Environmental politics designate both the
politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
about the
environment[Andrew Dobson, ''Environmental Politics: A Very Short Introduction'', ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2016 (). and an
academic field
An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, a ...
of study focused on three core components:
[Carter, Neil. 2007. ''The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy'', 2nd ed. New York: ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
.
* The study of
political
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
theories
A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...
and
ideas related to the
environment;
* The examination of the environmental stances of both mainstream
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
and
environmental social movements; and
* The analysis of
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
making and
implementation
Implementation is the realization of an application, execution of a plan, idea, scientific modelling, model, design, specification, Standardization, standard, algorithm, policy, or the Management, administration or management of a process or Goal ...
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).
[
Further, he distinguishes between modern and earlier forms of environmental politics, in particular conservationism and ]preservationism
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
. Contemporary environmental politics "was driven by the idea of a global ecological crisis
An ecological or environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include:
* Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, incr ...
that threatened the very existence of humanity." And "modern environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...
was a political and activist mass movement which demanded a radical transformation in the values and structures of society."
Journals
Scholarly journals representing this field of study include:
* '' Environmental Politics''
* '' Global Environmental Politics''
References
{{Portal bar, Environment, Politics
Political science
Environmental social science