Globalization and the Environment

摘要

Highly accessible and concise, Globalization and the Environment is a welcome addition to the literature examining the forces that have given rise to the Anthropocene. Focusing their narrative around climate change and biodiversity loss, the authors offer a historical expose which is rich in detail yet broad in its theoretical ambition. Readers of Environmental Values are likely to find much of their worldview validated as the book chronicles the destructive forces of capitalism since the early Modern period before ending in a plea for more reflexive, deliberative forms of environmental governance. In a sense, this is also the most serious shortcoming of the book: that much of this has already been said by others and that it is not immediately clear why the 'medicine' should be any more effective this time around. At the same time, this does not diminish the value of the book as a stepping-stone for graduate seminar discussions or wider academic debate. In fact, I am very likely to include the book in the reading list next time I offer a course on global environmental governance or a similar topic.