Gaia Connections addresses several arenas of concern as humankind faces an escalating ecological and moral crisis in this new millennium. Beginning with an overview of the history of philosophy and the importance of traditional thinking on modern-day ethical reflection, the book then looks at the development of theories of justice, the problems of equity in global human relations, the inability of existing economic systems to resolve our human and environmental dilemmas, the unnatural connections now obtaining between genuine human need and the technological drift of science, the new genetics and reproductive technologies, and the nature of modern war. The study concludes with some historical perspectives on American environmental history and the urgent need for change in our ecoethical, social, and value systems. The principal focal areas of the original edition are continued: the actual state of the global environment today, the imperative for the development of sustainable economic and resource systems, the movement within much of science toward an almost universal biological determinism, and the need for a reaffirmation of an ethical value system which places the needs of people before the needs of property and profits. The revised edition not only updates these data and the concerns of the original book but also visits a number of new issues: the movement for environmental justice, the connections between global poverty and the now almost universal allegiance to a new world market and free trade system, the progress and the dilemmas of molecular biology and genetic engineering, and the growing disarray within the global systems of political economy.

Gaia, in which James Lovelock puts forward his inspirational and controversial idea that the Earth functions as a single organism, with life influencing planetary processes to form a self-regulating system aiding its own survival, is now a classic work that continues to provoke heated scientific debate.

A groundbreaking look at Gaia theory’s intersections with neocybernetic systems theory Often seen as an outlier in science, Gaia has run a long and varied course since its formulation in the 1970s by atmospheric chemist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis. Gaian Systems is a pioneering exploration of the dynamic and complex evolution of Gaia’s many variants, with special attention to Margulis’s foundational role in these developments. Bruce Clarke assesses the different dialects of systems theory brought to bear on Gaia discourse. Focusing in particular on Margulis’s work—including multiple pieces of her unpublished Gaia correspondence—he shows how her research and that of Lovelock was concurrent and conceptually parallel with the new discourse of self-referential systems that emerged within neocybernetic systems theory. The recent Gaia writings of Donna Haraway, Isabelle Stengers, and Bruno Latour contest its cybernetic status. Clarke engages Latour on the issue of Gaia’s systems description and extends his own systems-theoretical synthesis under what he terms “metabiotic Gaia.” This study illuminates current issues in neighboring theoretical conversations—from biopolitics and the immunitary paradigm to NASA astrobiology and the Anthropocene. Along the way, he points to science fiction as a vehicle of Gaian thought. Delving into many issues not previously treated in accounts of Gaia, Gaian Systems describes the history of a theory that has the potential to help us survive an environmental crisis of our own making.

Offering a fresh approach to new explorations of the reconfigurations of sociological thought, this book provides a mix of literature review, original theory and autobiographical material in order to understand formations of sociological knowledge.

This is a new edition of the classic examination of major philosophical, ethical, scientific and economic roots of environmental problems which examines the ways that radical ecologists can transform science and society in order to sustain life on this planet. It features a new Introduction from the author, a thorough updating of chapters, and two entirely new chapters on recent Global Movements and Globalization and the Environment.

An Ecological Approach to International Law shows that international environmental law is fundamentally flawed and not equipped to meet global challenges. The book examines international legal responses to global climate change by analysing key concepts such as the doctrine of state sovereignty, the law on state responsibility, environmental rights and common heritage of mankind.

John Newport delivers a comprehensive study of the impact of New Age beliefs on contemporary culture - and on Christianity itself - while also offering an effective, biblical antidote to today's worldview crisis. After first surveying the historical development of the New Age worldview, from ancient times through important tendencies in nineteenth-century America to recent Far Eastern influences, Newport explores in depth eleven key areas of the New Age worldview and contrasts each area of belief with the traditional biblical worldview.