Global Green Politics

Description

In light of growing urgency in tackling the global environmental crisis, there is a need for new visions and strategies to ensure a more sustainable and just world. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Green perspectives on a range of global issues, including security, the economy, the state, global governance, development and the environment. Drawing on academic literature on Green political theory, combined with insights from real-world practice and the author's own extensive personal experience, it provides a timely and accessible account of why we need to embrace Green politics in order to tackle the multiple crises facing the world today. Presenting alternative visions and concrete strategies for achieving change, this book will be of interest to activists and policy-makers as well as students of environment, development and politics.

Peter Newell is a professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex. He has worked on the political economy of the environment for over twenty-five years as a researcher, teacher and activist. As well as holding academic posts at the universities of Sussex, Oxford, Warwick and East Anglia in the UK and FLACSO Argentina, he is a board member of Greenpeace UK, Carbon Market Watch in Brussels and the Greenhouse think-tank in the UK and is co-founder of the Rapid Transition Alliance.

'With young people on the streets and the climate emergency top of the political agenda, Green politics has never been more important. With everybody trying to steal the Greens' political clothes, a book that explains the role Green politics can play in ensuring a safe, sustainable and happy life for all global citizens is very timely.' Molly Scott Cato, Member of the European Parliament 'Change can simmer for decades then happen overnight. Peter Newell has concentrated years of thought into a single, landscape-shaping publication which reveals the potential of Green politics and the perils of it remaining the poor relation of how we try to understand the world. He shows that, without a Green perspective, there can be no answer to our epochal challenges of conflict, inequality, migration and climate breakdown.' Andrew Simms, NewWeather Institute 'Radical, ecologically oriented political perspectives have much to teach us about the study and practice of world politics. For the first time, Global Green Politics fully exposes the deep insights and essential lessons from these perspectives. Anyone who wants to understand why our global sustainability crisis is escalating, and what action is necessary, should rush to read Peter Newell's visionary book.' Peter Dauvergne, University of British Columbia 'Accessible, timely and comprehensive, Peter Newell's latest book provides a lucid and thorough review of the various strands of Green politics and discusses how they might enrich the broader field of international relations. Most valuable is the insightful and pragmatic way that Global Green Politics offers a set of tools and frameworks that enable the systematic application of these perspectives to a range of key contemporary issues, including the economy, security and development. Overall, the book illuminates how Green politics can provide the conceptual frameworks, critical analysis, and practical strategies needed to address the severe challenges facing our societies and the planet.' David Levy, University of Massachusetts-Boston 'Global Green Politics makes the case for international relations scholarship to take seriously Green politics ... as an important critical normative and analytical approach to IR issues ranging from state security and sovereignty to 'globalisation' and international political economy. Against the backdrop of growing (if uneven) recognition of the scale and urgency of the changes necessary to meet the challenges and transformative opportunities of climate and ecological breakdown, Newell makes the persuasive case for the long overdue acknowledgement of the insights of Green political theory and political economy within IR thinking. Global Green Politics not only is the first comprehensive integration of Green political analysis and IR, but in doing so constitutes an invaluable and pioneering guide to how to think globally in the twenty-first century, and how to understand and navigate our uncertain and turbulent times.' John Barry, Queens University Belfast 'At last, here is a critical introduction to global Green politics from one of the field's most versatile intellectual pioneers. Grounded in a deep appreciation of the inextricable interconnections between social and ecological systems, this book offers a clear normative vision, a penetrating critique of business and politics as usual and a set of practical strategies for sustainability transitions. Younger generations can now take heart!' Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne 'Newell's incisive analysis brings a vital Green lens to the study of global politics that has been largely neglected by mainstream scholars of international relations. Global Green Politics provides powerful insights and critiques that arise from taking an expressly ecological perspective on humanity's most pressing global concerns.' Jennifer Clapp, University of Waterloo 'In addition to its relevance for international relations, this volume provides a well-documented survey of the current state of green thought ... In the end, Newell is convincing in arguing that an approach such as the one he lays out is needed if the global society is to ward off catastrophic collapse.' J. C. Berg, Choice 'In addition to its relevance for international relations, this volume provides a well-documented survey of the current state of green thought ... In the end, Newell is convincing in arguing that an approach such as the one he lays out is needed if the global society is to ward off catastrophic collapse.' J. C. Berg, Choice