The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy

Citation

Carter, N. (2018). The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Chapter Summary

The third edition runs to 456 pages: a short preface and glossary, an introduction, eleven chapters in three parts, a conclusion, then references and an index. The publisher says Neil Carter updated the textbook thoroughly for the developments of the previous decade while keeping the structure of earlier editions. The three parts correspond to the book's subtitle: ideas (Part 1), activism (Part 2) and policy (Part 3). The Cambridge University Press listing describes the book as comparative throughout, drawing on examples from many industrialised countries.

Introduction

A 10-page opening chapter that frames the book. The preface to the third edition and a four-page glossary come before it.

Part 1, Chapters 2–3: Environmental Philosophy; Green Political Thought

Part 1, "Theory: Thinking About the Environment", sets out the ideas. Chapter 2 deals with environmental philosophy (28 pages). Chapter 3 on green political thought is the longest chapter in the book (42 pages), which fits the publisher's description of the book as analysing the relationship between "green ideas" and other political doctrines.

Part 2, Chapters 4–6: Green Parties; Party Politics and the Environment; Environmental Groups

Part 2, "Parties and Movements: Getting From Here to There", turns from ideas to organisations. Chapter 4 covers green parties, Chapter 5 covers how other parties handle the environment, and Chapter 6 covers environmental groups. The publisher describes the book as covering the development of green parties.

Part 3, Chapters 7–8: The Environment as a Policy Problem; Sustainable Development, Ecological Modernisation and Green Growth

Part 3, "Environmental Policy: Achieving a Sustainable Society", begins by treating the environment as a problem for public policy and then examines the ideas of sustainable development, ecological modernisation and green growth.

Part 3, Chapters 9–10: Global Environment Politics; Globalisation, Trade and the Environment

The international dimension, in two chapters of 32 and 22 pages. The publisher says the book looks at environmental issues at international, national and local levels.

Part 3, Chapters 11–12: Greening Government; Policy Instruments and Implementation

The domestic side of policy: the greening of government itself, and the instruments and implementation of environmental policy.

Conclusion

A short closing chapter of about eight pages, followed by about fifty pages of references.

Key Concepts

Part 1: Theory (Chapters 2–3)

• Environmental philosophy: ethical and philosophical positions on the relation of people to nature.
• Green political thought: the ideas of the green movement set against other political doctrines.

Part 2: Parties and Movements (Chapters 4–6)

• Green parties: the parties formed around environmental concerns.
• Mainstream party responses: how established parties respond to environmental issues, a theme in the author's research.
• Environmental groups: organised environmental activism outside party politics.

Part 3: Policy (Chapters 7–12)

• Policy problem: why the environment is a distinctive challenge for policy-makers.
• Sustainable development, ecological modernisation and green growth: three ideas for reconciling environment and economy.
• Global environment politics and trade: the international level.
• Greening government and policy instruments: domestic institutions and tools.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Three dimensions in one book. The publisher's key features list a comprehensive introduction to all three components of environmental politics: ideas, activism and policy, with theory balanced against practical examples. The contents mirror that claim, with 2 chapters on ideas, 3 on parties and groups, and 6 on policy.
• Comparative coverage. The publisher says examples come from many industrialised countries throughout the text.
• Teaching aids. The publisher lists boxes, a glossary and guides to further study.
• Reviewer endorsements. Riley Dunlap (Oklahoma State University) is quoted as calling it a superb overview of environmental ideologies, parties and movements and policy issues, ideal for courses in environmental politics and policy. Matthew Paterson (Manchester) says earlier editions were valued by his students for their clarity, breadth and concision, and Robyn Eckersley (Melbourne) describes the book as accessible.
• Updated scope. The third edition adds discussions of climate justice, climate legislation and recent environmental struggles, such as demonstrations against fracking.

Limitations

• Geographical range. Cambridge's listing says the examples come from many industrialised countries, notably in Western Europe and North America, and also Australasia (a retailer summary of the publisher's text speaks more broadly of global examples). Readers mainly interested in environmental politics in the Global South should expect to need other sources.
• Dated by its publication. Published in 2018, the edition cannot cover later developments in climate politics and policy.
• No stand-alone chapter on climate. The contents show no chapter devoted to climate change, although the publisher's description opens with it and lists new discussion of climate justice and climate legislation. Courses with a climate focus will want a dedicated text alongside.
• International politics is compressed. Global environment politics and globalisation and trade have one chapter each; students of international environmental regimes will find more depth in a dedicated text.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the environmental-politics list this is the broad, comparative first textbook. Chasek, Downie and Allan's Global Environmental Politics is described on the site as an introduction to how states, international organisations, corporations and civil society negotiate responses to global problems, which goes much further than Carter's two international chapters. O'Neill's The Environment and International Relations is a compact text applying IR theory to environmental problems and is a short companion for the same ground.

Eckersley's Environmentalism and Political Theory is an undergraduate-level introduction to environmental political theory, tracing the shift from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism, and goes deeper than Carter's Part 1. Ostrom's Governing the Commons studies how communities manage shared resources without central regulation or privatisation, a counterpoint to the policy instruments in Chapter 12, and Paterson's In Search of Climate Politics is a scholarly monograph on how climate change is political, to be read after a general text.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates new to environmental politics. The site's listing suggests an introductory course in politics or public policy as helpful; the publisher's page lists no prerequisites.

A practical plan:

• Read first: the Introduction and the glossary, then Chapters 2–3 as a set. Students with a background in political theory can move quickly through them.
• Core for most courses: Chapters 4–6 on parties and groups, and Chapters 7, 9 and 12 on the policy problem, international politics and instruments.
• Choose by emphasis: Chapter 8 on sustainable development, ecological modernisation and green growth suits courses on policy ideas, Chapter 10 on trade suits courses on political economy, and Chapter 11 on greening government suits public administration.
• Pace: with eleven chapters plus an introduction and conclusion, the book can be paced at about one chapter a week over a term.
• Extend: use the guides to further study and the reference list (about 50 pages) to move into the specialist literature.