ABSTRACT
Introduction Whether they prove to be timeless or not, most political theories originate as a response to a particular crisis or problem (Wolin, 1960). We begin this discussion of environmental and population issues in global politics by emphasising the direct relevance of the life sciences and evolutionary theory to the macro-level issues associated with the current global environmental crisis. Our contemporary crisis, variously described, is fundamentally (though not exclusively) an ecological one, and what most needs criticism from a life science perspective (biopolitics) at the present time are those political and economic strategies that no longer appear to serve as successful, long-term survival strategies for our species.
