Catriona McKinnon – författare

Climate change is an ethical failure. Floods, fires, droughts, and extreme weather caused by climate change are already killing people and ruining lives on a massive scale. These avoidable impacts hurt the most vulnerable among us first, and worst. Why have we failed to prevent climate change? How can we mobilise to do better politically, socially, and economically? Where does the greatest responsibility for action lie?In this book, Catriona McKinnon unravels the vital contributions made by engaged political theory to urgent climate challenges left unmet by a lack of political will. These challenges, and our political inertia, cannot be tackled without addressing questions of responsibility, collective duty, fairness, harm, techno-optimism, the value of nature, and the future of humanity. McKinnon’s philosophical analysis is interwoven with discussion of the latest climate science, current politics and policies, and emerging technologies, in order to show that we will not find acceptable routes out of the climate crisis without the compass of political theory.Climate Change and Political Theory provides readers of all backgrounds and levels with a lucid distillation of, and curated guide to, the political theory and ethics of climate change.

With a focus on real-world problems and debates, Issues in Political Theory is the clearest and most engaging introduction to political theory and how it is applied to address a range of global challenges. Its team of expert contributors introduce students to important concepts, key thinkers, and major texts in political theory, while extended case studies at the end of each chapter show students how to apply theoretical ideas to real contemporary issues and debates. The text is supported by online resources, which include additional case studies intended to give students confidence in using theory to shed light on key issues, and a range of additional teaching and learning resources.

In the face of limited time and escalating impacts, some scientists and politicians are talking about attempting "grand technological interventions" into the Earth’s basic physical and biological systems ("geoengineering") to combat global warming. Early ideas include spraying particles into the stratosphere to block some incoming sunlight, or "enhancing" natural biological systems to withdraw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a higher rate. Such technologies are highly speculative and scientific development of them has barely begun.Nevertheless, it is widely recognized that geoengineering raises critical questions about who will control planetary interventions, and what responsibilities they will have. Central to these questions are issues of justice and political legitimacy. For instance, while some claim that climate risks are so severe that geoengineering must be attempted, others insist that the current global order is so unjust that interventions are highly likely to be illegitimate and exacerbate injustice. Such concerns are rarely discussed in the policy arena in any depth, or with academic rigor. Hence, this book gathers contributions from leading voices and rising stars in political philosophy to respond. It is essential reading for anyone puzzled about how geoengineering might promote or thwart the ends of justice in a dramatically changing world.The chapters in this book were originally published in the journals: Ethics, Policy & the Environment and Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.

In the face of limited time and escalating impacts, some scientists and politicians are talking about attempting "grand technological interventions" into the Earth’s basic physical and biological systems ("geoengineering") to combat global warming. Early ideas include spraying particles into the stratosphere to block some incoming sunlight, or "enhancing" natural biological systems to withdraw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a higher rate. Such technologies are highly speculative and scientific development of them has barely begun.Nevertheless, it is widely recognized that geoengineering raises critical questions about who will control planetary interventions, and what responsibilities they will have. Central to these questions are issues of justice and political legitimacy. For instance, while some claim that climate risks are so severe that geoengineering must be attempted, others insist that the current global order is so unjust that interventions are highly likely to be illegitimate and exacerbate injustice. Such concerns are rarely discussed in the policy arena in any depth, or with academic rigor. Hence, this book gathers contributions from leading voices and rising stars in political philosophy to respond. It is essential reading for anyone puzzled about how geoengineering might promote or thwart the ends of justice in a dramatically changing world.The chapters in this book were originally published in the journals: Ethics, Policy & the Environment and Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.

Why should we be tolerant? What does it mean to ‘live and let live’? What ought to be tolerated and what not?Catriona McKinnon presents a comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to toleration in her new book. Divided into two parts, the first clearly introduces and assesses the major theoretical accounts of toleration, examining it in light of challenges from scepticism, value pluralism and reasonableness. The second part applies the theories of toleration to contemporary debates such as female circumcision, French Headscarves, artistic freedom, pornography and censorship, and holocaust denial. Drawing on the work of philosophers, such as Locke, Mill and Rawls, whose theories are central to toleration, the book provides a solid theoretical base to those who value toleration, whilst considering the challenges toleration faces in practice. It is the ideal starting point for those coming to the topic for the first time, as well as anyone interested in the challenges facing toleration today.

Why should we be tolerant? What does it mean to ‘live and let live’? What ought to be tolerated and what not?Catriona McKinnon presents a comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to toleration in her new book. Divided into two parts, the first clearly introduces and assesses the major theoretical accounts of toleration, examining it in light of challenges from scepticism, value pluralism and reasonableness. The second part applies the theories of toleration to contemporary debates such as female circumcision, French Headscarves, artistic freedom, pornography and censorship, and holocaust denial. Drawing on the work of philosophers, such as Locke, Mill and Rawls, whose theories are central to toleration, the book provides a solid theoretical base to those who value toleration, whilst considering the challenges toleration faces in practice. It is the ideal starting point for those coming to the topic for the first time, as well as anyone interested in the challenges facing toleration today.

Can, and should, liberalism make itself hospitable to a politics which does justice to climate change? To what extent are the values, methods, and assumptions of liberalism adaptable to the challenges raised? Liberal thinking – broadly construed – may dominate the Academy and the political landscape. Are the environmental priorities that are thrown into relief by climate change a threat to it, or are they an opportunity for it to show its worth?This book explores fresh arguments by leading scholars, both of whom are sceptical of liberalism’s capacity to meet these challenges, and sympathetic to the project of developing liberal values so as to create a liberal approach that can deliver climate change justice. The chapters appeal to new insights and considerations reveal the complexity of the issues at stake in the real world of climate change politics. They make the political theory of climate change justice available to decision-makers whose practice will determine whether we achieve it.This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Economy.

Climate change creates unprecedented problems of intergenerational justice. What do members of the current generation owe to future generations in virtue of the contribution they are making to climate change? Providing important new insights within the theoretical framework of political liberalism, Climate Change and Future Justice presents arguments in three key areas: Mitigation: the current generation ought to adopt a strong precautionary principle in formulating climate change policy in order to minimise the risks of serious harm from climate change imposed on future generations Adaptation: the current generation ought to create a fund to which members of future generations may apply for compensation if the risks of climate change harm imposed on them by the current generation ripen into harms Triage: future generations ought to keep alive hope for a return to the framework of justice for the social cooperation of future people less burdened by climate change harms.This work presents agenda-setting applications of important principles of democratic equality to the most serious set of political challenges ever faced by human society. It should be required reading for political theorists and environmental philosophers.

Climate change creates unprecedented problems of intergenerational justice. What do members of the current generation owe to future generations in virtue of the contribution they are making to climate change? Providing important new insights within the theoretical framework of political liberalism, Climate Change and Future Justice presents arguments in three key areas: Mitigation: the current generation ought to adopt a strong precautionary principle in formulating climate change policy in order to minimise the risks of serious harm from climate change imposed on future generations Adaptation: the current generation ought to create a fund to which members of future generations may apply for compensation if the risks of climate change harm imposed on them by the current generation ripen into harms Triage: future generations ought to keep alive hope for a return to the framework of justice for the social cooperation of future people less burdened by climate change harms.This work presents agenda-setting applications of important principles of democratic equality to the most serious set of political challenges ever faced by human society. It should be required reading for political theorists and environmental philosophers.

Can, and should, liberalism make itself hospitable to a politics which does justice to climate change? To what extent are the values, methods, and assumptions of liberalism adaptable to the challenges raised? Liberal thinking – broadly construed – may dominate the Academy and the political landscape. Are the environmental priorities that are thrown into relief by climate change a threat to it, or are they an opportunity for it to show its worth?This book explores fresh arguments by leading scholars, both of whom are sceptical of liberalism’s capacity to meet these challenges, and sympathetic to the project of developing liberal values so as to create a liberal approach that can deliver climate change justice. The chapters appeal to new insights and considerations reveal the complexity of the issues at stake in the real world of climate change politics. They make the political theory of climate change justice available to decision-makers whose practice will determine whether we achieve it.This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Economy.

The idea of toleration as the appropriate response to difference has been central to liberal thought since Locke. Although the subject has been widely and variously explored, there has been reluctance to acknowledge the new meaning that current debates on toleration have when compared with those at its origins in the early modern period and with subsequent discussions about pluralism and freedom of expression.This collection starts from a clear recognition of the new terms of the debate. It recognises that a new academic consensus is slowly emerging on a view of tolerance that is reasonable in two senses. Firstly of reflecting the capacity of seeing the other's viewpoint, secondly on the relatively limited extent to which toleration can be granted. It reflects the cross-thematic and cross-disciplinary nature of such discussions, dissecting a number of debates such as liberalism and communitarianism, public and private, multiculturalism and the politics of identity, and a number of disciplines: moral, legal and political philosophy, historical and educational studies, anthropology, sociology and psychology. A group of distinguished authors explore the complexities emerging from the new debate. They scrutinise, with analytical sophistication, the philosophical foundation, the normative content and the broadly political implications of a new culture of toleration for diverse societies. Specific issues considered include the toleration of religious discrimination in employment, city life and community, social ethos, publicity, justice and reason and ethics.The book is unique in resolutely looking forward to the theoretical and practical challenges posed by commitment to a conception of toleration demanding empathy and understanding in an ever-diversifying world.An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

Since the 17th century, liberal thought has been interested in the rights of individuals and their capacity to engage as free equals in the political acticity of their community. This volume presents essays that explore citizenship from a fresh perspective. The contributors argue that it is time to go beyond the standard concern of what can be ascribed to citizens, rather one must ask what should be demanded of a citizen, in the name of the protection of liberty, equality and stabilty.

Since the seventeenth century liberal thinkers have been interested in the rights of individuals and their capacities to engage as free equals in the political activity of their community. However, as many in the republican tradition have noted, the maintenance of certain types of communities - predicated on broadly shared ethical expectations, modes of communication and patterns of activity - is a precondition of the meaningful exercise of citizenship rights. This volume presents essays from many of the major names in the field, exploring citizenship from a fresh perspective. After two decades of strident individualism, in the light of claims that the liberal democratic state is under threat of collapse from the forces of globalization, and in the midst of a theoretical debate about the possible and desirable limits of individual autonomy, they argue that it is high time to go beyond the standard concern of what can be ascribed to citizens. We must ask what should be demanded of them, in the name of the protection of liberty, equality and stability.

Tolerance is widely regarded as a virtue - of both individuals and groups - that modern democratic and multicultural societies cannot do without. The historical emergence and growth of religious toleration is often seen as an important precondition for the development of political and legal institutions that aim to respect different ideas of the good in society. But the exact nature, limits and forms of expression of toleration are not beyond contestation. The very formulation of the ideal of tolerance is said to give rise to a moral paradox: why tolerate ideas, behaviour and practices that one believes to be wrong? The first part of this collection of essays traces the passage of toleration from a moral to a political virtue, which may contribute to avoiding such a paradox. Political toleration asks not that people accept the reasons or actions of others, to whom they may strongly object, but rather that they reassess and revise their own reasons for opposition and repression in the light of public reason.Such a shift to the political perspective brings, however, new theoretical and institutional problems relating in particular to the nature of political neutrality and the working of democratic institutions. The second and third parts of the volume attempt to clarify the terms of the debate on political toleration. The book brings together a group of international scholars, many of whom have already contributed to the debate on toleration, and who are offering fresh thoughts and approaches to it. The essays of this collection are written from a variety of perspectives: historical, analytical, normative, and legal. Yet, all authors share a concern with the sharpening of our understanding of the reasons for toleration as well as with making them relevant to the way in which we live with others in our modern and diverse societies.

Climate change is an ethical failure. Floods, fires, droughts, and extreme weather caused by climate change are already killing people and ruining lives on a massive scale. These avoidable impacts hurt the most vulnerable among us first, and worst. Why have we failed to prevent climate change? How can we mobilise to do better politically, socially, and economically? Where does the greatest responsibility for action lie?In this book, Catriona McKinnon unravels the vital contributions made by engaged political theory to urgent climate challenges left unmet by a lack of political will. These challenges, and our political inertia, cannot be tackled without addressing questions of responsibility, collective duty, fairness, harm, techno-optimism, the value of nature, and the future of humanity. McKinnon’s philosophical analysis is interwoven with discussion of the latest climate science, current politics and policies, and emerging technologies, in order to show that we will not find acceptable routes out of the climate crisis without the compass of political theory.Climate Change and Political Theory provides readers of all backgrounds and levels with a lucid distillation of, and curated guide to, the political theory and ethics of climate change.

The ethics of climate governance is of critical importance to current debates in climate justice, yet until now it has been largely neglected. This book explores the ethical dimensions of bringing the threat of global warming under effective political control. It addresses problems of domination and vulnerability in international climate negotiations, democratic legitimacy and equity in climate governance, strategies for dealing with gridlock in climate governance, and new problems of governance raised by the technologies of geoengineering and biomass incineration. This hugely important and timely collection of essays showcases the latest work by established and the best emerging scholars in this field, striking out in a new direction in the climate justice debate.

The ethics of climate governance is of critical importance to current debates in climate justice, yet until now it has been largely neglected. This book explores the ethical dimensions of bringing the threat of global warming under effective political control. It addresses problems of domination and vulnerability in international climate negotiations, democratic legitimacy and equity in climate governance, strategies for dealing with gridlock in climate governance, and new problems of governance raised by the technologies of geoengineering and biomass incineration. This hugely important and timely collection of essays showcases the latest work by established and the best emerging scholars in this field, striking out in a new direction in the climate justice debate.