Environment, Society and International Relations - Towards More Effective International Agreements (Hardcover)

The effectiveness of international environment agreements has so far been studied almost exclusively from an institutional or regime-centric perspective. Such analysis focuses on the actors in agreement-making and downplays the role of the structures and constraints within which they operate. This work argues that a distinction must be made between effective institutions dealing with environmental problems, and the remedying of an environmental problem. Gabriella Kutting introduces the concept of environmental effectiveness to address this problem, and goes beyond previous studies by not only criticizing existing approaches, but offering an alternative. Kutting's approach introduces a new perspective to the effectiveness debate, based on a more holistic methodology and an ecocentric rather than environmental management viewpoint. This book outlines the structures in which agreement-making operates, and demonstrates that a fundamental reassessment of the relationship between environment and society is necessary.;This work offers new insights into the study of social organization and its effect on the environment. It should be useful as a resource for researchers and students of inte