Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment is a unique guide to environmental thinking through the ages. Joy A. Palmer, herself an important and prolific author on environmental matters, has assembled a team of thirty-five expert contributors to summarize and analyse the thinking of fifty diverse and stimulating figures – from all over the world and from ancient times to the present day. Among those included are: Philosophers such as Rousseau, Spinoza and Heidegger Activists such as Chico Mendes Literary giants such as Virgil, Goethe and Wordsworth Major religious and spiritual figures such as the Buddha and St Francis of Assisi. Lucid, scholarly and informative, these fifty essays offer a fascinating overview of mankind’s view and understanding of the physical world.

Key Thinkers on the Environment is a unique guide to environmental thinking through the ages. Joy A. Palmer Cooper and David E. Cooper, themselves distinguished authors on environmental matters, have assembled a team of expert contributors to summarize and analyse the thinking of diverse and stimulating figures from around the world and from ancient times to the present day. Among those included are: philosophers such as Rousseau, Kant, Spinoza and Heidegger activists such as Chico Mendes and Wangari Maathai literary giants such as Virgil, Goethe and Wordsworth major religious and spiritual figures such as Buddha and St Francis of Assissi eminent scientists such as Darwin, Lovelock and E.O. Wilson. Lucid, scholarly and informative, the essays contained within this volume offer a fascinating overview of humankind’s view and understanding of the natural world.

Key Thinkers in Religion and Environment provides a theoretical foundation for scholarship related to the intersection of religions, natures and cultures across disciplines. The text introduces students to the major names, theoretical issues, and methodological orientations of the field while giving professors maximum freedom to insert case studies and examples as they wish. Students will come away with an understanding of the most important scholars, their theoretical contributions, and the scholarly conundrums with which they wrestled. The book includes figures who are foundational to the field of religious studies more broadly, foregrounding key themes in their works which highlight the “nature” in/of their argumentation, whilst also highlighting the voices of women and people of color. The thinkers come from a range of fields, including religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, American Indian studies, ethology, agroecology, theology, and environmental history, demonstrating the importance and impact of interdisciplinary research. The book also offers a theoretical orientation which illuminates methodological and theoretical deficits in religious studies more generally, whilst opening new avenues for thinking about environmental ethics. It is a must-read for all students and researchers of religion and the environment.

Table of contents

A comprehensive guide to the latest work on space. Each entry is a short interpretative essay, outlining the contributions made by the key theorists.

Spaces of Sustainability is an engaging and accessible introduction to the key philosophical ideas which lie behind the principles of sustainable development. This topical resource discusses key contemporary issues including global warming, third world poverty, transnational citizenship and globalization. Combining the latest research and theoretical frameworks Spaces of Sustainability offers a unique insight into contemporary attempts to create a more sustainable society and introduces the debates surrounding sustainable development through a series of interesting transcontinental case studies. These include: discussions of land-use conflicts in the USA; agricultural reform in the Indian Punjab; environmental planning in the Barents Sea; community forest development in Kenya; transport policies in Mexico City; and political reform in Russia. Written in an approachable and concise manner, this is essential reading for students of geography, planning, environmental politics and urban studies. It is illustrated throughout with figures and plates, along with a range of explanatory help boxes and useful web links.

Rethinking Political Thinkers explores a uniquely diverse set of political thinkers, from traditionally canonical theorists such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Mill, to marginalized women and thinkers of color, such as hooks, Du Bois, Butler, Fanon, Firestone, Said, and Goldman. Placing traditional thinkers alongside and in conversation with neglected and unheard voices opens up important debates, and presents political thought in a new light. Each thinker is examined within the contexts of patriarchy, white supremacy, and imperialism, and the relations and structures of race, gender, and class which different theories have reflected, defended, or challenged. The text is organized thematically, rather than simply chronologically, in order to explore central ideas such as social contract theory and its critics, freedom and revolution, the liberal self and black consciousness, colonial domination, and the environment. In each chapter students are encouraged to think through ideas in relation to their everyday experiences, and to understand that political thought occurs in many formats, so that they develop a more inclusive, intercultural, and critical awareness of the development of social and political thought. Original and timely, Rethinking Political Thinkers is designed to support the study of a decolonised political theory curriculum, revitalising political thought as a practice that belongs to us all. The online student resources include links to relevant videos, articles, blogs, and useful websites, which help students further develop their research interests. Additionally, detailed thinker biographies provide further social, political, and cultural context for each theorist covered in the text.

This updated edition of the essential undergraduate text will introduce you to the most influential thinkers in the tradition of social theory, with a new focus on the past fifty years.

From the Foundations in Global Studies series, this student-friendly text follows a two-pronged approach to help readers understand the globalizing processes relating to environment and sustainability, which are examined in a range of disciplines, including environmental studies, geography, global studies, political science, international affairs, comparative politics, and other disciplines. First, it presents foundational material that gives students the conceptual underpinnings required for rigorous analysis. Following the Introduction and Overview, Part One presents a brief historical overview of the concerns revolving around environmental sustainability in the modern era. The text then covers key concepts and theoretical constructs that define the global context for sustainable environmental practices, such as the key thinkers and theories pertaining to sustainable environmental practice, and the key international agencies and treaties involved in global discussions. The first part then explores the various models and ways to measure sustainability, the range of environmental domains at play in the sustainability dialogue, and the controversies surrounding them. Part Two employs case studies to examine theory and practice at work in particular situations. The case studies have been selected with an eye toward comprehensiveness of coverage across disciplines and across regions.