ABSTRACT
Contemporary research and teaching on global environmental politics (GEP) draw upon many approaches to understanding the ways in which states and societies respond to environmental problems (see Chapter 2). Research that emphasizes the state (Chapter 7) and international organizations (Chapter 8) derives in a more or less straightforward way from scholarly work in international relations (IR), with a marked focus on domestic and international institutions rather than traditional determinants of power as key to understanding states’ interests and actions. Alternatively, research that adopts a philosophically critical orientation toward international relations is more inherently interdisciplinary, and draws on theoretical frameworks developed in economics and sociology as well as in the humanities. The latter work examines global environmental politics from the “bottom up,” and takes seriously the notion that transnational networks of activist organizations as well as individuals will prove essential to resolving the world’s pressing ecological challenges (see Chapter 14).
