Environmental Political Theory
The term "environmental political theory" refers to the research area in which scholars of political theory use their conceptual tools in an effort to better understand the relationship between human individuals or communities and their natural environment, to identify the values and ideas that have shaped and continue to structure the way that humans interact with the natural world, or to articulate visions of how politics might define and help realize an ecologically sustainable world.
EPT is neither a method nor a well-defined political agenda. Scholars in the field utilize a wide variety of existing methodologies and in pursuit of various goals. Like an ecosystem, its strength lies in its diversity, and there has not yet emerged a dominant approach to this young research program. Binding together the various scholarship in EPT is a belief that environmental problems are at least in part a product of the social and political ideas of modern Western societies, and thus that attempting to apprehend the nature of such problems without first appreciating those ideas - and perhaps replacing them - is a futile endeavor.
By following the links above, you can read more about what EPT is and how it has developed as a field of scholarly research, access a resource page with links to other EPT-related sites on the web, find out about upcoming EPT-related events, and catch up on news that may be of interest to those studying or working in environmental political theory.
In order to make this site as useful as possible for those interested in EPT, please send me any news, announcements, or other suggestions for improving or updating the site. Comments are also welcome.
Proposals are now being accepted for participation in the EPT section at the 2009 Western Political Science Association annual meeting, to be held March 19-21 in Vancouver BC. The deadline for proposals is September 19. For more details, see the WPSA meeting site. The participation form can be found here.
Steve Vanderheiden is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Having worked in EPT for the past decade (including graduate school), he decided that a website devoted to the subject area might help others who share his interest to find resources they need to cultivate their interests and advance the field. His webpage can be found here.