Environmental politics

Environmental politics designate both the politics about the environment^[1] and an academic field of study focused on three core components:^[2]

The study of political theories and ideas related to the environment;
The examination of the environmental stances of both mainstream political parties and environmental social movements; and
The analysis of public policymaking and implementation affecting the environment, at multiple geo-political levels.

Neil Carter, in his foundational text Politics of the Environment (2009), suggests that environmental politics is distinct in at least two ways: first, "it has a primary concern with the relationship between human society and the natural world" (page 3); and second, "unlike most other single issues, it comes replete with its own ideology and political movement" (page 5, drawing on Michael Jacobs, ed., Greening the Millenium?, 1997).^[2]

Further, he distinguishes between modern and earlier forms of environmental politics, in particular conservationism and preservationism. Contemporary environmental politics "was driven by the idea of a global ecological crisis that threatened the very existence of humanity." And "modern environmentalism was a political and activist mass movement which demanded a radical transformation in the values and structures of society."^[2]

^ Andrew Dobson, Environmental Politics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2016 (ISBN 978-0-19-966557-0).
^ ^a ^b ^c Carter, Neil. 2007. The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-68745-4

[1] Andrew Dobson, Environmental Politics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2016 (ISBN 978-0-19-966557-0).

[Carter-2] Carter, Neil. 2007. The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-68745-4

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