This book reviews the major ways in which social scientists are conceptualizing more integrated perspectives on society and nature, from the global to local levels. The chapters in this volume, by international experts from a variety of disciplines, explore the challenges, contradictions and consequences of socialecological change, along with the uncertainties and governance dilemmas they create.
This Handbook gives a comprehensive, international and cutting-edge overview of Sustainable Development. It integrates the key imperatives of sustainable development, namely institutional, environmental, social and economic, and calls for greater participation, social cohesion, justice and democracy as well as limited throughput of materials and energy. The nature of sustainable development and the book’s theorization of the concept underline the need for interdisciplinarity in the discourse as exemplified in each chapter of this volume. The Handbook employs a critical framework that problematises the concept of sustainable development and the struggle between discursivity and control that has characterised the debate. It provides original contributions from international experts coming from a variety of disciplines and regions, including the Global South. Comprehensive in scope, it covers, amongst other areas: Sustainable architecture and design Biodiversity Sustainable business Climate change Conservation Sustainable consumption De-growth Disaster management Eco-system services Education Environmental justice Food and sustainable development Governance Gender Health Indicators for sustainable development Indigenous perspectives Urban transport The Handbook offers researchers and students in the field of sustainable development invaluable insights into a contested concept and the alternative worldviews that it has fostered.
As the time-scales of natural change accelerate and converge with those of society, Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society takes the reader into largely uncharted territory in its exploration of anthropogenic climate change. Current material is used to highlight the global impact of this issue, and the necessity for multidisciplinary and global social science research and teaching to address the problem. The book is multidisciplinary and worldwide in scope, with contributors spanning specialisms including agro-forestry, economics, environmentalism, ethics, human geography, international relations, law, politics, psychology, sociology and theology. Their global knowledge is reflected in the content of the text, which encompasses chapters on American, European and Chinese policies, case studies of responses to disasters and of the new technological and lifestyle alternatives that are being adopted, and the negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen conference alongside a preface assessing its outcomes. Starting with an initial analysis by a leading climatologist, key issues discussed in the text include recent findings of natural scientists, social causation and vulnerability, media and public recognition or scepticism, and the merits and difficulties of actions seeking to mitigate and adapt. This accessible volume utilizes a wealth of case studies, explains technical terms and minimises the use of acronyms associated with the subject, making it an essential text for advanced undergraduates, postgraduate students and researchers in the social sciences.
This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the interactions and feedbacks between urbanization and global environmental change. A key focus is the examination of how urbanization influences global environmental change, and how global environmental change in turn influences urbanization processes. It has four thematic foci: Theme 1 addresses the pathways through which urbanization drives global environmental change. Theme 2 addresses the pathways through which global environmental change affects the urban system. Theme 3 addresses the interactions and responses within the urban system in response to global environmental change. Theme 4 centers on critical emerging research.
This comprehensive handbook provides a detailed and unique overview of current thinking about marine governance in the context of global environmental change. Many of the most profound impacts of global environmental change, and climate change in particular, will occur in the oceans. It is vital that we consider the role of marine governance in adapting to and mitigating these impacts. This comprehensive handbook provides a thorough review of current thinking about marine environmental governance, including law and policy, in the context of global environmental change. Initial chapters describe international law, regimes, and leadership in marine environmental governance, in the process considering how existing regimes for climate change and the oceans should and can be coordinated. This is followed by an exploration of the role of non-state actors, including scientists, nongovernmental organisations, and corporations. The next section includes a collection of chapters highlighting governance schemes in a variety of marine environments and regions, including coastlines, islands, coral reefs, the open ocean, and regional seas. Subsequent chapters examine emerging issues in marine governance, including plastic pollution, maritime transport, sustainable development, environmental justice, and human rights. Providing a definitive overview, the Routledge Handbook of Marine Governance and Global Environmental Change is suitable for advanced students in marine and environmental governance, environmental law and policy, and climate change, as well as practitioners, activists, stakeholders, and others concerned about the world’s oceans and seas.
The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Environment gathers together state-of-the-art theoretical reflections and empirical research from leading researchers and practitioners working in this transdisciplinary and transnational academic field. Over the course of the book, these contributors provide critical analyses of the gender dimensions of a wide range of timely and challenging topics, from sustainable development and climate change politics, to queer ecology and interspecies ethics in the so-called Anthropocene. Presenting a comprehensive overview of the development of the field from early political critiques of the male domination of women and nature in the 1980s to the sophisticated intersectional and inclusive analyses of the present, the volume is divided into four parts: Part I: Foundations Part II: Approaches Part III: Politics, policy and practice Part IV: Futures. Comprising chapters written by forty contributors with different perspectives and working in a wide range of research contexts around the world, this Handbook will serve as a vital resource for scholars, students, and practitioners in environmental studies, gender studies, human geography, and the environmental humanities and social sciences more broadly.
The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems provides a synthetic guide to the range of methods that can be employed in social-ecological systems (SES) research. The book is primarily targeted at graduate students, lecturers and researchers working on SES, and has been written in a style that is accessible to readers entering the field from a variety of different disciplinary backgrounds. Each chapter discusses the types of SES questions to which the particular methods are suited and the potential resources and skills required for their implementation, and provides practical examples of the application of the methods. In addition, the book contains a conceptual and practical introduction to SES research, a discussion of key gaps and frontiers in SES research methods, and a glossary of key terms in SES research. Contributions from 97 different authors, situated at SES research hubs in 16 countries around the world, including South Africa, Sweden, Germany and Australia, bring a wealth of expertise and experience to this book. The first book to provide a guide and introduction specifically focused on methods for studying SES, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainability science, environmental management, global environmental change studies and environmental governance. The book will also be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and professionals working at the science–policy interface in the environmental arena.
The last twenty years have seen a rapid increase in scholarly activity and publications dedicated to environmental migration and displacement, and the field has now reached a point in terms of profile, complexity, and sheer volume of reporting that a general review and assessment of existing knowledge and future research priorities is warranted. So far, such a product does not exist. The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration provides a state-of-the-science review of research on how environmental variability and change influence current and future global migration patterns and, in some instances, trigger large-scale population displacements. Drawing together contributions from leading researchers in the field, this compendium will become a go-to guide for established and newly interested scholars, for government and policymaking entities, and for students and their instructors. It explains theoretical, conceptual, and empirical developments that have been made in recent years; describes their origins and connections to broader topics including migration research, development studies, and international public policy and law; and highlights emerging areas where new and/or additional research and reflection are warranted. The structure and the nature of the book allow the reader to quickly find a concise review relevant to conducting research or developing policy on particular topics, and to obtain a broad, reliable survey of what is presently known about the subject.
This handbook provides readers with up-to-date knowledge on environmental movements and activism and is a reference point for international work in the field. It offers an assessment of environmental movements in different regions of the world, macrostructural conditions and processes underlying their mobilization, the microstructural and social-psychological dimensions of environmental movements and activism, and current trends, as well as prospects for environmental movements and social change. The handbook provides critical reviews and appraisals of the current state of the art and future development of conceptual and theoretical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and understanding of environmental movements and activism. It encourages dialogue across the disciplinary barriers between social movement studies and other perspectives and reflects upon the causes and consequences of citizens’ participation in environmental movements and activities. The volume brings historical studies of environmentalism, sociological analyses of the social composition of participants in and sympathizers of environmental movements, investigations by political scientists on the conditions and processes underlying environmental movements and activism, and other disciplinary inquiries together, while keeping a clear focus within social movement theory and research as the main lines of inquiry. The handbook is an essential guide and reference point not only for researchers but also for undergraduate and graduate teaching and for policymakers and activists.
Academic and general interest in environmental crimes, harms, and threats, as well as in environmental legislation and regulation, has grown sharply in recent years. The Routledge International Handbook of Green Criminology is the most in-depth and comprehensive volume on these issues to date. With contributions from leading international green criminologists and scholars in related fields, the Handbook examines a wide range of substantive issues, including: climate change corporate criminality and impacts on the environment environmental justice media representations pollution (e.g. air, water) questions of responsibility and risk wildlife trafficking The chapters explore green criminology in depth, its theory, history and development, as well as methodological concerns for this area of academic interest. With examples of environmental crimes, harms, and threats from Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, South America, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this book will serve as a vital resource for international scholars and students in criminology, sociology, law and socio-legal studies, as well as environmental science, environmental studies, politics and international relations.
