- The University of Sydney, Sydney Environment Institute, Faculty Memberadd
- Capability Approach, Environmental movements, New Materialism, Climate Justice, Climate Change Adaptation, Agonistic Pluralism, and 10 moreSustainable Communities, Democratic Theory, International Environmental Politics, Sustainable Human Development, Environmental Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Environmental political theory (Philosophy), Environmental Political Theory, Environmental Politics, and Sustainability Discoursesedit
A growing number of environmental groups focus on more sustainable practices in everyday life, from the development of new food systems, to community solar, to more sustainable fashion. No longer willing to take part in unsustainable... more
A growing number of environmental groups focus on more sustainable practices in everyday life, from the development of new food systems, to community solar, to more sustainable fashion. No longer willing to take part in unsustainable practices and institutions, and not satisfied with either purely individualistic and consumer responses or standard political processes and movement tactics, many activists and groups are increasingly focusing on restructuring everyday practices of the circulation of the basic needs of everyday life. This work labels such action sustainable materialism, and examines the political and social motivations of activists and movement groups involved in this growing and expanding practice. The central argument is that these movements are motivated by four key factors: frustration with the lack of accomplishments on broader environmental policies, a desire for environmental and social justice, an active and material resistance to the power of traditional industries, and a form of sustainability that is attentive to the flow of materials through bodies, communities, economies, and environments. In addition to these motivations, these movements demonstrate such material action as political action, in contrast to existing critiques of new materialism as apolitical or post-political. Overall, sustainable materialism is explored as a set of movements with unique qualities, based in collective rather than individual action, a dedication to local and prefigurative politics, and a demand that sustainability be practiced in everyday life - starting with the materials and flows that provide food, power, clothing, and other basic needs.
Research Interests:
Our editorial team has commissioned over forty authors, most internationally prominent. We anticipate a volume that will become both a standard reference and an exploration of the directions that the field might pursue in the future. As... more
Our editorial team has commissioned over forty authors, most internationally prominent. We anticipate a volume that will become both a standard reference and an exploration of the directions that the field might pursue in the future. As a whole, the handbook will reflect environmental political theory’s interdisciplinary character, its engagement with canonical theorists and contemporary political problems, its diversity of theoretical approaches, and its attention to the intersection of the environmental and the political from the local to the global.
Research Interests: Environmental Philosophy, Political Theory, Environmental Studies, Environmental Political Theory, Environmental Politics, and 6 moreEnvironmental Sustainability, Environmental political theory (Philosophy), Political Ideology, New Materialism, Green Political Theory, and Environmental Politics and Philosophy
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The liberal idea of justice has always been based on human exceptionalism and separation from the rest of the natural world. The belief that we are distinct – from each other, from nonhuman animals, from the processes that sustain our... more
The liberal idea of justice has always been based on human exceptionalism
and separation from the rest of the natural world. The belief that
we are distinct – from each other, from nonhuman animals, from the
processes that sustain our physical lives – is the normative background of,
and grounding for, a wide variety of conceptions of the ethical construction
of justice. Such an idea has always been a convenient fiction that
ignores our integration within, and responsibility for, broader systems,
communities and practices of humans and nonhumans alike; however,
we have reached a point, with human impacts on such animals and
systems, where such wilful ignorance is simply untenable. In a climate changed and human-directed world brimming with vulnerabilities and
threats to the functioning of individual humans, nonhuman animals
and ecological systems alike, justice is fully entwined with the condition
of nonhuman nature. This chapter will explore both a conceptualisation
and practice of justice that includes the nonhuman realm.
and separation from the rest of the natural world. The belief that
we are distinct – from each other, from nonhuman animals, from the
processes that sustain our physical lives – is the normative background of,
and grounding for, a wide variety of conceptions of the ethical construction
of justice. Such an idea has always been a convenient fiction that
ignores our integration within, and responsibility for, broader systems,
communities and practices of humans and nonhumans alike; however,
we have reached a point, with human impacts on such animals and
systems, where such wilful ignorance is simply untenable. In a climate changed and human-directed world brimming with vulnerabilities and
threats to the functioning of individual humans, nonhuman animals
and ecological systems alike, justice is fully entwined with the condition
of nonhuman nature. This chapter will explore both a conceptualisation
and practice of justice that includes the nonhuman realm.
Research Interests:
How can public engagement assist in the development of just processes and outcomes in adaptation discourse and policymaking? A concern with justice is at the center of thinking about adaptation that is not only resilient, but also public,... more
How can public engagement assist in the development of just processes and outcomes in adaptation discourse and policymaking? A concern with justice is at the center of thinking about adaptation that is not only resilient, but also public, engaging, and transformative. Theoretically, the intersection of adaptation, transformation, and environmental and climate justice is examined, before exploring the specific concerns and normative foundations for adaptation policy articulated by local governments, environmental groups, and local residents engaged in adaptation planning in Australia. Despite a discursive disconnect between governmental focus on a risk or resilience-based approach and a community concern with the vulnerability of basic needs and capabilities of everyday life, deliberative engagement in adaptation planning can both address issues of justice and represent a transformative practice.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Introductory editorial to a special issue on Recent Perspectives on Ecological Democracy
Research Interests:
There are some key and unique properties of groups concerned with environmental practices in the material flows of everyday life, here called sustainable materialism. These movements embody a range of motivations and discourses, in... more
There are some key and unique properties of groups concerned with environmental practices in the material flows of everyday life, here called sustainable materialism. These movements embody a range of motivations and discourses, in particular in response to perceptions of the power, injustice, and ecological impact of problematic food systems, energy systems, and various supply chains that provide for everyday needs. Activist conceptions of sustainable materialism are examined, and contrasted with alternative theoretical frameworks of environmental
– and materialist – activism, from postmaterialism, through lifestyle
politics, to sustainable consumption. Sustainable materialist movements are posited as a different and unique category of political movement – one that is based in collective action, sustainable material practices, and prefigurative politics – which cannot be captured by existing theories and frameworks.
– and materialist – activism, from postmaterialism, through lifestyle
politics, to sustainable consumption. Sustainable materialist movements are posited as a different and unique category of political movement – one that is based in collective action, sustainable material practices, and prefigurative politics – which cannot be captured by existing theories and frameworks.
Research Interests:
This article employs a place-based resilience approach to support a procedural shift from a focus on specific, tangible outcomes towards a focus on processes that support wellbeing. We draw upon resident experiences of a bushfire event... more
This article employs a place-based resilience approach to support a
procedural shift from a focus on specific, tangible outcomes towards a
focus on processes that support wellbeing. We draw upon resident
experiences of a bushfire event and a security event, later termed a terror
event, and use a place-aware analysis to identify intangible yet significant
patterns of disruption. A reoriented resilience approach requires
innovative community initiatives that foster place-based wellbeing, which
may compliment existing “emergency” response approaches without
necessarily fitting within the traditional resilience policy purview.
procedural shift from a focus on specific, tangible outcomes towards a
focus on processes that support wellbeing. We draw upon resident
experiences of a bushfire event and a security event, later termed a terror
event, and use a place-aware analysis to identify intangible yet significant
patterns of disruption. A reoriented resilience approach requires
innovative community initiatives that foster place-based wellbeing, which
may compliment existing “emergency” response approaches without
necessarily fitting within the traditional resilience policy purview.
Research Interests:
Concepts of ecological and environmental democracy seek to reconcile two normative ideals: ensuring environmental sustainability while safeguarding democracy. These ideals are frequently conceived as being in conflict, as democracy is... more
Concepts of ecological and environmental democracy seek to reconcile two normative ideals: ensuring environmental sustainability while safeguarding democracy. These ideals are frequently conceived as being in conflict, as democracy is perceived as too slow and cumbersome to deliver the urgent large-scale collective action needed to tackle environmental problems. Theories addressing the democracy-environment nexus can be situated on a spectrum from theories of ecological democracy that are more critical of existing liberal democratic institutions to theories of environmental democracy that call for reforming rather than radically transforming or dismantling those institutions. This article reviews theoretical and empirical scholarship on the democracy-environment nexus. We find continued theoretical and empirical diversity in the field, as well as vibrant debates on democratising global environmental politics, local material practices, and non-human representation. We argue for stronger dialogue between environmental political theory and empirical, policy-oriented research on democracy and sustainability, as well as further exploration of complementarities between ecological and environmental democracy. We identify four main areas of challenge and opportunity for theory and practice: public participation and populism; technocracy and expertise; governance across scales; and ecological rights and limits. ARTICLE HISTORY
Research Interests:
In the filmBeasts of the Southern Wild, the main character, Hushpuppy, lays out the dilemma of environmental management in the Anthropocene: “For the animals that didn’t have a dad to put them in the boat, the end of the world already... more
In the filmBeasts of the Southern Wild, the main character, Hushpuppy, lays out the dilemma of environmental management in the Anthropocene: “For the animals that didn’t have a dad to put them in the boat, the end of the world already happened.” The Anthropocene will not recede, and the central question of environmental management will be whether we can develop ways to reflexively and sustainably manage ecosystems, habitats, and human needs. This chapter examines four possible normative underpinnings for such management: traditional notions of preservation and restoration, the idea of ecological limits and boundaries, the continued hubris of promethean technological intervention, and a conception of ecological receptivity or a “politics of sight” that makes visible human immersion in natural systems. As sight is a particular characteristic of the Anthropocene, this form of receptivity may hold some promise for environmental management.
This book has been printed digitally and produced in a standard specification in order to ensure its continuing availability OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the... more
This book has been printed digitally and produced in a standard specification in order to ensure its continuing availability OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the ...
This book highlights the diversity of political responses to environmental crisis. Part One describes the debate over the severity of the environmental crisis with Section I (3 papers) arguing there are severe environmental limits to... more
This book highlights the diversity of political responses to environmental crisis. Part One describes the debate over the severity of the environmental crisis with Section I (3 papers) arguing there are severe environmental limits to human activity, and Section II (3 papers) covering the ...
Research Interests:
Digital democracy: Authentic or virtual?: The internet environmental decisison making. David SCHLOSBERG, Johns DRYZEK Organization & environment 15:33, 332-335, Sage, 2002. L'A. se demande si le ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This book highlights the diversity of political responses to environmental crisis. Part One describes the debate over the severity of the environmental crisis with Section I (3 papers) arguing there are severe environmental limits to... more
This book highlights the diversity of political responses to environmental crisis. Part One describes the debate over the severity of the environmental crisis with Section I (3 papers) arguing there are severe environmental limits to human activity, and Section II (3 papers) covering the ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT. Deliberative democratic theorists and public participation scholars have become in-creasingly interested in institutionalized forms of citizen discourse with the state, including those facilitated by information technology.... more
ABSTRACT. Deliberative democratic theorists and public participation scholars have become in-creasingly interested in institutionalized forms of citizen discourse with the state, including those facilitated by information technology. However, there have been very few empirical ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Tristan Palmer, then with Routledge, was the first to encourage the preparation of the book. Subsequent planning with Brendan Gleeson took place during a visit by Nicholas Low to the Department of Geography and Planning at the University... more
Tristan Palmer, then with Routledge, was the first to encourage the preparation of the book. Subsequent planning with Brendan Gleeson took place during a visit by Nicholas Low to the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Otago at the invitation of Ali Memon, with ...
Research Interests:
The key argument of Robert Gottlieb's Environmentalism Unbound is that an integrated focus on pollution prevention and environmental justice can lay the groundwork for fundamental environmental and social change (p. xiii). The aim is... more
The key argument of Robert Gottlieb's Environmentalism Unbound is that an integrated focus on pollution prevention and environmental justice can lay the groundwork for fundamental environmental and social change (p. xiii). The aim is to develop a common vision and a more “embracing language” for environmentalism that is more broadly appealing than a mainstream focus on nature and species and more broadly applicable to a range of environmental and social issues. Such an expanded environmental discourse—integrating the workplace, the social, and the ecological—would make for an unbounded and more successful environmentalism. This is another wonderful offering by Gottlieb, right up there with his Forcing the Spring (1993). The recognition of diverse discourses of environmentalism and social justice is a challenge to movement strategies, and Gottlieb takes on the issue with a focus on both a broad vision and everyday practice.
Research Interests:
Significant degradation of public rangeland ecosystems has occurred throughout the Southwest as a result of historic overgrazing by livestock, setting off a heated debate over the appropriate role of grazing in these semi-arid... more
Significant degradation of public rangeland ecosystems has occurred throughout the Southwest as a result of historic overgrazing by livestock, setting off a heated debate over the appropriate role of grazing in these semi-arid environments. Still, current research suggests that ...
The United States federal government has, over the past decade, facilitated the electronic submission of citizen comments during federal regulatory rulemaking comment periods. 1 In response, citizens of many stripes, but particularly... more
The United States federal government has, over the past decade, facilitated the electronic submission of citizen comments during federal regulatory rulemaking comment periods. 1 In response, citizens of many stripes, but particularly environmentalists, are taking advantage of newly ...