Environmental Geopolitics

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This thought-provoking and clearly argued text provides a critical geopolitical lens for understanding global environment politics. A subfield of political geography, environmental geopolitics examines how environmental themes are used to support geopolitical arguments and physical realities of power and place. Shannon OLear considers common, problematic traits of such familiar but widely misunderstood narratives about human-environment relationships. Mainstream themes about human-environment relationships include narratives about presumed connections between human population trends and resource scarcity; ways in which conflict and violence are linked to resource use or environmental degradation; climate security; and the application of science to solve environmental problems. OLear questions these narratives, arguing that the role or meaning of the environment is rarely specified, humans role in these situations tends to be considered selectively, and little attention is paid to spatial dimensions of human-environment relationships. She shows that how we tend to think about environmental concerns often obscure value judgments and constrain more dynamic approaches to human-environment relationships. Environmental geopolitics demonstrates how we can question familiar assumptions to generate more just and creative approaches to our many relationships with the environment.

Reviews

This well-written text powerfully links environmental matters and geopolitics in an accessible style. The theoretical lens of critical geopolitics is clearly articulated for students without daunting the uninitiated reader. Nicely done! -- Simon Dalby, Chair in the Political Economy of Climate Change at Balsillie School of International Affairs
What will shape the planets geopolitical future How will observers make sense of profound changes in environment and politics in the Anthropocene Shannon OLears book makes a compelling case that humanitys relationship with the natural worldwhether in the crops we grow, the resources we extract, the climate change we are responsible for and must adapt to, or the struggles over uneven access to food and water we must confrontis and will continue to be at the center of geopolitics. Building on long-standing critical geopolitical approaches, OLear richly illustrates environmental geopolitics as an emerging field of inquiry and engagement that can help us make sense of a rapidly changing world. -- Corey Johnson, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Building on more than a decade of work, Shannon O'Lear provides a deep reflection on the representations of key environmental issues and their impacts on geopolitics. The massive consequences of human activities on the planet are putting these issues at the core of a new 'geopolitics'the politics of the earth itself. But how do we make sense of this shift and its effects on power relations O'Lear will help students, activists, and policymakers to make better sense of the puzzle and open up new alternatives for relations with, and representations of, environmental issues. -- Philippe Le Billon, University of British Columbia; author of Wars of Plunder

Author Bio

Shannon OLear is Professor of Geography and Environmental studies at the University of Kansas. Her books include Environmental Politics: Scale and Power (Cambridge 2010) and Reframing Climate Change: Constructing Ecological Geopolitics (Routledge 2015)