The global community’s ability to deal effectively with environmental problems is contingent on the successful integration of international relations theory with ecological thought. Yet, while most scholars and policymakers recognize the connection between these two interrelated branches of study, no substantial dialogue exists between them. This volume seeks to fill the lacuna with an original synthesis.

International Ecopolitical Theory assembles some of the top thinkers in the field to provide an invaluable overview of the main critical strands of theory in global environmental politics. By framing the environmental question within a historical and philosophical context, it highlights problems inherent in economistic and managerial approaches to sustainable development policy. Emphasizing environmental consciousness as a cultural norm in an evolving set of global relations, it tackles important debates on naturalism, foundationalism, and radical ecology. Ultimately, it makes a convincing case for the necessity of a critical international relations theory duly informed by the paradoxes of ecological governance. With contributions from experts in political science, philosophy, ecology, history, geography, and systems theory, this collection will have an impact across many disciplines.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Preface

Introduction : Exploring International Ecopolitical Theory
Eric Laferrière and Peter J. Stoett

1 Environmental Security : Ecology or International Relations ?
Simon Dalby

2 The Place of History in International Relations and Ecology : Discourses of Environmentalism in the Colonial Era
Rosalind Warner

3 From Economics to Ecology : Toward New Theory for International Environmental Politics
Neil E. Harrison

4 Nietzsche’s Conception of Life as Overcoming : Implications for Managing Ecosystems
Denis Madore

5 Ecology and Critical Theories : A Problematic Synthesis
Eivind Hovden

6 IR Theory, Green Political Theory, and Critical Approaches : What Prospects ?
Martin Weber

7 Social Constructivism, International Relations Theory, and Ecology
Paul Williams

Conclusion : Following the Critical Path
Eric Laferrière and Peter J. Stoett

Notes

References