World in Motion

The Globalization and the Environment Reader

Edited by Gary M. Kroll, Richard H. Robbins SUNY at Plattsburgh; author of A Debtors Bill of Rights

Publication date:

16 December 2008

Length of book:

294 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

Dimensions:

239x164mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780759110250

The essays collected in World in Motion all address the same issue: The global paradox that modern prosperity has entailed extreme environmental degradation. Gary M. Kroll and Richard H. Robbins present readings covering all principal viewpoints on this matter, from the neoliberal belief that environmental and social problems can be fixed through a growing economy to the critics of globalization who equate growth with environmental degradation. This book asks an important question: Can we simply accelerate growth under the assumption that increased prosperity and new technologies will allow us to reverse environmental damage? Or do we need to transform our modes of living radically to maintain the health of the world around us?

Chapter 1 Introduction: Globalization and the Environment: A Primer
Chapter 2 Chapter 1: The Ecological Footprint
Chapter 3 "Ecological Footprints of Nations, 2005 Update"
Part 4 Part 1: Environments
Chapter 5 Chapter 2: Energy
Chapter 6 "The Anthropology of Oil: The Impact of the Oil Industry on a Fishing Community in the Niger Delta"
Chapter 7 Chapter 3: Water
Chapter 8 "The Water Thieves"
Chapter 9 "South Africa's Driest Season"
Chapter 10 Chapter 4: The Earth's Crust
Chapter 11 "Behind Gold's Glitter: Torn Lands and Pointed Questions"
Chapter 12 Chapter 5: The Seas Around Us
Chapter 13 "The Fate of the Ocean"
Part 14 Part II: Consuming Culture
Chapter 15 Chapter 6: Consuming the Culture of SUVs
Chapter 16 "Empire's Ecological Tyreprints"
Chapter 17 Chapter 7: Ecotourism
Part 18 "The Obvious Aspects of Ecological Underprivilege in Ankarana, Northern Madagascar"
Chapter 19 Chapter 8: Technology and the Green Revolutions
Chapter 20 "Pepsico for Peace?: the Ecological and Political RIsks of the Biotechnology Revolution"
Chapter 21 Chapter 9: Global Trade of Electronic Waste
Chapter 22 "Where Computers go to Die - and Kill"
Part 23 Part III: Global Warming
Chapter 24 Chapter 10: The Atmosphere
Chapter 25 "Phaeton's Reins: THe Human Hand in Climate Change"
Chapter 26 Chapter 11: The Problem of a Rising Tide
Chapter 27 "All the Disappearing Islands"
Part 28 Part IV: Politics, Identity, and Justice
Chapter 29 Chapter 12: War and Mobilization
Chapter 30 "The Environment Consequences of War"
Chapter 31 Chapter 13: Globalization from Below in the Nuclear Pacific
Chapter 32 "The Movement for Environmental Justice in the Pacific"
Chapter 33 Chapter 14: Multinationals, China, and the Environment
Chapter 34 "China, the WTO and Implications for the Environment"
Chapter 35 Chapter 15: Globalization and the Burden of Critical Theory
Chapter 36 "Ecofeminism and Globalization: A Critical Appraisal"

This reader belongs in every environmental studies classroom. It is an essential guide to the big issues, a key to understanding how our species has transformed the planet, and why that transformation may end up making the earth uninhabitable.