Natural Resources and Social Conflict: Towards Critical Environmental Security

Introduction: Towards Critical Environmental Security; M.Schnurr & L.Swatuk What Are We Really Looking For? From Eco-violence to Environmental Injustice; P.Stoett Climatic Security and the Tipping Point Conception of the Earth System; C.Russill Insecurities of Non-Dominance: Re-Theorizing Human Security and Environmental Change in Developed States; W.Greaves Water and Security in Africa: State-Centric Narratives, Human Insecurities; L.Swatuk Avoiding the Resource Curse in Ghana: Assessing the Options; P.Arthur Sexual Violence, Coltan and the Democratic Republic of Congo; S.Whitman 'The Elephant in the Room?' Peak Oil on the Security Agenda; S.Mulligan Dirty Security? Tar Sands, Energy Security and Environmental Violence; P.Le Billon & A.Carter Loud Bangs and Quiet Canadians: An analysis of oil patch sabotage in British Columbia, Canada; C.Arsenault Bodies on the Line: The In/Security of Everyday Life in Aamjiwnaang; S.Wiebe Afterward: Ecoviolence, Security, Geopolitics; S.Dalby

Edited By Matthew A. Schnurr and Larry A. Swatuk

'This is an exciting contribution that advances theories of environmental security. The chapters fuse critical perspectives on environmental security with evidence from developing and developed regions to offer a coherent perspective on the discursive practices of environmental security and their material consequences. Spanning global to local scales, and weaving together theories about justice, power, security and the state, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in critical environmental security studies.' - Jon Barnett, Professor of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne, Australia'The very ideas of environmental security and environmental conflict have been controversial from their inception. In mapping the complex connections between the biophysical world, natural resources and collective violence, the devil is always in the details. The great strength of this book is that it approaches the field with a critical eye and a refusal to accept conventional wisdom by always being attentive to what the editors call rethinking security from the bottom up. Whether tackling the challenges of the Canadian tar sands or coltan in Congo, this volume represents an important challenge to the old environmental world order of the first Earth Summit in Rio and offers us instead a compelling vision of how to grasp the radical environmental insecurities confronting the global underclasses.' - Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California-Berkeley, USA