Robyn Eckersley

Last updated

Robyn Eckersley Robyn Eckersley.jpg
Robyn Eckersley

Robyn Eckersley (born 1958) is a Professor and Head of Political Science in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Contents

Background

Eckersley grew up in Perth and graduated in law from the University of Western Australia. She studied at the University of Cambridge, and has a PhD in environmental politics from the University of Tasmania. [1] She was previously a public lawyer, then a lecturer at Monash University until 2001 when she moved to the University of Melbourne.

Eckersley was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2007. [2]

The Green State

Eckersley's arguments are largely conducted in the domain of political theory, but have proven influential in environmental politics. Her 1992 book Environmentalism and Political Theory: Toward an Ecocentric Approach was one of the first to argue for an ecocentric form of government.

In her 2004 book The Green State: Rethinking Democracy and Sovereignty, Eckersley proposes "critical political ecology" as a paradigm to explore what it might take to create a green state or green democratic state, a government where the regulatory ideals and democratic procedures of the democratic state are informed by ecological democracy. The sovereign state is recast in the role of ecological steward and facilitator of transnational democracy. The green democratic state is proposed as an evolutionary alternative to the liberal democratic state, the welfare state, and the neoliberal state. [3]

Works

Related Research Articles

Ecological modernization is a school of thought that argues that both the state and the market can work together to protect the environment. It has gained increasing attention among scholars and policymakers in the last several decades internationally. It is an analytical approach as well as a policy strategy and environmental discourse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental sociology</span> Study of interactions between societies and their natural environments

Environmental sociology is the study of interactions between societies and their natural environment. The field emphasizes the social factors that influence environmental resource management and cause environmental issues, the processes by which these environmental problems are socially constructed and define as social issues, and societal responses to these problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental history</span> Specialisation of history

Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa.

Ecocentrism is a term used by environmental philosophers and ecologists to denote a nature-centered, as opposed to human-centered, system of values. The justification for ecocentrism usually consists in an ontological belief and subsequent ethical claim. The ontological belief denies that there are any existential divisions between human and non-human nature sufficient to claim that humans are either (a) the sole bearers of intrinsic value or (b) possess greater intrinsic value than non-human nature. Thus the subsequent ethical claim is for an equality of intrinsic value across human and non-human nature, or biospherical egalitarianism.

The environmental humanities is an interdisciplinary area of research, drawing on the many environmental sub-disciplines that have emerged in the humanities over the past several decades, in particular environmental literature, environmental philosophy, environmental history, science and technology studies, environmental anthropology, and environmental communication. Environmental humanities employs humanistic questions about meaning, culture, values, ethics, and responsibilities to address pressing environmental problems. The environmental humanities aim to help bridge traditional divides between the sciences and the humanities, as well as between Western, Eastern, and Indigenous ways of relating to the natural world and the place of humans within it. The field also resists the traditional divide between "nature" and "culture," showing how many "environmental" issues have always been entangled in human questions of justice, labor, and politics. Environmental humanities is also a way of synthesizing methods from different fields to create new ways of thinking through environmental problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental philosophy</span> Branch of philosophy

Environmental philosophy is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the natural environment and humans' place within it. It asks crucial questions about human environmental relations such as "What do we mean when we talk about nature?" "What is the value of the natural, that is non-human environment to us, or in itself?" "How should we respond to environmental challenges such as environmental degradation, pollution and climate change?" "How can we best understand the relationship between the natural world and human technology and development?" and "What is our place in the natural world?" Environmental philosophy includes environmental ethics, environmental aesthetics, ecofeminism, environmental hermeneutics, and environmental theology. Some of the main areas of interest for environmental philosophers are:

Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, the management of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. For example, concerning environmental policy, the implementation of an eco-energy-oriented policy at a global level to address the issues of global warming and climate changes could be addressed. Policies concerning energy or regulation of toxic substances including pesticides and many types of industrial waste are part of the topic of environmental policy. This policy can be deliberately taken to influence human activities and thereby prevent undesirable effects on the biophysical environment and natural resources, as well as to make sure that changes in the environment do not have unacceptable effects on humans.

Adam Przeworski is a Polish-American professor of political science specializing in comparative politics. He is Carroll and Milton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Politics of New York University. He is a scholar of democratic societies, theory of democracy, social democracy and political economy, as well as an early proponent of rational choice theory in political science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carole Pateman</span> British political theorist (born 1940)

Carole Pateman FBA FAcSS FLSW is a British feminist and political theorist. She is known as a critic of liberal democracy and has been a member of the British Academy since 2007.

Warwick Fox is an Australian-UK philosopher. He is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Central Lancashire, and his books include Toward a Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations for Environmentalism;Ethics and the Built Environment (ed.); A Theory of General Ethics: Human Relationships, Nature, and the Built Environment; and On Beautiful Days Such as This: A Philosopher's Search for Love, Work, Place, Meaning, and Suchlike. His main areas of philosophical interest are environmental philosophy, General Ethics, and the nature of the interior lives of humans and other animals.

Christian Reus-Smit is Professor of International Relations (IR) at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of IR. Reus-Smit's research focuses on the institutional nature and evolution of international orders, and he has published on widely on issues of international relations theory, international law, multilateralism, human rights, American power, and most recently, cultural diversity and international order. He is long-time editor of the Cambridge Studies in International Relations book series, and was a Founding Editor with Duncan Snidal and Alexander Wendt of the leading journal International Theory. His publications have been awarded many prizes, including the Susan Strange Best Book Prize (2014), the BISA Best Article Prize (2002), and the Northedge Prize (1992). In 2013-14 Professor Reus-Smit served as a Vice-President of the International Studies Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurent Thévenot</span>

Laurent Thévenot is a French sociologist Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris).

Alan Brian Carter is Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Tasmanian state election</span>

The 1972 Tasmanian state election was held on 22 April 1972 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arran Gare</span> Australian philosopher (born 1948)

Arran Emrys Gare is an Australian philosopher known mainly for his work in environmental philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of culture and the metaphysics of process philosophy. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

Environmental politics designate both the politics about the environment and an academic field of study focused on three core components:

John S. Dryzek is a Centenary Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis.

Jean Louise Cohen is the Nell and Herbert Singer Professor of Political Thought at Columbia University. She specializes in contemporary political and legal theory with particular research interests in democratic theory, critical theory, civil society, gender and the law.

Green theory is a theory of international relations (IR). In contrast to mainstream theories of IR, it posits environmental issues as central to the study of international relations. According to green theory, mainstream theories like neorealism and neoliberalism fail to understand environmental problems through their rationalist and state-centric frameworks of analysis. Green theory focuses on the study of global justice, international development, modernization, and security. Green perspectives in IR emerged in the 1970s as a response to the increase of transnational issues related to the environment. By the end of the 20th century, green theory had established itself within the discipline. Green theory aligns itself with postpositivism that emerged from the so-called third debate of IR. The theory can be divided into an international political economy-oriented wing and a cosmopolitan wing. Initially, the IPE wing, mainly interested in environmental regimes, was stronger, but subsequently many cosmopolitan theorists, like David Held, Andrew Linklater, Henry Shue, and Thomas Pogge, have made contributions related to environmental issues.

William Ophuls, the pen name of Patrick Ophuls, is an American political scientist, ecologist, independent scholar and author. He is known for his pioneering role in the modern environmental movement. His work focuses on some of the ecological, social, and political implications of modern industrial civilization.

References

  1. University of Melbourne: "Robyn Eckersley", retrieved 24 July 2013
  2. "Academy Fellow: Professor Robyn Eckersley FASSA". Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. Eckersley, Robyn (2004). The Green State: Rethinking Democracy and Sovereignty. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 347. ISBN   978-0-262-55056-7.
  4. http://librafalas.weebly.com/uploads/6/6/7/9/6679074/the_green_state_rethinking_democracy.pdf download