Book Review: General Politics: Rationality and the Environment: Decision-Making in Environmental Politics and Assessment
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_73 |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Rory Shand |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
attempts to ‘break apart the confusion’ in the contem-
porary usage of civil society and to develop ‘a coherent
set of theories, policies and practices’ (p. 7).
Edited by Michael Edwards, a leading authority on
studies of civil society,this volume consists of 38 chap-
ters divided into seven sections, each written by pre-
eminent scholars, including Theda Skocpol, Craig
Calhoun and Donatella della Porta, among many. Each
section is devoted to a different facet of the phenom-
enon in light of the forms, norms, spaces and achieve-
ments of civil society, geographical perspectives and
support for civil society. Except for an introductory
chapter on the intellectual development of this phe-
nomenon, Edwards seems to have consciously avoided
devoting the work solely to the history of civil society
and overburdening the text with the intellectual
debates surrounding the concept.
The Handbook’s sections on the forms and norms
of civil society deserve special attention. The book
offers a conceptual map and draws the boundaries of
civil society in relation to its forms, which have also
been characterised as the non-profit sector, non-
governmental organisations or grassroots organisations.
Analyses of the norms of civil society, such as civility,
equality and diversity, are also significant contributions
to overcoming the often problematic nature of this
term.
The book discusses civil society in diverse settings,
from Latin America to sub-Saharan Africa and goes
beyond other studies in the West – often ethnocentric
in their concerns. Moreover, it includes articles on civil
society’s relation to several phenomena such as public
journalism, the digital age, poverty and the public
sphere.Yet the book lacks critical studies of civil society,
as the work rests mainly on the belief in the emanci-
patory power of civil society.
While Edwards champions civil society as the ‘big
idea’ for the twenty-first century, he also concludes that
‘there are no final words on civil society, because civil
society is constantly being reinterpreted and recreated’
(p.490). Nevertheless, with its empirical and theoretical
breadth, this volume offers the most comprehensive,
systematic analysis and will serve as an important step-
ping stone for anyone pursuing a deeper study of civil
society.
Hakki Ta¸s
(Altın Koza University, Ankara)
Rationality and the Environment: Decision-
Making in Environmental Politics and Assess-
ment by Bo Elling. London: Continuum, 2010.
281pp., £29.99, ISBN 978 1 84971 078 7
This is an ambitious and highly innovative book,which
contributes successfully to a wide range of literatures
and, in so doing, draws together different strands of
debate to contextualise action around the environment
and sustainability in theoretical discussion. The author
sets out contemporary issues concerning the environ-
ment as a topic of public debate and public policy
implementation in various spheres, driven by targets or
public opinion.The book then goes on to unpack how
these ideas and goals relate to theoretical notions.
The work draws upon key themes in environmental
politics such as environmental action, which is linked to
Habermas’ theory of communicative action. It also goes
on to outline environmental themes in terms of the work
of Giddens, Dryzek and several other thinkers on ques-
tions of modernity and the transition to neo-modernity
in understanding the environment as a goal, through
targets driven by policy makers,NGOs and business.This
innovative approach illuminates governmental and prac-
tical strategies of ecologism as a teleological goal, how the
public and governance actors have approached environ-
mental issues and how these have transcended the shift
from the modern to the neo-modern via the most post-
material of policy goals that face governments.Weberian
themes also permeate the work: governance, bureaucracy
and ideas of rationally conceiving and developing a policy
framework to achieve environmentally driven political
goals, which include discussion of theory and ethical,
institutional and public drivers.
The book is highly original in its approach and
represents a major, and extremely detailed, conceptual
contribution to a number of fields. To this end, it will
be essential reading for academics and research stu-
dents, as well as taught postgraduates and undergradu-
ates, in political science,public policy or related courses
in philosophy, geography and planning.The key themes
in the work of ethics, policy making, public opinion
and communication are married innovatively to theory
but also extend and revisit some of the core themes of
sustainable development such as social (intra- and inter-
generational) justice.
Rory Shand
(Plymouth University)
272 GENERAL POLITICS
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
To continue reading
Request your trial