Environmental Human Rights: A Political Theory Perspective

The nature of environmental human rights and their relation to larger rights theories has been a frequent topic of discussion in law, environmental ethics and political theory. However, the subject of environmental human rights has not been fully established among other human rights concerns within political philosophy and theory.

In examining environmental rights from a political theory perspective, this book explores an aspect of environmental human rights that has received less attention within the literature. In linking the constraints of political reality with a focus on the theoretical underpinnings of how we think about politics, this book explores how environmental human rights must respond to the key questions of politics, such as the state and sovereignty, equality, recognition and representation, and examines how the competing understandings about these rights are also related to political ideologies.

Drawing together contributions from a range of key thinkers in the field, this is a valuable resource for students and scholars of human rights, environmental ethics, and international environmental law and politics more generally.

Markku Oksanen is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Eastern Finland.

Ashley Dodsworth is a Senior Teaching Associate in Politics at the University of Bristol, UK.

Selina O’Doherty is a Lecturer in International Development at the Department of Political and Cultural Studies at Swansea University, UK.