Surprisingly, very little work has systematically explored the application of neoliberal policies to environmental governance and environmental change. This volume explores this nexus between nature, markets, deregulation and valuation, using theoretically sharp and empirically rich real-world case studies and analyses of actually existing policy from around the world and across a range of resources. In short, it answers the questions: does neoliberalizing nature work and what work does it do? More specifically, this volume provides answers to a series of urgent questions about the effects of neoliberal policies on environmental governance and quality. What are the implications of privatizing public water utilities in terms of equity in service provision, resource conservation and water quality? Do free trade agreements erode the sovereignty of nations and citizens to regulate environmental pollution, and is this power being transferred to corporations? What does the evidence show about the relationship between that marketization and privatization of nature and conservation objectives?
The volume productively engages with all of these questions and more. At the same time, the diverse case studies collectively and decisively challenge the orthodoxies of neoliberal reforms, documenting that the results of such reforms have fallen far short of their ambitions.
"The natural world may well be neoliberalism's last frontier. This excellent collection of essays and critical commentaries helps us not only see through, but also beyond, this starkly utopian vision."
By Jamie Peck Professor of Geography & Sociology University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This excellent book maps the varied and profound impact of neoliberal processes on landscapes and livelihoods around the world. The specific and carefully theorised case studies are models of scholarship and provide many insights of value to those who wish to resist, reevaluate or rework what has become a dominant mode of environmental governance at the dawn of the 21st century."
By Diana Liverman, Centre for the Environment, Oxford University
If you?re tired of a bland, feel-good environmentalism and want something more energetic and thought-provoking, this is the book for you. It has everything. Bulging with specific cases it is theoretically savvy and politically sharp. It delves into th