauvergne is Professor of International Relations at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Environmentalism of the Rich, Eco-Business: A Big-Brand Takeover of Sustainability (with Jane Lister), and The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment, all published by the MIT Press.

Frank Biermann is Research Professor of Global Sustainability Governance with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University and the author of Earth System Governance: World Politics in the Anthropocene (MIT Press).

Table of Contents

Series Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction

Living on a New Earth Simon Nicholson Sikina Jinnah 1

Section 1 Causes of the New Earth 17

1 The Changing Shape of Global Environmental Politics Ken Conca 21

2 Green Earth: The Emergence of Planetary Civilization Daniel Deudney Elizabeth Mendenhall 43

Section 2 Scholarship as Engagement 73

3 The Co-production of Knowledge about international Governance: Living on the Science/Policy Interface Oran R. Young 75

4 Scholarship as Citizenship Richard Falk 97

Section 3 Pedagogies of Hope 113

5 Person/Planet Politics: Contemplative Pedagogies for a New Earth Karen T. Litfin 115

6 Make Way for Hope: A Contrarian View Michael F. Maniates 135

Section 4 New Earth Institutions 155

7 Institutional Politics and Reform Kate O'Neill 157

8 An Engaged Scholarship Narrative Maria Ivanova 183

Section 5 Social Movements and Civil Society 219

9 Autonomy and Activism in Civil Society Peter J. Jacques 221

10 Converting the Environmental Movement into a Missionary Religious Force Erik Assadourian 247

Section 6 New Earth Geopolitics 269

11 Toward Sharing Our Ecospace Joyeeta Gupta 271

12 China on the World Stage Judith Shapiro 293

Section 7 Climate Change: The New Earth's Defining Problem 313

13 Climate Change through the Lens of Energy Transformation Navroz K. Dubash 315

14 Governing Climate Engineering Wil Burns Simon Nicholson 343

Section 8 Narrative Frames for Living on a New Earth 367

15 Living at the Margins Paul Wapner 369

16 The Sustainability Story: Exposing Truths, Half-Truths, and Illusions Peter Dauvergne 387

Epilogue: Politics for a New Earth: Governing in the "Anthropocene" Frank Biermann 405

Contributors 421

Index 425