Political Ecology

"As with other social movements for change, the movement for the protection of the environment embraces several schools of thought and action. There is now a strong tendency among ecologists to go beyond engaging in educational efforts, traditional protests, government lobbying, and participating in annual Earth Day activities, and to make a serious commitment to bringing about more fundamental social and political change. Political programmes are being elaborated which insist on the need for the basic transformation of the dominant institutions in our society to enable people to live in peace with nature rather than in conflict with our natural environment. The new direction in thinking which is advanced by Greens (political ecologists) and Green political organizations engaged in electoral action at various levels in liberal democracies can have a far-reaching effect on our lifestyles, our neighbourhoods and cities, and on our politics. Exam[in]ing various streams of environmentalist and ecological thought, this book presents an overview of the origins and nature of political ecology, as well as a summary of the differences and similarities between political ecology and social ecology. The unambiguous premise of the book is that the resolution of the current planetary crisis hinges on the fate and outcome of this new politics."--Page 4 of cover.