Natural Resources and Social Conflict - (International Political Economy) by M Schnurr & L Swatuk (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This volume brings together international scholars reflecting on the theory and practice of international security, human security, natural resources and environmental change. It contributes by 'centring the margins' and privileging alternative conceptions and understandings of environmental (in)security.

Review Quotes

'This is an exciting contribution that advances theories of environmental security. The chapters fuse critical perspectives on environmental security with evidence from developing and developed regions to offer a coherent perspective on the discursive practices of environmental security and their material consequences. Spanning global to local scales, and weaving together theories about justice, power, security and the state, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in critical environmental security studies.' - Jon Barnett, Professor of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Australia

'The very ideas of environmental security and environmental conflict have been controversial from their inception. In mapping the complex connections between the biophysical world, natural resources and collective violence, the devil is always in the details. The great strength of this book is that it approaches the field with a critical eye and a refusal to accept conventional wisdom by always being attentive to what the editors call rethinking security from the bottom up. Whether tackling the challenges of the Canadian tar sands or coltan in Congo, this volume represents an important challenge to the old environmental world order of the first Earth Summit in Rio and offers us instead a compelling vision of how to grasp the radical environmental insecurities confronting the global underclasses.' - Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California-Berkeley, USA

About the Author

CHRIS ARSENAULT Journalist, Al Jazeera English PETER ARTHUR Associate Professor of Political Science and International Development Studies, Dalhousie University, Canada ANGELA CARTER Assistant Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada SIMON DALBY Professor of Geography, Environmental Studies and Political Economy, Carleton University, Canada WILFRID GREAVES PhD candidate, Munk School of Global Affairs and the Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada PHILIPPE LE BILLON Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Canada SHANE MULLIGAN Consultant with renewable energy co-operatives, Canada CHRIS RUSSILL Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada PETER STOETT Professor of Global Politics, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Canada SHELLY WHITMAN Deputy Director, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University, Canada SARAH WIEBE PhD candidate in Canadian Politics and Public Policy, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada