This comprehensive second edition provides an up-to-date introduction to the nature of ecological degradation in a world of dramatic environmental change.

An effective response to contemporary environmental problems demands an approach that integrates political, economic and ecological issues. Third World Political Ecology provides an introduction to an exciting new research field that aims to develop an integrated understanding of the political economy of environmental change in the Third World. The authors review the historical development of the field, explain what is distinctive about Third World political ecology, and suggest areas for future development. Clarifying the essentially politicised condition of environmental change today, the authors explore the role of various actors - states, multilateral institutions, businesses, environmental non-governmental organisations, poverty-stricken farmers, shifting cultivators and other 'grassroots' actors - in the development of the Third World's politicised environment. Third World Political Ecology is the first major attempt to explain the development and characteristics of environmental problems that plague parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Drawing on examples from throughout the Third World, the book will be of interest to all those who wish to understand the political and economic bases of the Third World's current predicament.

'This book ... should be issued to grass-root organisations everywhere' Doris Lessing, The New Scientist 'It is must reading for government planners, environmentalists and the ordinary layman' Asia Week Women in the Third World play the major role in managing natural resources. They are also the first and hardest hit by environmental mismanagement, yet they are neither consulted nor taken into account by development strategists. lrene Dankelman and Joan Davidson provide a clear account of the problems faced by women in the management of land, water, forests, energy and human settlements. They also describe the lack of response from international organizations. With the help of well-documented case studies they describe the ways in which women can organize to meet environmental, social and economic challenges. Originally published in 1988

This revised and updated new edition retains the clear and powerful argument which characterized the original. It gives a valuable analysis of the theory and practice of sustainable development and suggests that at the start of the new millennium, we should think radically about the challenge of sustainability. Fully revised, this latest edition includes further reading, chapter outlines, chapter summaries and new discussion topics, and explores: the roots of sustainable development thinking and its evolution in the last three decades of the twentieth century the dominant ideas within mainstream sustainable development the nature and diversity of alternative ideas about sustainability the problems of environmental degradation and the environmental impacts of development strategies for building sustainability in development from above and below. Offering a synthesis of theoretical ideas on sustainability based on the industrialized economies of the North and the practical, applied ideas in the South which tend to ignore 'First World' theory, this important text gives a clear discussion of theory and extensive practical insights drawn from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Equally a study of the ecological foundations of political systems and an analysis of how a particular Third World political system, Brazil's, addresses environmental issues, this book explores the institutional and political dimensions of environmental problems in developing countries. Roberto Guimaraes discusses the theoretical linkage between ecology and political science, presents a historical analysis of those linkages in Brazil, and looks at the structure for environmental policy formation and implementation in Brazil through a case study of the Special Secretariat for the Environment (SEMA).

This comprehensive second edition provides an up-to-date introduction to the nature of ecological degradation in a world of dramatic environmental change.