Capitalism and environmental unsustainability

In an era of environmental unsustainability, this interdisciplinary group is dedicated to examining the political and economic organisation of nature and society.

They study how market forces and public governance (at different spatial scales) interact to drive various forms of ecological degradation, and the negotiation of its consequences by actors in civil society, the state and institutions of global governance.

This entails an awareness of the political-economic drivers of climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, the collapse of fish stocks, water scarcity, and the pollution of soil and water supplies. But it also demands a recognition of how environmental injustice intersects with issues of social injustice – poverty and vulnerability in particular – in order to critically assess the fairness as well as efficacy of challenging these drivers and the proposed solutions to unsustainability. 

From different disciplinary backgrounds, and on the basis of empirical evidence gathered from across the world, this group debates:

  • Carbon markets and offsetting
  • The monetary and non-monetary valuations of natural resources
  • The prospects of, and limits to, green growth
  • The hegemony of GDP growth and alternative measurements of progress
  • The politics and economics of decarbonisation and socio-technical transitions
  • The barriers to the introduction of low-carbon energy production, architecture and urban re-design
  • The effects of capital interests on the scale and ambition of environmental regulation and energy policy
  • Democracy and the environmental crisis
  • Greening the institutions of global governance
  • The ‘Green State’
  • The prospects of greening the state’s economic governance in terms of both fiscal and monetary policy
  • Local Government and natural resource management
  • Environmental social movements
  • Green citizenship
  • Transforming models of production and consumption to reflect the challenge of ecological unsustainability

People

  • Pritish Behuria is involved in various research on the nature of green energy transitions.
  • Carl Death - Carl’s research focuses on forms of power and resistance that structure environmental politics in Africa, with particular interest in South Africa and Tanzania. His research has addressed various case studies including climate, green economy and sustainable development strategies, consumption movements, food security and land reform, diplomatic summits, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and nuclear power. His most recent publication is entitled The Green State in Africa (Yale University Press, 2016).
  • Sherilyn MacGregor – Sherilyn specialises in the interdisciplinary field of gender and environmental politics. Her research explores themes of environmental (un)sustainability, gender (in)equality, and theories and practices of citizenship. The research is animated by critical questions about power relations, environmental and social justice, the gendered divisions of labour and responsibility, and strategies for eco-political transformation in affluent societies.
  • Matthew Paterson - Matthew’s research and teaching focuses on the political economy of climate change. He has worked variously on the negotiation of the UNFCCC, the insurance industry’s initiatives, carbon markets and the financialisation of the climate, and the political economy of decarbonisation.
  • Erik Swyngedouw - Erik has a long-standing interest in understanding the political, economic, and environmental dynamics of capitalism and the social forces and practices that aim at its transformation towards a more genuinely humanising geography. His academic research interests include: political-ecology; hydro-social conflict; urban governance and urban movements; democracy and political power; and the politics of globalisation.
  • Robert Watt – Robbie’s broad interests in research and teaching are in the politics of international development, climate change policy, international political economy, and environmental change.
  • Luke Yates – Luke’s research focuses on collective action, politics and everyday consumption practices. He is particularly interested in how these play out in processes of change such as through protests and occupations, political or politicised forms of consumption and lifestyle, and shifting patterns and organisation of daily life.