Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment by Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne is a book written, to shed light on the ongoing debate about the relationship between environmental issues and political economy. Too many times, say authors Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne, is the big picture completely bypassed in order to delve into the details surrounding and permeating environmentalism. By putting things into perspective using political and economic theories, one can illuminate the socioeconomic causes and consequences of environmental change. This also helps to avoid any emotional or moral entanglements which many times accompany analyses of environmental issues.
In order to look at the socioeconomic factors behind environmental policy, Clapp and Dauvergne address four main camps involved in environmental change: market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists and social greens. These categories are intentionally multi-disciplinary so as to not be too focused on one portion of the issue. By taking a wide swath of the areas which environmental issues touch, one can see the big picture instead of getting caught up in the details of one discipline. It also lets one focus on the international and government levels, especially how globalization and the type of political economic system employed in a state affect environmental issues, challenges and outcomes.
Using these four groups, the authors take a critical look at various elements within today’s political economy, including globalization, trade, international and domestic markets, distribution of wealth, poverty, health issues, and so forth. Each view takes a different stance on the issues. For example, market liberals view globalization, trade agreements and free markets as good things which will eventually work to stabilize economies and give incentive to businesses and consumers to switch to sustainable practices and products. Bioenvironmentalists, on the other hand, have a negative view of today’s free market economies, globalization and trade agreements which lead to over-consumption and over-population beyond the capacity of the planet.
I agree with many of the sentiments contained within the above reviews. It is a very balanced book; it does not give priority to one viewpoint over another, giving each equal representation on all topics discussed. The four viewpoints in themselves were also very helpful in making sense of the environmental debate. The book did exactly what it promised to do: it took a “big-picture” look at the debate and issues without getting impeded by details or moral sentiment. By taking an objective view on the different stances I was able to more fully understand the various groups involved in the debate, what they actually believe and why they believe it. It is also very thorough, discussing the multitude of issues involved, including everything from the WTO and NAFTA to different industries (mining, oil, timber, etc.) to environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as they relate to the issues at hand and the four viewpoints at work.
The lessons taken from the book can be applied to the huge number of different issues, problems and cases in the environmental world, and in that it is an invaluable resource for anyone studying environmentalism, sustainable development or political economy. It is also helpful in bringing light to different arguments concerning sustainable development and creating a dialogue which will hopefully aid in developing actual policy prescriptions to the various problems we face.
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