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The politics of nature. Explorations in green political theory
Book revhx people of a territory whose resource base has been almost totally obliterated; and, of course, how to fix responsibility for restoring a modicum of productivity to the desolate wasteland left by the miners. This report is, as indicated above, fascinating, but it is also depressing. It should make anyone seriously interested in these issues pause and think long and deeply about them, for Nauru could be a peephole into the future of our planet. It is noteworthy that, of the 17 contributors to these three books, only one, John Connelly, is a geographer. It is also noteworthy that the hand of this one geographer is evident throughout the book on the French overseas departments and territories; it is the densest, best integrated, most comprehensive and most readable of the three. This is surely no accident. Perhaps more people would understand better the complexities of our world if more geographers would investigate, analyze and explain the many serious and vexing problems of the governance of territory exemplified by these three books. Some topics that could benefit from competent treatment by political geographers: the UN trusteeship system; associated statehood; and what I have elsewhere dubbed ‘neoimperialism’, the imperialist activities by states that were recently colonies themselves. Also, the secessionist wars of Southern Sudan, Katanga, Biafra, Eritrea and Bangladesh; the disgraceful transfers of Spanish (Western) Sahara, Portuguese (East) Timor and Dutch (West) New Guinea from one colonial master to another; the ‘self-determination’ of many French, British and American colonies to reject both independence and incorporation into the metropole and to remain as colonies; the forcible foreign invasion, occupation and colonization of northern Cyprus; and the future of New Caledonia come readily to mind. Many others could be added by anyone with a middling knowledge of the contemporary world political map. This would seem to be an ideal time to divert some of our time, energy and talent away from abstract theorizing and toward some soundly based recommendations on how we can deal fairly and definitively with these very real problems. Martin Ira Glassner Dtpatiment of Geography,Southem Connecticut StateUnived~, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
103
i%e Politics of Nahu-e. ,!!hploratibnsin Green Political Theory, Andrew Dobson and Paul Lucardie (eds), Routledge, 1993,240 pp., ISBN 0 415 08593 4. AS explorations, these enjoyable essays are seriously in danger of repeating the search for the Northwest Passage; the analogy is that green political theory may exist and may be discovered but may never come into regular use-because easier means have been discovered to achieve the same ends. For this reason the editors and authors alike make frequent reference to influences on green thought from nearby disciplines, such as economics, and from related dimensions in politics, such as feminism. They also refer at regular intervals to the urgent need for pragmatism in the face of environmental crisis and to the fact that there are other contemporary human crises, such as those of social welfare and human rights; the latter share an unenviable hot-seat with environmentalism in that, the deeper you look, the more you take fright about our own motivation and moral aptitude! In their Introduction the Editors rehearse the basic split in environmentalism, that between the anthropocentric and biocentric ‘wings’; words like ‘shallow’, ‘deep’, ‘light’ and ‘dark’ abound. Marcel Wissenburg sums the position up in a bivariate plot, the other axis of which is ‘level of abstraction’-a further sign that in addition to an ethical drive there is a profound academic drive to the greens (perhaps their biggest problem!). Wissenburg sets a cynical tone by removing both moral agency and distributive justice as supports for a new component of political thought in relation to the global environment; he is also daunting, by setting us a new academic problem: ‘green theory can only be just if it is sophisticated’. The book is helpfully divided into four sections: Ethical Foundations; Green Politicsthe State and Democracy; Green SocietyEconomics and Welfare; and Green Political Theory-the Boundaries. The second of these contains three contributions of great relevance: Alan Carter links environmentalism’s need for more benign state dynamics to the reform of democratic processes (we have all heard of subsidiarity but it is less well defined even than sustainability); Michael Saward asks if the greens are prepared to listen to democratic noises when their record is to enjoy a peace shattered only by
104
BOOkreoiews
their own advocacy; Wouter Achterberg explores interest group liberalism-the real politique of the greens (certainly in the UK). Two of the essays on economics and welfare make valid points for all listening greens; few of us would query the need for reform of economic theory before there is a definable green theory (Dietz and van der Straaten). John Ferris, however, reminds environmentalists that they must have an attitude to the Russian Revolution for its subjugation of nature (see the entry by Beatrice and Sidney Webb). Rounding off the volume are essays on the relationships between green politics and animal rights, feminism, critical theory and religion. Judy Evans refutes the Earth Mother syndrome of ecofeminism; women should beware the ‘dangers of celebrating the natural in a field (ecofeminism) which, like mainstream environmentalism, is undertheorized. Dobson’s essay on critical theory is refreshing in this respect since it clearly exposes the need for an ongoing material and historical review of the human/nature
relationship. ‘He would say that. . :-but I prefer this challenge to those made earlier. Dobson offers an ‘Afterword-always helpful in a workshop volume-which stresses the benefits to all political investigation of the continuing search (this was said for the Northwest Passage and the US space programme!). The greens have introduced three new fronts for exploration-the interests of the non-human world, the moral status of its rights and the central role of time (not just history) in all the arguments. This book will defeat most of my undergraduates in Physical Geography but it will be a huge Improvement on the many ‘atlases’ of green political thought currently being published. Long may the search continue-but not too long: I need better answers on the doorstep!
Malcolm Newson
professor ofPhysical Geography, universily of Newcastle upon Tyne
103
i%e Politics of Nahu-e. ,!!hploratibnsin Green Political Theory, Andrew Dobson and Paul Lucardie (eds), Routledge, 1993,240 pp., ISBN 0 415 08593 4. AS explorations, these enjoyable essays are seriously in danger of repeating the search for the Northwest Passage; the analogy is that green political theory may exist and may be discovered but may never come into regular use-because easier means have been discovered to achieve the same ends. For this reason the editors and authors alike make frequent reference to influences on green thought from nearby disciplines, such as economics, and from related dimensions in politics, such as feminism. They also refer at regular intervals to the urgent need for pragmatism in the face of environmental crisis and to the fact that there are other contemporary human crises, such as those of social welfare and human rights; the latter share an unenviable hot-seat with environmentalism in that, the deeper you look, the more you take fright about our own motivation and moral aptitude! In their Introduction the Editors rehearse the basic split in environmentalism, that between the anthropocentric and biocentric ‘wings’; words like ‘shallow’, ‘deep’, ‘light’ and ‘dark’ abound. Marcel Wissenburg sums the position up in a bivariate plot, the other axis of which is ‘level of abstraction’-a further sign that in addition to an ethical drive there is a profound academic drive to the greens (perhaps their biggest problem!). Wissenburg sets a cynical tone by removing both moral agency and distributive justice as supports for a new component of political thought in relation to the global environment; he is also daunting, by setting us a new academic problem: ‘green theory can only be just if it is sophisticated’. The book is helpfully divided into four sections: Ethical Foundations; Green Politicsthe State and Democracy; Green SocietyEconomics and Welfare; and Green Political Theory-the Boundaries. The second of these contains three contributions of great relevance: Alan Carter links environmentalism’s need for more benign state dynamics to the reform of democratic processes (we have all heard of subsidiarity but it is less well defined even than sustainability); Michael Saward asks if the greens are prepared to listen to democratic noises when their record is to enjoy a peace shattered only by
104
BOOkreoiews
their own advocacy; Wouter Achterberg explores interest group liberalism-the real politique of the greens (certainly in the UK). Two of the essays on economics and welfare make valid points for all listening greens; few of us would query the need for reform of economic theory before there is a definable green theory (Dietz and van der Straaten). John Ferris, however, reminds environmentalists that they must have an attitude to the Russian Revolution for its subjugation of nature (see the entry by Beatrice and Sidney Webb). Rounding off the volume are essays on the relationships between green politics and animal rights, feminism, critical theory and religion. Judy Evans refutes the Earth Mother syndrome of ecofeminism; women should beware the ‘dangers of celebrating the natural in a field (ecofeminism) which, like mainstream environmentalism, is undertheorized. Dobson’s essay on critical theory is refreshing in this respect since it clearly exposes the need for an ongoing material and historical review of the human/nature
relationship. ‘He would say that. . :-but I prefer this challenge to those made earlier. Dobson offers an ‘Afterword-always helpful in a workshop volume-which stresses the benefits to all political investigation of the continuing search (this was said for the Northwest Passage and the US space programme!). The greens have introduced three new fronts for exploration-the interests of the non-human world, the moral status of its rights and the central role of time (not just history) in all the arguments. This book will defeat most of my undergraduates in Physical Geography but it will be a huge Improvement on the many ‘atlases’ of green political thought currently being published. Long may the search continue-but not too long: I need better answers on the doorstep!
Malcolm Newson
professor ofPhysical Geography, universily of Newcastle upon Tyne