Environmental Politics

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Book reviews

Michael Jacobs , Michael Watson , Heather Voisey , Graham Smith , Helena

Titheridge , Detlef Jahn , Neil Carter , Ingolfur Blühdorn , Florence Faucher ,
Marcus Enoch , Tom Crowards , Adrian Smith , Fraser Quin , John Barry , Lisa
Lebduska , Piers H.G. Stephens & Mick Smith

To cite this article: Michael Jacobs , Michael Watson , Heather Voisey , Graham Smith ,
Helena Titheridge , Detlef Jahn , Neil Carter , Ingolfur Blühdorn , Florence Faucher , Marcus
Enoch , Tom Crowards , Adrian Smith , Fraser Quin , John Barry , Lisa Lebduska , Piers
H.G. Stephens & Mick Smith (1995) Book reviews, Environmental Politics, 4:4, 284-306, DOI:
10.1080/09644019508414242

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 Book Reviews

Small is Stupid: Blowing the Whistle on the Greens fay Wilfred Beckerman. London:
Duckworth, 1995. Pp.viii + 202; index. £20 (hardback). ISBN 0 7156 2640 X

The task Wilfred Beckerman sets himself is a legitimate and valuably provocative one.
At a time when environmental organisations and their arguments appear to have
become mainstream, he aims to show:
(1) that the costs of the policies favoured by the environmental movement (on issues
such as global warming) would far outweigh the benefits;
(2) that unexciting environmental issues in the Third World such as clean water and
sanitation are already causing far more human suffering than global warming and
other 'glamorous' problems are ever likely to;
(3) that these problems will be solved, not made worse, by economic growth; and
therefore
(4) that the environmental movement's priorities are effectively immoral.
Moreover:
(5) that fashionable green ideas such as 'zero growth', sustainable development, the
precautionary principle and the immorality of 'discounting the future' are
intellectually confused.
Unfortunately, the execution of this task is woefully poor. Beckerman seems to
have read very little environmentalist literature in the last 20 years. Despite a constant
stream of invective against the 'self-righteous obscurantism of the environmental
extremists' (p.viii) peddling 'alarm bordering on hysteria' (p.4) and 'draconian'
(p.174) policy proposals, there are almost no references to specific green writings
since The Limits to Growth (1972).
In place of referenced argument, Beckerman sets up a series of straw men to knock
down. He claims that environmentalists are all anti-economic growth, apparently
having missed the widespread acceptance over the last decade that it is the
environmental content of growth which matters, not its overall rate. He believes that
environmentalists are opposed to economic growth in the Third World; I do not know
of a single environmentalist who holds this position. He thinks that greens are terribly
worried about 'finite resources', when the concern now is all about renewables. He
claims that environmentalists want cuts in fossil fuel consumption 'irrespective of the
cost' (p.79), when they have clearly shown how energy efficiency measures will
generate net savings.
Although the argument is expressed against green claims in general, Beckerman is
actually mainly exercised about global wanning. He devotes a chapter to debunking
the scientific evidence for warming, and then shows how even if it were to occur the
economic costs would be small. The third stage of his argument must then be that
policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions would be very expensive. But amazingly,
Beckerman makes no effort and cites no research to demonstrate this. In a cursory
unreferenced paragraph he simply gives a cost (without timescale) of 'somewhere in
the region of 5 per cent of output for the world as a whole' (p.97). This is academically
BOOK REVIEWS 285
unworthy argumentation. In fact, the costs of CCh abatement are the subject of
vigorous debate in the environmental economics literature, with many studies now
suggesting that recycled eco-taxes are likely to be economically beneficial - a finding
which Beckerman later reluctantly acknowledges.
The book makes some good points: on the weakness of the Pearcean concept of
'weak sustainability'; on the non-marketed benefits as well as costs excluded from
GNP; on the requirement for economists to acknowledge the ethical basis of their
prescriptions, particularly in respect of obligations to future generations. Beckerman
accepts the basic environmentalist case that government policy is needed to deal with
pollution, traffic congestion and other externalities. Unfortunately, the author's desire
to present himself as the lone rational hero fighting off the hordes of doom-mongering
(and entirely imaginary) greens means that the good arguments are swamped by bad
polemic.
MICHAEL JACOBS
Lancaster University

The True Cost of Conflict edited by Michael Cranna. London: Earthscan Publications
(for Saferworld), 1994. Pp.xx + 208; index, maps, figures, tables. £14.95 (paperback).
ISBN 1 85383 254 5

The book's basic purpose is to investigate the major armed conflicts in the 1990s,
which have marked the post-Cold War world, and in particular to lay bare the 'costs
and benefits' of each, assessed from the viewpoint of those involved (and that, at least
indirectly, includes the West). The chapters correspond to seven case studies covering
East Timor, the Gulf War, Kashmir, Mozambique, Peru, Sudan, and former
Yugoslavia, chosen 'to represent the different kinds of conflict that occur, from wars
between nations to internal guerrilla campaigns' (p.xvii).
The chapters all follow a similar format: the geographical and historical
background, the costs to the countries and peoples concerned as well as benefits
(where these are claimed for at least one protagonist, for example, the West in the Gulf
War), and a section assessing the balance sheet for the country or people at the centre
of the conflict, assuming it had not occurred. Throughout the book, a very informative
and illuminating compilation of facts and figures associated with the conflicts has been
established, with a particular emphasis on the economic costs but also including social
and environmental ones; while political elements in the balance sheet are not
overlooked. Perhaps not too surprisingly, the consistent finding is of the high price
exacte'd in those respects by these conflicts; but this finding is in each case extremely
well documented.
A good deal of the resultant policy argument is directed at the West and 'the
international community', including notably in respect of the arms trade (in 1993 95 per
cent of arms exports were from the UK, US, Russia, France and China). It is shown that
the major powers' long-term material interest lies in measures to reduce the means of
waging local and regional armed conflicts, in promoting human rights (including of
minorities), and specifically in strengthening the action of the international community
in the spheres of preventive diplomacy, preventive troop deployment, sanctions, peace-
keeping and humanitarian aid. The need for clear criteria for action (when and how) is
underlined, as well as for consistent policies for preventing and managing conflicts (in
particular, to avoid that some, such as East Timor or Sudan - in which over one million
have died compared to an estimated 150,000 in ex-Yugoslavia - are ignored). An
286 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
important aspect of this is seen as the 'internationalising' of potential or incipient
conflicts - to this end a special UN office should have a permanent watching brief.
Three kinds of situation calling for international action are identified as appropriate
and already widely accepted: 'threats to international security; threats to legitimate
state authority; or large-scale human suffering and loss of life' (p. 198). Threats to
ecological security as such are unfortunately not specified. Altogether, a powerful
'cost-benefit' case is made for international action, especially preventive, in
addressing the sorts of conflict investigated; and that would include determining 'the
circumstances in which it is appropriate to deploy an international force within a
sovereign (sic) state without that state's consent' (p.200) as well as those 'in which the
right to self-determination can legitimately be supported' (p.202). Clearly, the attack
on the 'absolutism' of the concept of sovereignty is here being pushed home from a
very 'realist' position! (that of its economic and social costs). The book concludes: 'if
moral reasons do not give rise to the political will (for international intervention), then
national self-interest should' - including of the state(s) at the heart of the conflict. Here
also, perhaps, is a lesson for greens, to promote the case for international ecological
security action, for example, vis-a-vis companies, on similar grounds; and, as a
priority, to oppose the arms trade given its clear link with conflict - escalation and the
high ecological costs this entails (as the case studies show).

MICHAEL WATSON
University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Our Global Neighbourhood: The Report of the Commission on Global

Governance by The Commission on Global Governance. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1995. Pp.xx + 410; index. £6.99. ISBN 0 19827997 3

The Commission on Global Governance was established in 1992 and consists of 28 of

the international great and good. Its aim was to undertake a review of global society,
and the changes that have occurred in it, in the light of the fiftieth anniversary of the
founding of the United Nations. This report is the expression of those findings, the
intention being that it should inform debate and be accessible to a wide audience. It
highlights how through greater cooperation, institutional reform and through changing
the attitudes of governments, the global challenges of democracy, security and
sustainable development can be addressed.
It begins with a look at the values which are believed to be essential for us to
address these challenges, such as 'a respect for life, liberty, justice and equity, mutual
respect, caring and integrity' (p.49). The principle of this book is that the world is a
global neighbourhood, countries are interdependent and as such need to co-operate to
create a civil society where we all can exist, making it a better place now and in the
future. It looks briefly at the many problems and issues that face us on a global scale,
such as poverty, human security, military spending, ecological degradation, aid
fatigue, debt, communication, and, ironically in the face of the resurgence of nuclear
testing by China, France and possibly the US, nuclear proliferation. The Commission
sees the mechanism for this cooperation still to be the United Nations, with a few
reforms. The cold war and the nuclear age, and the power games of the member states
have been the main barriers to the attainment of cooperation over the last fifty years.
The laudable theme of the book is that we have to change the institutions facilitating
global cooperation so that they are ours and not separate from the peoples of the world,
BOOK REVIEWS 287
but we can only really move towards greater co-operation and a civil global society if
member states change their attitudes.
In the number and breadth of issues covered the report is comprehensive, but it is
in essence not a detailed analysis of the factors that affect us on a global scale nor is it
anything new. As such it forms a useful introduction to the issues as well as illustrating
the linkages between these issues and the principles we desire to live by. In this respect
it could open debate and reach a wide audience, but as the Halifax summit in June
1995 of the G7 nations shows, it takes political will to affect change and that is not
forthcoming. Although the summit discussed some of the ideas of this report such as
the abolition of UNCTAD and UNIDO, and the expansion of the powers of the IMF,
they either failed to gain agreement or were watered down. This report highlights the
problems facing the world and the potential for solving them but it seems far away
from reality in its hope for a global civil society.

HEATHER VOISEY
CSERGE, University of East Anglia

Sustainable Cities in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Energy-

Environmental Policies by Peter Nijkamp and Adriaan Perrels. London: Earthscan,
1994. Pp.ix + 141. £12.95. ISBN 1 85383 203 0

A growing proportion of the world's population live in urban areas and as Sustainable
Cities in Europe notes, it is essential, if sustainable patterns of development are to be
achieved, that emphasis is placed on the role of the city. Although cities have much to
offer in political, cultural and economic terms, the quality of urban life is being
threatened by such problems as pollution, low standard housing, social segregation
and the like.
The authors focus their attention on urban energy-environmental policies, initially
making the case for strategies which integrate the wide range of regional development,
energy system and environmental considerations. A brief overview of recent
developments in this field is presented, along with the diverse analytical methods and
techniques available to planners at the local level. In terms of environmental concerns,
such techniques need to be able to take into account impacts at all stages of energy
conversion and usage, as well as dealing with scientific and political uncertainty
arising from, for instance, unreliable predictions of energy source stocks, shifts in
energy consumption and technological innovation.
The majority of the book concentrates on the European Community's CITIES
(Community Integrated Task for the Improvement of Energy-Environmental Systems in
Cities) project which surveys the policies of twelve cities - one from each member state
- with the aim of disseminating information on good practice. The central theme of the
CITIES project is the recognition that decentralised, integrated energy-environmental
policies are essential for urban sustainability. A brief description of the situation in each
of the 12 cities is provided highlighting the national and local energy policies and
examples of implemented projects. Attention then turns to a comparative analysis and
interpretation of six policy areas, namely: urban energy supply systems; urban waste
management; urban transport systems; information, communication and marketing;
management of the municipal capital stock; and the development of integrative urban
energy concepts. Success in these policy areas differs, although the authors note that it is
in the domain of urban transport management that cities are perhaps facing their most
288 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
pressing dilemmas. Although it is made clear that such factors as climate, population,
size and economic structure differ between the cities, the national institutional
framework - for instance, the degree of centralisation and ownership of energy
distribution and production - determines to a large extent the ability of municipalities to
develop effective policies. However, even in situations where factors seem to militate
against local action, many creative responses have been forthcoming.
The strength of this book most definitely lies in its discussion of the EC's CITIES
project and the comparative illustrations that this yields. However, the book tends to
focus primarily on the feasibility of technical solutions to urban problems while
generally ignoring the wider political issues involved. The authors seem to be of the
opinion that the use of analytical tools and professional expertise can in fact overcome
ideological arguments and that sustainability is primarily a technical rather than
political and social issue. Taking this apparent shortcoming into account and the
annoying lack of an index, this book still provides a useful introduction to the area of
urban energy-environmental policy.

GRAHAM SMITH
University of Southampton

Global Wanning and Energy Demand edited by Terry Barker, Paul Ekins and Nick
Johnstone (Global Environmental Change Series). London and New York: Routledge,
1995. Pp.xiv + 336; index. £50 (hardback); £15.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 415 10980 9
and 0415 11601 5

Following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, governments across the globe
have committed themselves to reducing the levels of greenhouse gas emissions as a
move towards addressing the problem of global warming by stabilising the
concentration of these gases in the atmosphere. A large proportion of greenhouse gases
(in particular carbon dioxide) are from the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy.
Recent discussions in both the United States and the European Union have centred
around the idea that, in order to achieve the reductions estimated by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as being necessary to stabilise
carbon dioxide concentrations, it will be necessary to introduce a carbon and/or energy
tax. Such a tax could have widely felt economic impacts at both a national and
international level. Two questions arise from this, firstly, how large would such a tax
need to be to achieve the necessary reductions and secondly, how would the economy
respond to such a tax. This book explores the latter of the two questions.
The book is divided into two parts: first, estimating long-term energy elasticities,
and second, energy, the economy and greenhouse gas abatement, although the
distinction between the two parts is vague and perhaps a little unnecessary. The
introductory paper by the editors gives an easy-to-follow summary of the problems
that needed to be addressed when estimating energy demand elasticities and is worth
reading by those wanting to understand some of the assumptions required without
going into the mathematics. I particularly enjoyed reading the chapter on the costs of
carbon dioxide abatement, in which Paul Ekins discusses the importance of the
assumptions made as to the use of revenues from a carbon tax when modelling
abatement costs (p.293) as it was relatively free of complicated terminology and
contained clear, well annotated diagrams to illustrate some of the key points. On the
whole the quality of the graphs and diagrams varied considerably from chapter to
BOOK REVIEWS 289
chapter, with some graphs lacking sufficient labelling.
Global Warming and Energy Demand is a collection of papers resulting from a
workshop 'Estimating Long-Run Energy Elasticities' held in 1992. Some of the papers
have been extensively revised and some new papers have been added. Coming from
an environmental rather than an economics background I found this book rather
heavygoing at times as it seemed to be aimed at those with a good knowledge of
macroeconomic modelling and techniques used in estimating elasticities. The majority
of the papers focused on methodological problems in estimating energy demand
elasticities and the treatment of energy demand in macroeconomic models rather than
seeking to show how the economy would respond to energy price increases. It was also
disappointing to see only one paper which dealt with developing world economies in
any depth.

HELENA TITHERIDGE
The Open University

Energy and Environment in the European Union: The Challenge of Integration

by Ute Collier (Avebury Studies in Green Research). Aldershot: Avebury, 1994. Pp.xii
+ 273. £39.50 (hardback). ISBN 1 85972 007 2

The energy supply of modern, highly industrialised societies has a major impact on the
state of the environment in the near and distant future. However, easy solutions are not
in reach. Maintaining and improving our living standard demands increasing energy
supply and the methods of generating energy are ambiguous, as the controversy over
the use of nuclear energy demonstrates. It is the tension between energy and
environmental demands that is at the centre of Ute Collier's published Ph.D. study. She
compares the integration of environmental concerns into energy policy in the
Netherlands, Germany and United Kingdom as well as at the EU level. At some length
she operationalises the concept of policy integration. Four factors play a crucial role
in her analytical and empirical analysis: the consideration of environmental concerns
in energy policy; political and administrative procedures and structures; institutional
and regulatory frameworks; and the use of appropriate policy instruments. These
aspects are analysed in case studies at the EU-level as well as in the three countries.
The strength of these case studies, mainly relying on expert interviews and some
statistical background information, lies in the fact that the author includes the policies
of central and local energy enterprises in the electricity sector, as well as the
administrative structure and procedures. Finally, Collier summarises her findings in a
comparative chapter.
TTie author concludes that the consideration of environmental concerns in energy
policy became reality in all three countries and at the EU-level. The claim for energy
efficiency serves to bridge the gap between energy and environmental demands.
However, large-scale electricity companies are unlikely to take much account of
environmental consideration unless they are forced on them by government regulation.
Concerning the formalised procedures of integration between energy and
environmental policies the author found only limited adjustments. However, the
introduction and changing status of environmental ministries in the three countries and
the DG XI of the EU facilitates the integration of both concepts. Most of the failures
of the integration of energy and environmental demands are in the area of regulatory
or structural frameworks. The policy instruments are mainly limited to market based
290 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
instruments (taxes and subsidies) but also include information.
Concerning national differences, Collier comes to the conclusion that the
Netherlands has progressed well with policy integration. Germany has, despite its high
aspirations, been very slow and unification has distracted attention from the problem,
whilst the UK shows signs of improvement after the initial failures which were
connected to the privatisation of the energy sector. The efforts of the EU are
ambiguously characterised by both failure (internal energy market) and success (COO-
The strength of the book is in Part Two where Collier presents the rich material of
her case studies. Apart from the analysis of the EU which focuses mainly on the CO2
limitation strategy and the internal energy market, the country case studies are
organised according to the same headlines: energy trends, structure and regulation of
the electricity sector, environmental policy, energy policy, and electricity sector and
climate change. The final comparative chapter is less conclusive because it mainly
repeats the findings of the case studies. The deficiencies in the conclusion are a result
of the nontransparent approach. The book will disappoint those who expect a work of
political or social science. In fact the book has been written in the tradition of
environmental science and the author acknowledges the deficit of not considering
political factors (p.244). But the reading of the first part is tough, requires patience and
is to a large extent irrelevant for the understanding of the case studies. Although many
concepts (market failure, sustainable development and growth etc.) are mentioned,
there is no clear theoretical guideline and the operationalisations of the basic concepts
are imprecise, even if some headlines (p.32) do promise clarification. Too often the
author cross-references her concepts to her empirical findings so that the analysis
becomes tautological. There is also no explicit statement why the research design
includes specifically these three countries although they are examples of different
approaches to energy and electricity policy. However, from this point of view, France
will surely be a valid and necessary addition.
However, despite these problems (I must admit that I read the book from a point of
view of a social scientist) the book gives plenty of insights into different aspects and
consequences of the important tension between energy and environmental policy.

DETLEF JAHN
Nottingham Trent University

The Green Challenge: The Development of Green Parties in Europe edited by

Dick Richardson and Chris Rootes. London: Routledge, 1995. Pp.268. £12.99
(paperback). ISBN 0 415 10650 8

This welcome book fills a gap in the literature that was becoming increasingly
noticeable. Although there is a plethora of articles and the odd monograph about
individual green parties, there has been no attempt at a wide-ranging overview since
the now dated volumes by Muller-Rommel and Parkin. In The Green Challenge ten
country case studies - Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden,
Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Czechoslovakia - are introduced by Richardson's
discussion of the electoral challenge posed by green parties and rounded off by a
thoughtful comparative survey by Rootes (although there is some unfortunate overlap
between these two chapters). All the contributions are accessible and informative. The
country studies generally achieve a good balance between the focus on the
development and performance of individual green parties and the need to provide
BOOK REVIEWS 291
sufficient background about the specific national political context. The editing
produces a satisfactory blend between the uniform coverage of key themes -
environmental consciousness, the impact of institutional structures and political
competition - and individual flexibility in the presentation of the material.
The coverage is not, of course, fully comprehensive but avoids superficial accounts
and it is a pretty good selection. It covers the big players in Western Europe, includes
all countries with notably successful green parties (except Finland) and encompasses
a decent geographical spread. My one quibble is that it would have benefited from
another example from the old Eastern bloc. I suspect that a second edition would need
a chapter on Ireland where green fortunes seem to be in the ascendant; perhaps at the
expense of Britain where everything that could be said to explain the weaknesses of
the Green Party has been said - several times. Elsewhere, electoral politics do not
stand still. The contributions here pre-date the 1994 European parliamentary elections
- although there is a short postscript outlining the results - and, significantly, the
Swedish and German elections in Autumn 1994 where green parties performed well.
Indeed, reading the Swedish contribution it was hard to explain this renewed success
in an election dominated by materialist issues - such are the perils of psephology.
Green parties have been around long enough now to assert confidently that they are
here to stay, but it is hard to disagree with Rootes' argument that 'the diversity of
experiences of green parties in Europe is such as to defy easy generalisation' (p.249).
Nevertheless the book might have explored the usefulness of new social movement
theories in explaining the electoral performance of the greens. Several references are
made to the role of postmaterial values but there is no attempt to evaluate Inglehart's
contribution by, for example, including comparative data on the postmaterial values of
green voters (or their age, level of higher education and so on). It is asserted that green
voters are getting older, but there is no supporting comparative evidence. If they are
getting older, what does this tell us about the postmaterialism thesis: is postmaterialism
on the decline, or are younger postmaterial voters looking elsewhere? These issues are
addressed in individual chapters and in general terms in the conclusion, but rigorous
comparative analysis is absent.
Similarly, although Rootes closes the book by observing how green parties have
made an important contribution to their own electoral history, nowhere is resource
mobilisation theory employed to compare the organisational strengths and weaknesses
of green parties. This kind of analysis would have strengthened the book - although it
might also have become an indigestible, number-crunching yawn. Nevertheless The
Green Challenge should become essential reading for teachers and students alike: I
certainly learnt a lot from the book and so have my students!

NEIL CARTER
University of York

Green Politics Three edited by Wolfgang Rüdig. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University

Press, 1995. Pp.282; index. £29.50 (paperback). ISBN 0 7486 0265 8

This volume is the last of the Green Politics series edited by Wolfgang Riidig.
Although the demise of any green publishing venture is sad, paradoxically, its failure
signifies the achievement of its primary objective: the provision of a forum for
academic debate on green politics. For soon after the publication of the first volume in
1990, its raison d'etre was directly removed with the appearance of Environmental
292 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
Politics and other academic journals. Moreover, although green books are less
fashionable than they were five years ago, nonetheless the environmental catalogues
of leading academic publishers have expanded (the high price of the Green Politics
series must have impaired sales in a competitive market). So, Riidig (and Edinburgh
University Press) should be congratulated on acting before others dared, and on
producing three interesting volumes containing articles of generally high quality.
A particular strength of the series has been the detailed empirical studies, and this
volume maintains this tradition. Rucht's comparison of Greenpeace (Germany) and
Earth First! (USA) - both surprisingly under-researched - admirably illustrates the
strengths and weaknesses of two extreme organisational forms: one centralised with an
authoritarian, non-participative, professional management structure; the other
decentralised, participative and 'alternative'. Frankland, as we have come to expect,
provides an informative, well-written history of the Austrian Greens, although
unfortunately it pre-dates the Greens' active oppositional role in the European
referendum campaign and notable success in the 1994 general election. Lowe provides
an enormously detailed account of the 'red-green' Citizens Party, based on interviews
with many of its leading activists, showing how the socio-political context in the USA
makes it very difficult for green politics to penetrate the party system at any level.
In a contrasting treatment of the 'red-green' theme, Baumgartl shows how the role
of the Bulgarian ecological movement in the transition to democracy corresponded
with its counterparts in Eastern Europe. The ecological movement was important, pre-
revolution and immediately post-revolution, due to the combination of popular grass-
roots protest against horrific industrial pollution and intellectual involvement in a
semi-legitimate form of opposition. But is has subsequently declined because of
internal divisions, Communist infiltration, the greening of other parties and, most
important, the ascendancy of economic problems over environmental concerns.
Lucardie et al. use survey data from activists to analyse the rapprochement between
four small Dutch parties that produced the Green Left in 1990, although there is little
here that has not appeared in their previous publications. There is also a fascinating
empirical study of the ideological convictions of members of the British Green Party
in which Bennie et al. use factor analysis to identify four distinct dimensions largely
based around strategic considerations: left-anarchist, deep ecology, electoralist and
pro-pact. It is good to see a genuine attempt to relate theory and practice; not
surprisingly, what emerges is a very complex reality.
Two papers by Eder and by Breyman - best described as political sociology -
provide a welcome redressing of the imbalance within English language
environmental theory in favour of political philosophy and ethics. In particular, in a
stimulating contribution, Klaus Eder argues that environmental 'facts' are socially
constructed and dependent on culture. He employs cultural theory to focus on the
communication of 'facts' and to re-examine what we mean by 'rational' policy-
making.
There is plenty in this volume to inform and provoke. It will figure, along with its
predecessors, high on my student reading lists.

NEIL CARTER
University of York
BOOK REVIEWS 293
Forschungsjournal Neue-Soziale Bewegungen: Europa im Umbruch. Neue
Soziale Bewegungen im Schatten des Europaischen Binnenmarktes edited by
Forschungsgruppe Neue Soziale Bewegungen. Marburg: Schüren Presseverlag, 1993
(now published by Westdeutscher Verlag Opladen). Pp.110; DM 12.50. ISBN 3 89472
125 1

This quarterly academic journal has established itself as a quality outlet for research
on new social movements. Internationally recognised specialists in the field are
involved in its production or have contributed to recent issues. The particular issue at
hand (1/1993) focuses on the impact of the single European market on the social
movements in the respective countries. It comprises essays on the protest culture in
Germany, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In
the majority of the articles the emphasis is on environmental movements which,
throughout Europe, seem to be faced with the same problem: whilst the Brussels
bureaucracy and the internationalisation of industry and business make a strong
movement sector ever more important, the mobilising force of environmental
movements is generally in decline. The effort to find explanations for this
phenomenon and to try to identify new potentials for mobilisation is the common
denominator of the contributions to this issue.
Three observations recur in many of the articles: (a) the institutionalisation of the
movements, (b) their crisis of identity, and (c) the silent re-definition of the
movements' goals. With regard to the first point it is striking how researchers have
become used to equating the environmental movement with the respective
organisations. One impact of Europe's growing together seems to be that classic
movement politics, based on personal affectedness and loosely organised local direct
action, tend to be replaced by 'representational protest' carried out at national and
international level by professionals holding a democratic mandate. Along with the
institutionalisation of the movements seems to go their de-ideologisation. Whilst in the
past the effort to transcend the traditional left-right-division could help to tap new
mobilisation potentials, such pragmatism now seems to contribute to the movements'
crisis of identity. Environmental movements in all of the examined countries are
affected by the lack of a clearly defined enemy, the virtual disappearance of the moral
protest dimension and the integration of environmental concerns into mainstream
politics. The decline of ecological fundamentalism and its replacement by market
driven eco-pragmatism have shifted the emphasis of modern environmental
campaigning towards product-oriented strategies and the increasingly important goal
of consujner-protection. Given the single European market, these are vital issues with
a lasting mobilising force, yet the focus on the quality of human life rather than on the
protection of non-human nature gives the movement a radically new outlook.
Alternative and movement politics are rapidly increasing their popularity as
modules in Social Sciences, Politics, European Studies and Modern Languages. For
lecturers and students of all these disciplines, the Forschungsjournal Neue Soziale
Bewegungen is a valuable source of information. The native speaker of German will
notice a plethora of reprographic errors and an often strange use of the German
language: most of the contributions are rather poorly translated from their original
language. Nevertheless the journal should definitely be held in all university libraries.

INGOLFUR BLÜHDORN
University of Bath
294 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
L'écologie au pouvoir by Daniel Boy, Vincent Jacques Le Seigneur and Agnès Roche.
Paris: Presses de Sciences Po, 1995. Pp.278; illustrations; annexes. 189 FF. ISBN 2
7246 0670 1

In March 1992, 212 councillors in France were elected to 21 regional councils on

behalf of two rival green parties. For months opinion polls had been increasingly good
for green politics and electoral prospects were all the more encouraging as
proportional representation was used in this election. Les Verts, who had lost their
monopoly on French political ecology two years before, refused any kind of agreement
with Lalonde's Generation Ecologie. They couldn't accept that they had worked so
hard for more than ten years only to have their potential success stolen by opportunists.
Therefore the two parties stood against each other in most regions and ran very harsh
campaigns mainly focused on the illegitimate candidacy of the other.
At mid-term it is interesting to have a look at how such newcomers (many were
elected for the first time) have managed to deal with other parties and get used to
institutional politics. The authors have set up a poll of 155 councillors and interviewed
50 of them extensively. It appears that Generation Ecologie and Les Verts candidates
and councillors came from similar sociological backgrounds and that, whatever the
party, they have been active in the green movement for about as long. They basically
share common objectives and disagree mainly on strategic matters. However, it proved
difficult to work together in Regional Councils since the hostility that had arisen
during the campaign never completely vanished. It was impossible to create unity
groups which would have allowed them to get more funding from the councils. On the
contrary they split up into 15 green organisations.
The development of factions in Les Verts as well as in Generation Ecologie boosted
secessionism but some councillors were sensitive to high politics appeal. Green
councillors are quite different from other councillors in their social characteristics and
in their approach to politics. They are hard working, competent and reluctant to abide
by any party discipline. Refusing the routines of the councils, their votes are often
unpredictable and it helped them considerably to influence regional policies. Most
councils are hung and as they are open to negotiations, giving their votes to projects
and motions rather than to parties, they are often in a strong strategic position. Thus
they achieved more than their numbers would normally have allowed. The experience
does not seem to have changed their attitudes towards intra-party democracy
(especially in Les Verts) although the councillors became aware of the gap between
real politics and the somehow naive and manichean views many activists hold. This is
particularly clear in Nord-Pas de Calais whose executive has been chaired by Les Verts
for three years. The election of Mrs Blandin was a surprise but the greens had already
worked with the Parti Socialiste in Lille and a few other towns. However they were a
rather reluctant and untrustworthy ally and the ecologists had to demonstrate their
ability to rule one of the biggest region in France not only to the electorate but also to
incredulous politicians. In the last chapter a quick comparison with the German case
is finally drawn.

FLORENCE FAUCHER
Institut d'Etudes Politiques d'Aix-en-Provence
BOOK REVIEWS 295
Improving Environmental Performance: A Guide to a Proven and Effective
Approach by Sara Bragg, Philippa Knapp and Ronald McLean (Business and the
Environment Practitioner Series). Letchworth, Herts: Technical Communications
(Publishing) Ltd., 1994. Pp.iv + 86. £29.50 (paperback). ISBN 0 946655 78 2

'Busy managers' are the target of this book, the purpose of which is to help convert
their companies to be as 'environmentally friendly' as possible. Initially, the
impression was that this book provided a step by step guide to the process from start
to finish, but this did not prove to be the case. Basically, the focus is on modifying the
organisational and management structures within a business, in order to incorporate
environmental objectives. Once this has been achieved, it would appear that the
manager with the newly bestowed responsibility for matters environmental must
progress to the next publication in the 'Business and the Environment Practitioner
Series' to learn how to enhance his/her company's environmental performance
practically.
The structure of the soft back A4 pamphlet style report makes effective use of
bullet points, headings and summaries in order to allow sections to be skimmed or
skipped without the main thread being lost. The text is very clear and to the point, and
is frequently interspersed with large and easy to understand diagrams, although the
non-utilisation of colour did come as a surprise. The extensive use of examples and
case studies further increase the usefulness of the document. Unfortunately the lack of
an index negated the 'quick reference' appeal that it may otherwise have had. In
addition, the bibliography could hardly be described as comprehensive. The use of
management jargon and rhetoric was also very much in evidence, and could well be
an alienating feature for non-managerial people.
In conclusion, the authors (from the Arthur D. Little Management and Technology
Consulting Firm) have produced a document which pulls together well-recognised
management strategies in the Total Quality Management mode, and applies an
environmental slant to them. Although quite a short book, it is probably not short
enough or specific enough for managers of small and medium-sized enterprises to use
as a recipe book to give them a green company with minimum effort. Other possibly
more useful publications to the environmentally minded company manager include
Profit from Environmental Management - A Business Guide to Effective
Environmental Review published by the Environmental Education Unit at the Open
University, and A D.l.Y. Environmental Review for Companies, jointly produced by
Coopers and Lybrand and the Business and the Environment branch of the Department
of Trade and Industry.

MARCUS ENOCH
The Open University

The Mortality Costs of Regulatory Expenditures edited by W. Kip Viscusi

(reprinted from the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Vol.8, No.1 (1994)). Dordrecht:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994. Pp.122. £66.75 (hardback). ISBN 0792394453

The fact that regulations designed to improve health and safety might in fact have the
reverse effect, or that their achievements may at least be countered to some extent by
losses in health and safety in other areas, is a relatively new idea but one which is
296 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
proving of great interest in the policy arena. This somewhat counter-intuitive concept
derives from two basic principles: that reduction in income as a result of regulatory
expenditures is associated with poorer health due to a fall in protective behaviour, and
that there may be additional risks associated with imposing the regulation, such as
direct risks in construction industries.
Whilst it is conceded that such effects should in theory be incorporated within the
framework of cost-benefit analysis, the immediate advantage of this approach is that it
allows comparison between the reduction in risk and the creation of risk, without resorting
to the controversial practice of assigning monetary values to human injury and fatality.
Given that certain governmental bodies (in the US at least) specifically rule out referral to
monetary estimates of human life, such a 'risk-risk' approach which emphasises the
possible health effects of policies, can represent a useful second best measure.
This volume consists of seven papers, by the leading authors in this field, that made
up a special issue of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. It represents a state-of-the-
art review of the issues at hand although, given that this is very much an emerging area
of interest, there are arguments both for and against the approaches and their relevance
to policy. For instance, 'health-health analysis' (which assesses the net health impact
of regulations) is comprehensively outlined by Lutter and Morrall, but its accuracy and
relevance to decision making are convincingly called into question in subsequent
contributions.
This is very much a theoretical, in-depth coverage of the issues involved in
assessing the increases in risks to human health associated with policies designed to
have the opposite effect. The concepts are covered in detail and with the thoroughness
that would be expected of papers by the likes of such distinguished authors as Kip
Viscusi, Kerry Smith and Paul Portney, presented in a journal and likely to be subject
to considerable scrutiny. The theories, arguments and empirical estimates are outlined
with precision and are well referenced. However, this does not make for a gentle read
and nor does it provide any clear guidance as to how best the health risks of regulatory
expenditures should be brought into the policy-making arena. As a result, it may be of
most interest to academics with a specific interest in this field, although anyone
prepared to invest the time will find it is a fascinating and rewarding exercise.

TOM CROWARDS
CSERGE, University of East Anglia

Environmental Regulation and Economic Growth edited by Alan Boyle. Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1994. Pp.xxix + 263; index. £40. ISBN 0 19 8259107

The collection of chapters in this book were originally presented at a colloquium held
by commercial and academic lawyers in September 1993. The title is somewhat
misleading. Discussion of environmental regulation focuses predominantly upon
legislation, with some exploration of case law in various fields, for instance
environmental liability and the 'Superfund' legislation in the United States. But
regulation is not just about legal developments. Regulation concerns the extent to
which an activity is allowed to carry on. For example, how much of an emission do
we allow? Decisions such as these involve (often competing) value judgements, and
so regulation becomes a political exercise.
To the book's credit some of the authors do recognise the political nature of
regulation. In his chapter on environment and world trade, Benedict Kingsbury
BOOK REVIEWS 297
contrasts the ideal view of the law as an 'embodiment of policy decisions' (p.203) with
the practical function of law as 'an accommodation, however ad hoc and unstable,
between the different normative and institutional systems in order to minimise the
disruptive effects of conflicts' (p.203). However, throughout the book it is the more
'ideal' notion of the law that is taken. Thus European Directives, for example, tend to
be taken as given, without an exploration of the lobbying which shaped their
formulation. Issues of implementation deficit are overlooked. This is unfortunate
because it is at the point of implementation and enforcement that many policies and
laws uncover the power structures that impede environmental progress.
The book's notion of economic growth is also limited. Economic growth is taken
to be synonymous with free trade and competitiveness. Such a narrow
conceptualisation of economic growth is surely myopic in this era of debate
concerning sustainable development and alternative economic indicators.
Many contributions to the book take a European Union perspective. This is
understandable when one realises how the Union has often acted as a motor for UK
environmental regulation. The European Union is also an arena for economic growth
through trade liberalisation, and some chapters consider how the initial legal basis of
the Union, founded on the common market, is being reconciled with the assumption
into the Treaty of an environmental duty. Despite this new duty, and a growth in
environmental Directives, the European environment continues to deteriorate.
Margaret Brusaco Mackenzie explores how environmental law has developed in
response to this, and in particular the Union's Fifth Environmental Action Programme.
Her conclusion is that more effective implementation and enforcement is required.
'[T]he creation of legislation alone is not sufficient' (p.90). Which brings one back to
the concern I have with this book: a lack of analysis beyond an exploration of legal
principles and the law. As a source of reference for the legal aspects of topics such as
eco-audits, environmental information, environmental liability, the GATT/WTO
regime, and the role pollution inspectorates, this collection of papers is undoubtedly
very useful. However, as an exploration of how environmental regulation works in
practice, coupled with notions of economic growth and how these may hinder or
promote more regulation, this book fails the test.

ADRIAN SMITH
Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex

The Application of Economic Techniques in Environmental Impact Assessment

by David James (Environment and Management Series) Kluwer Academic Publishers,
1994. Pp.xvi + 298; index. £76 (hardback). ISBN 0 7923 2721 7

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of texts concerning Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA), but a yawning gap existed in the market which has now
been filled. Many of the existing texts concentrate on the theory, legislative
framework, procedures and methodology of EIA, necessarily giving introduction level
analysis to all facets of EIA including some economic analysis. James' text, however,
is one of the first to concentrate solely on economic instruments, and how they can be
incorporated into the EIA process.
The material covered in James' text in Chapters 1 to 4 is certainly no more detailed
than, or different to, information from any number of existing Environmental
298 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
Economics and Project Appraisal text books, but its strength (from the student
interested in studying EIA's point of view) lies in the fact that it is set out in the context
of Impact Analysis rather than in a purely theoretical framework. Students of
economics will find this text book at very much the first year undergraduate level, and
may well prefer to buy a more specialist EIA book covering procedures, legislation
and methodology. Students with no economics, perhaps from biological sciences or
engineering backgrounds, however, will find this a very informative introduction to
the use of economics in project impact analysis, and on valuing environmental goods
in general.
Whilst James' book comes in at the undergraduate level in terms of the technicality
of analysis and explanation, there is no reason why this book would not provide a
useful reference to both postgraduate students studying either EIA or economics for
the first time, or environmental consultants, local authority officials and Government
officials wishing to acquire a thorough grounding in the potential application of
economics in EIA.
What makes this text particularly useful is that Chapters 5 to 10 are all explanations
of the use of economics in EIA in a case study context. The subject matter tackled in
the case studies also contrast nicely the potential uses of economics in EIA, as each
case study presents a different problem with different potential solutions, ranging from
water pollution in Jakarta bay (Chapter 5), conservation farming in Thailand (Chapter
6) to flood control in Hawaii (Chapter 9) and the cumulative impacts of aluminium
smelting in Australia (Chapter 10).
The main problem with this text is the price. At £76 (hardback) (the reviewer could
not identify a softback price, indicating that it is hard to obtain the text in this format),
students would do well to purchase an introductory text in EIA, an introductory text in
Environmental Economics, a text in the Project Appraisal field and still have enough
change to subscribe to an EIA journal for one year. Having said that this text book is
undoubtedly an essential buy for academic libraries, and many students will benefit by
referring to it.

FRASER QUIN
Edinburgh University

Applying Multiple Criteria Aid for Decision to Environmental Management edited

by Massimo Paruccini (Euro Courses Series: Environmental Management Volume 3).
Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, for the Commission of the European
Communities, 1994. Pp.ix + 366; index. £92 (hardback). ISBN 0 7923 2922 8

This volume represents the proceedings of the 38th meeting of the European Working
Group, 'Multicriteria Aid for Decision' and is a collection of papers on a number of
aspects of multicriteria analysis by academics from around the world, Italy being
especially well represented. Combining contributions from a variety of countries poses
the problem of a common language. Four of the 21 chapters are in French, upon which
this reviewer is unable to comment. Unfortunately, many of the other seventeen
English chapters suffer from language problems which serve to make much of the
reading laborious and at some points entirely unintelligible. This apparent lack of input
at the editing stage is compounded by the number of different fonts and layouts
employed and a considerable number of typographical errors (including the back
cover).
BOOK REVIEWS 299
The book is split into three sections, dealing with multiple criteria decision aid
(MCDA) and environmental management, general contributions to environmental
management, and purely MCDA problems. The majority of the papers are quite
technical but in presenting complex models often fail to explain adequately such
intricacies as what algebraic expressions represent, how the results are derived, or how
figures relate to the text. There is a predominance of lists, tables and alternative
terminologies, and, in general, these appear to be rough outlines of work in progress
which have not been suitably adjusted for consideration by the interested but fallible
reader.
A few papers do stand out as not only covering pertinent areas of where MCDA
may usefully be applied to environmental problems, but also as conveying their
message in an interesting and coherent manner. The chapter by Hokkanen and
Salminen is one of the few that incorporates a thorough and accessible case study, on
applying the ELECTRE III multi criteria method to solid waste disposal in Finland,
and also lucidly outlines the basis for their evaluation criteria and how these are
analysed. Similarly, the chapter by Rousseau and Mattel summarises the differences
between alternative environmental impact assessment methods and multicriteria
approaches, and goes on to provide a detailed case study of power transmission lines
in Quebec.
The initial chapter by Munda, Nijkamp and Rietveld provides a useful overview of
ecological-economic issues and how multi criteria techniques might be applied in this
area. However, although they emphasise the importance of sustainability, how this is
to be realised is not dealt with. This is the case throughout the book, with
sustainability, one of the key concepts in current environmental management, being
generally ignored or mentioned merely in passing. The one exception is the paper by
Petry, where the explicit incorporation of sustainability indicators into a practical, in-
the-field model is discussed, although the next step of integrating these with multi
criteria methods is not addressed. Also notably lacking is any analysis of how results
of the modelling process are to be converted into policy and what constraints there
may be on this process.
These few more promising papers do not cover much new ground and are not
sufficient to save this from being a dull and poorly packaged volume. It is not
recommended as a text book for those unfamiliar with multi criteria analysis and it is
certainly not recommended to environmental managers as a guidebook for applying
multi criteria to policy problems. It is a technical volume on intricate details of multi
criteria modelling and analysis, although even those involved in this field will find it
hard work extracting any useful information.

TOM CROWARDS
CSERGE, University of East Anglia

Why Posterity Matters: Environmental Policies and Future Generations by Avner

de-Shalit. Environmental Philosophies Series. London: Routledge, 1994. Pp.viii +
161. £11.99. ISBN 0 415 10019 4

According to de-Shalit, 'environmental issues are essentially concerned with

intergenerational distribution of access to resources' (p. 10), and his aim is to
demonstrate that policies based on principles of intergenerational justice will protect
the environment in a less contentious manner than attempting to justify environmental
300 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
policies based on obligations owed directly to the non-human world. Although not
expressed in this form, the central argument of the book is that concern for the
environment can be accommodated within an 'ethic for the use of the environment' (as
distinct from an 'environmental ethic') premised on a concern for future generations,
which itself can be regarded as a modern, secular interpretation of the 'stewardship
tradition'.
Working his way through contractual, utilitarian and rights-based accounts, and
finding them all wanting, de-Shalit argues that only a communitarian view which ties
past, present and future generations together in an on-going, continuing
'transgenerational community' can tell us why and in what manner we in the present
have obligations to future generations. A more accurate account of de-Shalit's position
is that obligations derived from intergenerational justice are not owed to 'future
generations' but rather to descendants to whom we stand in a particular moral
relationship. The strength of obligations is in proportion to the degree of 'moral
similarity' (pp.25-31) between generations. Thus obligations 'fade away' the further
into the future we go (or the further we move from 'our' community to an 'alien' one
(p.53), as moral similarity decreases. In both of these cases, considerations of
humanity rather than justice furnish the appropriate moral framework. Thus
obligations to help the poor and the vulnerable outside of one's community are not
matters of justice, since we do not share with them a sense of community in the
requisite sense, what he calls a 'constitutive community' (p.33). This seems to erode
any justification for policies derived from principles of global distributive justice
between 'North' and 'South', which is a central aspect of green internationalism.
Following this, 'acting locally' would be a matter of justice, while 'thinking globally'
a matter of charity.
It is unfortunate that de-Shalit's communitarianism is not related to versions of
green political theory which are most clearly communitarian, such as social ecology or
bioregionalism. He could have made his analysis more directly related to green politics
by relating his interesting idea of the 'transcendent self (pp.35-40) to deep ecology
notions of the 'ecological elf. Both of these explicitly green concerns may suggest
that any putative 'green communitarianism' involves an ecological 'sense of
community', which includes both a 'sense of place' and a 'sense of self, which go
beyond both the species barrier as well as those of the nation-state.
In conclusion, de-Shalit can be congratulated for providing analytical justification
for the wisdom of so-called 'pre-modern peoples' whose relationship with nature was
regulated by the simple and intuitively correct conviction that 'We do not inherit the
earth from our parents, but borrow it from our children.'

JOHN BARRY
Keele University

The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life: Nature's Debt to Society by Andrew Ross.
London: Verso Press, 1994. Pp.308; index. £18.95 (hardback). ISBN 0 86091 429 1

The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life, Andrew Ross's latest work, takes up where his
last book, Strange Weather, left off by practising the green cultural criticism that Ross
called for in his 1991 South Atlantic Quarterly article, 'The Ecology of Images'. This
most recent text, which 'is not a theoretical tract' (p. 18), explores nature as a metaphor,
arguing that though 'natural processes exist', invoking nature as an 'authority ... to
BOOK REVIEWS 301
deal with problems that are primarily social' ultimately represses people, regardless of
the cause (p.238).
Ross, a Scotland native who is currently Professor and Director of the Graduate
Program in American Studies at New York University, writes from a visitor's
perspective as he offers an absorbing array of cultural observations. He shows, for
example, that the Western romanticisation of 'natural' Polynesian culture and its
ensuing tourist trade makes natives 'peasants in paradise' by creating feudal living and
labour relations (p.90). At the same time, however, romantic environmentalists who
champion a restored 'natural' land use deny Polynesian modernity and its ability to
appropriate Western myth. Indeed, environmental primitivists must recognise that
'natural' states have never existed. For Ross, the 'first ecologists' were not indigenous
peoples of the past, but are instead members of 'a society that has not yet appeared'
(p.72) [italics his].
Ross further argues that other environmental metaphors also reflect a politically
dangerous regression to biological determinism. 'Scarcity', for instance, like 'natural',
is a cultural construction manipulated by various groups seeking power. According to
Ross, 'capitalism's first effect is not to create wealth; it creates scarcity, first and
foremost' (p. 16). Whether deployed to describe African famine or SoHo real estate, as
a naturalised term 'scarcity' disguises the roots of some very unnatural shortages. In a
similar manner, Richard Dawkins' 'selfish gene' theory (from which the book derives
its title) projects human behavior onto natural processes by analogising genes to
Chicago gangsters; like Social Darwinism, it too, threatens to eternalise 'social
inequalities' (p.252).
This hip book captures culture's glorious contradictions, from 'liberal' SoHo
residents protesting a proposed AIDS shelter to a United States government that
exports military toxicities globally while accusing Iraq of environmental terrorism.
Hipness, however, risks smugness (surprising in a work emphasising diversity),
particularly when Ross analyses Bill McKibben's The End of Missing Information. In
criticising what he sees as McKibben's failure to understand popular culture's
seductive appeal, Ross writes, 'For a 32-year-old, McKibben often sounds like
Gramps on lithium. This is a man who prefers the mating dance of cranes to semi-
naked club kids shaking their Lycra-clad booties on MTV' (p. 179). Specious
comments like these suggest an environmental politics prone to boredom rather than
commitment.
Ross's hipness also reflects his typically keen understanding of popular
consciousness: 'People respond better to a call for social fulfillment than to a summons
to physical deprivation, and that is why any social movement that uses self-denial as
a vehicle for inducing change is as pathetic as one that uses apocalyptic threats or
appeals to Mother Nature's vengeance' (p.268). While he might find the popular
environmental media an unwanted bedfellow, Ross's bad news rejection reverberates
with the recent trend toward 'upbeat' pieces. Whether green opiate or green
materialism springs from such optimism remains to be seen.

LISA LEBDUSKA
Roger Williams University
302 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
Deep Ecology for the 21st Century: Readings in the Philosophy and Practice of
the New Environmentalism edited by George Sessions. Boston, MA and London:
Shambala Press, 1995. Pp.xxvii + 487. £20 (paperback). ISBN 1 57062 049 0

Despite deep ecology's adherence to 'small is beautiful' this book demonstrates that it
is also capable of the opposite. This book can justifiably be called the magnum opus
of deep ecology; an examination of its roots, an explication of its principles, as well as
a statement of its vision for the next century. It contains 39 readings from those writers
most closely associated with deep ecology, with contributions from its founder Arne
Naess (13 essays), and its leading lights such as Gary Snyder, Paul Shepard, Warwick
Fox, John Rodman and Dolores LaChapelle. As such it is the definitive statement of
deep ecology, bringing together various aspects of deep ecology from its historical
roots, Naess's contribution, to its social and political implications.
The main motivation for this collection is, according to Sessions, to clear up
misunderstandings of deep ecology (p.xiv), although it is best thought of as a clear
description of what deep ecology is, where it has come from and where it is going. The
various themes covered in this book testify to the continuing development of the deep
ecology position. Of particular note in this respect is the recognition of the need for an
explication of the politics of deep ecology. Naess's essay on 'Politics and the Ecological
Crisis' is especially welcome as it both acknowledges the past apolitical character of
deep ecology while also stressing how deep ecology must combine with what he calls
the 'social justice' and 'peace movements'. Another important development is the
critique of 'sustainable development' in the pieces by Worster and Sachs. For the latter
sustainable development is part of a new ecological managerialism advocated by a
rising 'international ecocracy' whose aim is 'not the preservation of nature's dignity ...
but to extend human-centred utilitarianism to posterity' (p.434). Such engagement with
the nascent ecological orthodoxy is to be greatly welcomed, as it seems that deep
ecology does have something important to offer current ecological debates.
As well as some new themes, there are also plenty of essays on characteristic deep
ecological issues, suggesting both a deepening as well as a development of its position.
Of these, the preservation of wilderness/'wildness', both for reasons of biodiversity
(Foreman, Sessions) and the 'sacredness' of such parts of nature (Shepard, Snyder,
Turner) is, as one would expect, well represented. On this issue Snyder's view that
'The wild has, nay is, a kind of hip, renewable virginity' (p.456), is at least worthy of
some in-depth ecofeminist deconstruction! The bioregional politics of deep ecology is
also strongly portrayed, particularly the distinction Grumbine (following Raymond
Dasmann) draws between 'ecosystem' and 'biosphere' people (p.388). Ecosystem
people are those who live within and depend upon a local ecosystem, and are thus
sensitive to its productive and assimilative capacity. Biosphere people on the other
hand are those for whom the entire planet is the support base, a relationship which
ruptures the connection between humans and environment thus creating the conditions
for human demands to exceed environmental limits. This distinction is important and
is likely to play an increasingly central role in debates about sustainable development
on a global scale.
A discernible constant and underlying aspect of the collection is the sustained
attack - one is loath to say vendetta - on critics of deep ecology that characterises
almost all of Sessions' introductory sections. It felt to this reader that Sessions was
carrying out a private campaign against various non deep ecology theorists, but
Murray Bookchin is singled out for particular attention. According to Sessions these
theorists share the erroneous (sic) view that humans are unique and that as well as
BOOK REVIEWS 303
being inhabitants of nature humans are also creators and members of particular
cultures or 'second nature'. For some inexplicable reason Sessions interprets this
thesis as implying that 'civilisation has "transcended" or "evolved out o f Nature and
is thus not subject to evolutionary/ecological laws' (p.97), thereby portraying it as
perpetuating the nature/human dualism. Yet a close reading of this thesis, particularly
Bookchin's conceptualisation of it, does not support this fantastic notion that human
culture has somehow escaped elementary laws of nature. Sessions' private discussion
detracted somewhat from the book as his ad hominem and polemical tone was not
reflected in the book as a whole.
However, this is a timely, well-produced and edited volume which is sure to
become the standard reference book on deep ecology (although many of the articles
are available elsewhere). Ultimately what this collection demonstrates is that the
misunderstandings of deep ecology come from not seeing that its central concern is
with the preservation and defence of meaning as manifested in and through nature in
general and wilderness in particular, rather than nature per se. It is to be hoped that
with this cleared out of the way the real debate between deep ecology and its
alternatives can begin.

JOHN BARRY
Keele University

The Spirit of the Soil: Agriculture and Environmental Ethics by Paul B.

Thompson. London: Routledge, 1994. Pp.xi + 196; index. £35 (hardback); £10.99
(paperback). ISBN 0 415 08622 1 and 08623 X

Environmental ethics, construed as theories of ethical action and restraint in relation

to nature, has tended to focus on arguments for constraint of human action, most
frequently by doctrines of intrinsic value in nature and appeals of some type to nature's
meaning and independence. To a large extent this emphasis has derived from a
preservationist imperative, most frequently linked to wilderness in American and
Australasian contexts, which stands against the claims of maximised production and
the instrumental/economic view of nature.
In this book, Paul B. Thompson attempts something rather different: an attempt to
move towards an adequate philosophy of agriculture, in which the obviously
transformative character of agricultural production may be to some extent reconciled
with the preservationist demands of the environmental ethics approach. The work thus
aims to help fill a sizeable gap in most current approaches, since an 'environmental
ethic that fails to incorporate a food production and distribution ethic will be
inapplicable on a global scale' (p. 12). Accordingly, a broad range is covered, touching
on debates in ecology, environmental philosophy, economics and agricultural
management.
With the goals of the work clarified, Thompson's approach begins in earnest with
a discussion of environmental criticisms of contemporary agricultural practice, and
goes on to identify and characterise four different perspectives, namely productionism,
stewardship, economics and holism, examining each in the light of both practical and
theoretical problems. All are found to have their flaws: productionism, the view that
maximised production is all that matters in agricultural ethics, is 'anti-environmental,
if any philosophy is' (p.70), whilst the stewardship tradition is criticised for its
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anthropocentric bias, and economic theory, though commended as a positive
theoretical tool, cannot provide the ethical values that are sought as a base.
Thompson's most withering criticisms, however, are reserved for holism, as
represented by Alan Savory, Wes Jackson and J. Baird Callicott. "The idea that we will
address environmental impacts of industrial society when enough people go through a
revolution in values, abandoning economic reasoning and committing to deep ecology,
animal rights, ecofeminism, and other holist conceits' he thunders, 'is a prescription
for environmental suicide' (p. 145). Oh dear, there goes most of this reviewer's
Weltanschauung More seriously, this wholesale rejection of nonanthropocentric
perspectives for practical purposes appears to be something of an internal
contradiction, clashing as it does with Thompson's criticism of the stewardship
tradition precisely on the grounds of its anthropocentric bias and inability to deal with
preservationist issues. The clash is not unavoidable, since one can fruitfully
distinguish weak from strong anthropocentric perspectives, but a clear attempt to do
so is notably missing here.
Thompson concludes with a worthwhile attempt to combine the various insights of
the different positions in a discussion of the prospects for sustainable agriculture and
the meaning of sustainability. The treatment here is worthy of praise and careful
reading, but for this reader, the sections on productionism and stewardship appeared
most engaging and of maximal interest. Thompson sees the two perspectives as being
both interlinked and in persistent tension, and shows a strong awareness of the
historical derivation of both from their roots in theology and traditional agrarian
practice. Though the absence of any reference to Robin Attfield's well-known work on
stewardship is rather surprising to the British reader here, Thompson's treatment of the
agricultural philosophy of Wendell Berry is particularly strong, linking social, ethical
and ecological concerns in a concise and lucid manner.
Summing up, the book is an interesting attempt to upset some of the wider-ranging
claims of preservationist ethics and claim new intellectual ground for sowing in the
process. But despite Thompson's efforts, the worry that it does not appear to fully
resolve is how the claims of an agrarian ethics stand up against those of
preservationism.

PIERS H.G. STEPHENS

University of Manchester

Feminism, Animals and Science by Lynda Birke. Buckingham: Open University

Press, 1994. Pp.vii + 151; index. £11.99 (paperback); £35 (hardback). ISBN 0 335
19198 3 and 19197 5

The primal myth of Western culture, that of Genesis, tells us how God brought cattle,
the birds of heaven and all wild creatures before man so that he might name them. This
defining moment fixed a taxonomy of the world, permanently demarcating a god-like
humanity from the less favoured realm of nature. It objectified discursive and practical
relationships that are both hierarchical and gendered. Not only does man rule over
nature, but woman, created after the event, must inhabit a universe which was always
already defined before her coming. She, like the animals, must occupy a set place in a
pre-given order.
As it was with religion, so shall it be with science. Today, scientists bring creation
before themselves to name and classify; species, genera and phyla are dictated by a
BOOK REVIEWS 305
discourse of evolutionary genetics, sociobiology imposes gendered behavioural
typologies, ecology produces systematic maps of energy flows, competitive
interactions and habitat boundaries. Despite recognising our common ancestry, the
gulf between man and nature seems as large as ever and woman is perceived to fall
somewheie between the two. She is somewhat less elevated in the great chain of being
than the rational male epitomised by the calculating scientist. Those women who do
manage to enter the scientific world find that it too is pre-defined, its form and content
party to a masculine agenda.
At least superficially, then, there seems to be some common ground between
women and animals. Both have been made the objects of scientific discourses without
being granted a participatory voice. Both have suffered from the one-dimensionality
of their respective descriptions in practices which subsume their interest under the
production of supposedly universal truths. Sociobiology, for example, easily slips from
explaining the behaviour of ants and bees to human sociality. Essentialist arguments
about the nature of different species worm their way into typologies of the sexual
division of human labour.
Birke argues cogently that language is a vital ingredient in maintaining the
scientific status quo. Science justifies itself by constructing an apparently objective
descriptive language devoid of personal involvement and ethical concern. It is, as
Birke points out, no accident that scientific papers speak of animals being 'sacrificed'
rather than killed. Sacrifice implies both the ritualisation of the act of killing and that
the death serves a higher purpose, presumably furthering the quest for scientific truth.
Such euphemisms operate both to distance scientists as agents from their activities and
to reduce the animal to a cog in the experimental apparatus. Yet, in losing sight of other
possible descriptions of the world, science portrays itself as the only way to achieve
understanding. A scientific fatalism decrees that animals must continue to be
consumed by classrooms and laboratories. This dimly perceived necessity becomes the
uncaring father of invention, it spawns an inventiveness that depends upon the
emotional rigor mortis of the professional scientist.
Birke skilfully picks a path through the complex ways in which science re-
constitutes its objects of study. She writes clearly and engagingly, weaving together
her personal experiences as a biologist with a broadly social constructivist critique of
scientific knowledge to provide novel insights into contemporary biology.
Sometimes however her easy style can seem a little superficial. She never really
explains what she takes science to be or why it should be concerned to re-define the
world. This re-description is not simply a case of euphemistic sublimation on the part
of scientists in order to ease their consciences or develop better public relations. It is,
after all, an integral part of the scientific enterprise itself. In Bachelard's terms, science
makes an epistemological break with everyday descriptions creating in the process
previously unrecognised objects of study. One doesn't have to agree with Bachelard's
belief in the qualitative superiority of scientific accounts to see the value of this
approach for any theory which wants to explain both science's cultural particularity
and its practical successes and failures. We can't, as Birke does, simply assume that
science is what scientists do, for those concerned for experimental animals need to
answer the question of why scientists do what they do in the first place.
Placing greater emphasis on epistemological issues might also have helped Birke
develop links between the feminist critiques of science and the need to engender
respect for animals. The fact that both women and animals have suffered at the hands
of science does not, in itself, mean that there is any necessary commonality of interests
between feminists and animal rights campaigners. Yet feminist standpoint
306 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS
epistemologies, developed specifically to undermine science's claims to embody
universal truths, can obviously serve the interests of both parties, providing a basis for
a critique of the intimate relations between power and knowledge.
Despite these quibbles Feminism, Animals and Science is a readable and
comprehensive introduction to the sociological deconstruction of scientific language
and practice. Anyone reading this will be less likely to see science as having a god-
given right to define our relations with our world's animal co-habitants.

MICK SMITH
University of Stirling