{"id":3572,"date":"2026-08-11T22:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/environment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:32:06","slug":"environment","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>II-A Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics<\/a>\u203a<\/span>Environment<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paper I \u00b7 Comparative Political Analysis and International Politics<\/div>\n

Environment<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper II-A \u00b7 11<\/b> \u2014 Contemporary Global Concerns : Democracy, human rights, environment<\/span>, gender justice terrorism, nuclear proliferation.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Environment \u2014 Rise of the Concern & Environment as Security<\/h3>\n

Once peripheral, environmental issues now sit at the centre of world politics \u2014 the archetypal global issue, its effects crossing every border.<\/p>\n

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  • Barry Buzan<\/span> \u2014 the environment is now a central element of the security agenda; Robyn Eckersley<\/span> \u2014 a shift from state-centric realism to ecocentric cosmopolitanism<\/span>.<\/li>\n
  • Concern gained prominence with Rachel Carson<\/span>\u2019s Silent Spring<\/em> (1962); since the 1980s, science has documented change driven by human development outpacing ecosystem resilience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Environment as a security issue<\/span><\/p>\n

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    • Degradation drives resource conflicts (water, diamonds, oil) in an era of scarcity; protection now covers food, energy and economic security<\/span>.<\/li>\n
    • Barry Buzan<\/span> & the Copenhagen School<\/span> \u2014 climate belongs to the securitisation<\/span> discourse: framed as an existential threat that legitimises extraordinary responses.<\/li>\n
    • Ulrich Beck<\/span> (Risk Society<\/em>) \u2014 climate change as a new global risk transcending borders; manufactured risks<\/span> are politically contested and unequally distributed, disempowering the Global South (Small Island states such as the Maldives face existential threat yet lack voice).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Green Politics \u2014 Reformist & Radical Ecology<\/h3>\n

      Conventional thought is human-centred, treating nature as a means. John Locke<\/span> \u2014 humans are \u201cthe masters and possessors of nature.\u201d Environmental thought instead rests on ecology<\/span> \u2014 the web of relationships sustaining all life. The early transcendentalists \u2014 Thoreau<\/span>, Whitman<\/span>, Emerson<\/span> \u2014 urged, in O\u2019Riordan<\/span> and Turner<\/span>\u2019s phrase, \u201ca sense of responsibility for the earth\u201d before tampering with its resources.<\/p>\n

      Reformist ecology<\/span><\/p>\n

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      • Accepts \u201climits to growth<\/span>\u201d; treats damage as an externality or \u201csocial cost,\u201d its chief ideological influence being utilitarianism<\/span>. Peter Singer<\/span> (1993) \u2014 animal rights, since all species have a right to avoid suffering.<\/li>\n
      • Three solutions: market ecologism<\/span> \/ green capitalism (green taxes); stronger state regulation; and shifts in personal and social attitudes to consumption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Key concept<\/th>\nMeaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
        Green politics<\/span><\/td>\nNature as an interconnected whole embracing humans, non-humans and the inanimate world<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Tragedy of the commons<\/span><\/td>\nThreats to \u201ccommon pool resources\u201d from overpopulation, depletion, habitat loss, overfishing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Anthropocentrism<\/span><\/td>\nHuman needs and interests are of overriding moral importance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Ecocentrism<\/span><\/td>\nPriority to ecological balance over human ends<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Deep ecology<\/span><\/td>\nRejects anthropocentrism; bio-equality, diversity, decentralisation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Shallow ecology<\/span><\/td>\nHarnesses ecology to human ends; sustainability and conservation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

        Radical Environmentalism<\/h3>\n

        Radical theories treat capitalist modernity \u2014 its values, structures and institutions \u2014 as the root cause of degradation; many are forms of social ecology<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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        • Murray Bookchin<\/span> \u2014 social ecology<\/span>: problems stem from social hierarchies and unequal power; repair needs a decentralised, self-managing society (also the ground of eco-anarchism<\/span>).<\/li>\n
        • Eco-socialism<\/span> \u2014 capitalism\u2019s anti-ecological bias flows from private property and \u201ccommodification\u201d; sustainability needs a socialist society.<\/li>\n
        • Ecofeminism<\/span> \u2014 domination over women leads to domination over nature (Carolyn Merchant<\/span>); Val Plumwood<\/span> links the exploitation of women and of nature to patriarchal-capitalist systems.<\/li>\n
        • Arne Naess<\/span> (1970s) \u2014 deep ecology<\/span> demands a paradigm change: rejecting all anthropocentrism for a radical holism of interconnectedness.<\/li>\n
        • In practice \u2014 John Muir<\/span> (Sierra Club; Hetch Hetchy), Sunderlal Bahuguna<\/span> (Tehri Dam), Medha Patkar<\/span> (Sardar Sarovar), Ken Saro-Wiwa (Ogoni, Nigeria).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          North\u2013South Divide in Environmental Politics<\/h3>\n

          The debate over identifying and limiting climate change: the industrialised North (G-8<\/span>) vs the developing South (G-77<\/span>). Priorities have diverged since the Stockholm Conference (1972)<\/span> \u2014 consumer needs vs basic needs, and the link between environment and rural poverty.<\/p>\n

          The North\u2013South divide<\/span><\/p>\n

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          NORTH \u00b7 G-8<\/th>\nSOUTH \u00b7 G-77<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
          Goal: improve the state of the global environment \u00b7 EU as \u201cgood cop\u201d (Paris), USA as \u201cbad cop\u201d (resists binding cuts)<\/td>\nGoal: reform an unfair global system \u00b7 equity, historical responsibility, right to develop<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n