Ecological security : climate change and the construction of security /
McDonald, Matt,author.
"Climate change is increasingly recognized as a security issue. Yet this recognition belies contestation over what security means and whose security is viewed as threatened. Different accounts - here defined as discourses - of security range from those focused on national sovereignty to those emphasizing the vulnerability of human populations. This book examines the ethical assumptions and implications of these 'climate security' discourses, ultimately making a case for moving beyond the protection of human institutions and collectives and towards a focus on ecological security. Drawing on insights from political ecology, feminism and critical theory, the book suggests the need to focus on the resilience of ecosystems themselves when approaching the climate-security relationship, a discourse that orients towards the rights and needs of the most vulnerable across time, space and species. The book outlines the ethical assumptions of ecological security, noting how the referent, threat, agent and means of security are conceived before exploring how it might find purchase in contemporary political contexts. While a shift towards ecological security faces significant challenges, it is urgent given the climate crisis and the broader context of the Anthropocene - a geological era illustrating the impossibility of separating humanity from the ecological conditions of our own existence"--
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The construction of security -- Climate security discourses -- Ecological security : a definition -- Means and agents of ecological security -- Towards ecological security?
"Climate change is increasingly recognized as a security issue. Yet this recognition belies contestation over what security means and whose security is viewed as threatened. Different accounts - here defined as discourses - of security range from those focused on national sovereignty to those emphasizing the vulnerability of human populations. This book examines the ethical assumptions and implications of these 'climate security' discourses, ultimately making a case for moving beyond the protection of human institutions and collectives and towards a focus on ecological security. Drawing on insights from political ecology, feminism and critical theory, the book suggests the need to focus on the resilience of ecosystems themselves when approaching the climate-security relationship, a discourse that orients towards the rights and needs of the most vulnerable across time, space and species. The book outlines the ethical assumptions of ecological security, noting how the referent, threat, agent and means of security are conceived before exploring how it might find purchase in contemporary political contexts. While a shift towards ecological security faces significant challenges, it is urgent given the climate crisis and the broader context of the Anthropocene - a geological era illustrating the impossibility of separating humanity from the ecological conditions of our own existence"--
Security, International
Climatic changes
Climatic changes
Global environmental change.