Environmental Political Theory

by Steve Vanderheiden

Overview

Our politics is intimately linked to the environmental conditions - and crises - of our time. The challenges of sustainability and the discovery of ecological limits to growth are transforming how we understand the core concepts at the heart of political theory.

In this essential new textbook, leading political theorist Steve Vanderheiden examines how the concept of sustainability challenges – and is challenged – by eight key social and political ideas, ranging from freedom and equality to democracy and sovereignty. He shows that environmental change will disrupt some of our most cherished ideals, requiring new indicators of progress, new forms of community, and new conceptions of agency and responsibility. He draws on canonical texts, contemporary approaches to environmental political theory, and vivid examples to illustrate how changes in our conceptualization of our social aspirations can inhibit or enable a transition to a just and sustainable society.

Vanderheiden masterfully balances crystal clear explanation of the essentials with cutting-edge analysis to produce a book that will be core reading for students of environmental and green political theory everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509529629
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	11/23/2020
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Steve Vanderheiden is Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Table of Contents

Glossary vi

1 Introduction and Approach 1

2 Environmental Change and the Sustainability Imperative 9

3 Freedom 27

4 Democracy 51

5 Progress 78

6 Equality 106

7 Agency and Responsibility 129

8 Community 155

9 Sovereignty 183

10 Justice 210

11 Conclusions: The Just and Sustainable Society 236

Notes 241

Index 257

Editorial Reviews

Steve Vanderheiden’s Environmental Political Theory is a great piece of engaged political theorising on the most important challenge of this age of the Anthropocene: how do we think about and respond to the climate and ecological emergency? He offers an analytically detailed and careful reappraisal of ‘progress’ and progressive politics for navigating our increasingly turbulent world. A monumental achievement from one of the world’s leading EPT scholars.”

John Barry, Queen’s University Belfast
John Barry, Queen’s University Belfast


“The book is a triumph: a confident and engaged discussion by a leading environmental theorist at the top of his game. It is by far the best analysis available of the perils and promise of our most cherished political ideals in an age of environmental crises.”
Catriona McKinnon, University of Exeter

From the Publisher