Shannon O’Lear is Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas. Her books include Environmental Politics: Scale and Power (Cambridge 2010) and Reframing Climate Change: Constructing Ecological Geopolitics (Routledge 2015)

O’Lear presents a cohesive, valuable analysis of the role geopolitics plays in discourse about the environment and environmental problems. She asserts that the Western world’s dialogue about environmental problems fails to carefully define the environment, to understand the role of human power systems, and to understand the role of human geography. Through four in-depth case studies, O’Lear demonstrates the West’s tendency to oversimplify risks, underplay political power struggles, and ignore the context of cultural and political geography. Her case studies focus on overpopulation, slow violence and resource scarcity, climate change security, and the role of science in policy making. Her cases provide a wealth of examples of the limitations in Western modes of environmental dialogue, drawing on a wide range of media coverage. Furthermore, though her four cases offer distinct pieces of supporting evidence for her research, O’Lear also integrates the cases well, connecting them for her overarching argument about linking geopolitics to environmental discourse. Ultimately, she presents a strong case for recognizing and challenging the West’s existing framework for environmental discourse by bringing in a stronger role for science and a clearer understanding of security and risk.Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Introduction to Environmental GeopoliticsChapter 2: Population and EnvironmentChapter 3: Resource Conflict and Slow ViolenceChapter 4: Climate Change and SecurityChapter 5: Science, Imagery, and Understanding the EnvironmentChapter 6: Building from HereReferencesInddexAbout the Author

Shannon O’Lear is Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas. Her books include Environmental Politics: Scale and Power (Cambridge 2010) and Reframing Climate Change: Constructing Ecological Geopolitics (Routledge 2015)

O’Lear presents a cohesive, valuable analysis of the role geopolitics plays in discourse about the environment and environmental problems. She asserts that the Western world’s dialogue about environmental problems fails to carefully define the environment, to understand the role of human power systems, and to understand the role of human geography. Through four in-depth case studies, O’Lear demonstrates the West’s tendency to oversimplify risks, underplay political power struggles, and ignore the context of cultural and political geography. Her case studies focus on overpopulation, slow violence and resource scarcity, climate change security, and the role of science in policy making. Her cases provide a wealth of examples of the limitations in Western modes of environmental dialogue, drawing on a wide range of media coverage. Furthermore, though her four cases offer distinct pieces of supporting evidence for her research, O’Lear also integrates the cases well, connecting them for her overarching argument about linking geopolitics to environmental discourse. Ultimately, she presents a strong case for recognizing and challenging the West’s existing framework for environmental discourse by bringing in a stronger role for science and a clearer understanding of security and risk.Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Introduction to Environmental GeopoliticsChapter 2: Population and EnvironmentChapter 3: Resource Conflict and Slow ViolenceChapter 4: Climate Change and SecurityChapter 5: Science, Imagery, and Understanding the EnvironmentChapter 6: Building from HereReferencesInddexAbout the Author

Shannon O’Lear is Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas. Her books include Environmental Politics: Scale and Power (Cambridge 2010) and Reframing Climate Change: Constructing Ecological Geopolitics (Routledge 2015)

O’Lear presents a cohesive, valuable analysis of the role geopolitics plays in discourse about the environment and environmental problems. She asserts that the Western world’s dialogue about environmental problems fails to carefully define the environment, to understand the role of human power systems, and to understand the role of human geography. Through four in-depth case studies, O’Lear demonstrates the West’s tendency to oversimplify risks, underplay political power struggles, and ignore the context of cultural and political geography. Her case studies focus on overpopulation, slow violence and resource scarcity, climate change security, and the role of science in policy making. Her cases provide a wealth of examples of the limitations in Western modes of environmental dialogue, drawing on a wide range of media coverage. Furthermore, though her four cases offer distinct pieces of supporting evidence for her research, O’Lear also integrates the cases well, connecting them for her overarching argument about linking geopolitics to environmental discourse. Ultimately, she presents a strong case for recognizing and challenging the West’s existing framework for environmental discourse by bringing in a stronger role for science and a clearer understanding of security and risk.Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Introduction to Environmental GeopoliticsChapter 2: Population and EnvironmentChapter 3: Resource Conflict and Slow ViolenceChapter 4: Climate Change and SecurityChapter 5: Science, Imagery, and Understanding the EnvironmentChapter 6: Building from HereReferencesInddexAbout the Author