Dear ESS members (to those of you who are not yet members of the
Environmental Studies Section of the International Studies Association,
I urge you to consider joining!)
The International Studies Association requires its sections to apply for
rechartering every five years. This requires putting together a lot of
information about the section.
Much of the information will be of interest to those on the list, so I
have excerpted part of our submission to share with all of you. If
anyone who is an ESS member cares to see the full submission (which
includes a copy of the amended ESS charter, names of current officers,
and financial data), let me know (message just to me please).
I think the following may be of interest to all:
*ISA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES SECTION*
*1. Section Annual Activities*
The aim of ESS/ISA is to seek a better understanding of the reciprocal
influence of natural and human systems within global, regional, and
national contexts, and to promote scholarly interactions among social
and natural scientists and policy-makers interested in these issues.
1. Following the prominence of global, regional and national
environmental issues and the active scholarly interest they have
raised, the section has experienced steady growth since 1983, both
in the number of members and in the number and variety of panels
offered at annual meetings. The Section is thus blessed with
highly dynamic and enthusiastic members. Section members actively
work to promote the section and attract new members.
2. The annual ISA conference is the highlight event of the year for
the ESS. ESS members are very active at the annual conferences.
This is visible from the large number of panels the section
organizes at the ISA. In 2009 we sponsored or co-sponsored 50
panels and roundtables. In 2010 it was 53 and in 2011 it looks
like it will be 52. For the 2011 conference, 21 panels, 1
roundtable, and 124 papers were submitted to ESS as a first
choice. At the annual section business meeting that is held in
conjunction with the annual conference, panel ideas for the next
year’s program are floated to begin the process of generating
coherent and thematically-relevant panels. The program Vice-Chair
(Pamela Chasek) evaluates panels for the program and creates
panels out of individually submitted papers.
3. Special workshops organized by ESS members are often tied to the
ISA annual conference. In 2010, Paul Wapner, Sikina Jinnah, and
Simon Nicholson were making plans for a workshop on “Global
Environmental Politics on a New Earth: Deepening Community and
Research for the Environmental Studies Section” to be held one-day
prior to the Montreal ISA Annual Conference in 2011. The workshop
will bring together 60 members of the Environmental Studies
Section of the ISA for a day of discussions and fellowship.
4. A large number of our members are extremely active in the Section.
Many are highly active in international programs, institutions,
networks, and conferences dealing with global or regional
environmental policy-making. Throughout the year, ESS members
exchange information, plan events, participate in research
projects, and help keep the section really present in the community.
5. *GEP-ED*. Many years ago ESS member, Michael Maniates established
a discussion list (open to all) on teaching global environmental
politics. This list provides a forum for discussing substantive
and pedagogical issues related to the teaching of global
environmental politics (GEP) at the undergraduate and graduate
level. The list was initially organized to provide a place for
college and university teachers of GEP to compare notes and
explore alternative curricular and pedagogical approaches. Over
the years, the list has taken on another purpose too, that being a
place where scholars, government analysts, activists, and graduate
students can raise questions and broach issues about the state of
the field and the events and scholarly resources that inform it.
Much of the list’s discussion revolves around how or what to
teach, and about why and how we teach what we do. Narrow requests
for help and insight are welcome on this list (e.g. “what recent
good books exist out there for my undergraduate course in
international relations,” “how do I teach international political
economy to a varied classroom audience,” or “what’s the latest
word on international property rights and biodiversity, and how
are people framing these issues in their courses?”) So too are
broader discussions about contemporary and alternative approaches
to teaching GEP, and questions or concerns grounded in the
struggle to enlighten and inspire students with whom we now, or
may someday, work. For technical reasons, the list was shifted to
a new provider ([email protected]). This is certainly one of
the largest list serves of its kind with several hundred
professors, graduate students, and experts participating.
6. The section administers the ISA annual *Harold and Margaret Sprout
Award* given for the best book or article published in the field
of international environmental politics**-- one that makes a
contribution to theory and interdisciplinarity, shows rigor and
coherence in research and writing, and offers accessibility and
practical relevance. Nominated works must be published during the
two years prior to the year they are nominated for. Award
recipients in the past five years are:
2010 *D.G Webster, University of Southern California*
/Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries
Management
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11621>/
*MIT Press <http://environmental-studies.org/href=>***
2009 *Steve Vanderheiden, University of Colorado*
/Atmospheric Justice: A Political Theory of Climate Change
<http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/PoliticalTheory/ContemporaryPoliticalThought/?view=usa&ci=9780195334609>/
*Oxford University Press <http://www.oup.com/>*
*Runners-up:*
*Charlotte Epstein, University of Sydney: */The Power of Words in
International Relations: Birth of an Anti-Whaling Discourse
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11618>/*.
MIT Press <http://mitpress.mit.edu/>*
*Matthew Paterson, University of Ottawa: */Automobile Politics:
Ecology and Cultural Political Economy
<http://cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521870801>/*.
Cambridge University Press <http://cambridge.org/>***
2008 *David Humphreys*, The Open University
/Logjam: Deforestation and the Crisis of Global Governance
<http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=1117>/
Earthscan <http://www.earthscan.co.uk/>
Runner-up:
*Andrew Szasz*, University of California, Santa Cruz: /Shopping
our Way to Safety: How we Changed from Protecting the Environment
to Protecting Ourselves
<http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/S/szasz_shopping.html>/.
University of Minnesota Press <http://www.upress.umn.edu/>
2007 *Thomas Princen*, University of Michigan
/The logic of Sufficiency
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10635>/
MIT Press <http://mitpress.mit.edu/>
2006 *Ken Conca*, University of Maryland
/Governing Water: Contentious Transnational Politics and Global
Institution Building
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10637>/
MIT Press <http://mitpress.mit.edu/>
7. The section issues a *Graduate Student Paper Award* for the best
paper by a student at the annual ISA Convention. In 2010 no award
was administered as the Executive committee did not feel the
quality of the papers was sufficiently strong to merit an award.
In 2011 an award will be made.
8. The *ESS* *Newsletter* is sent out once every three months. The
ESS Newsletter is highly valued by the section members. It is
currently edited by Richard Matthew and Pamela Donohoo, University
of California, Irvine. The ESS Newsletter includes sections on:
ESS Section News, New Publications (Books, Articles and Chapters),
Dissertation Abstracts, on the Web, Announcements, Career
Resources, Student Resources.
(http://environmental-studies.org/?cat=4)
9. The ESS maintains a web site (developed by Ron Mitchell and
currently administered by Marcus Schaper). The website provides
information about the ESS, the ESS charter, ESS Officers, Sprout
Award Winners, the ESS Newsletter, Journals of interest to the
section, and environmental studies graduate programs.
10. ESS member, Peter Dauvergne founded the journal */Global
Environmental Politics/* many years ago. It is currently edited by
Jennifer Clapp and Richard Matthews. ESS members regularly publish
in the journal. The journal also provides the winner of the Best
Graduate Student Paper Award the opportunity to be considered for
publication in the journal. **/Global Environmental Politics.
/*Publisher*: MIT Press
*Description:***/Global Environmental Politics/ invites
submissions that focus on international and comparative
environmental politics. The journal covers the relationship
between global political forces and environmental change. Topics
include the role of states, multilateral institutions and
agreements, trade, international finance, corporations,
inequalities, non-governmental organizations, science and
technology, and grassroots movements. Particular attention is
given to the implications of local-global interactions for
environmental management as well as the implications of
environmental change for world politics.
11. At the 2010 annual section business meeting, a committee was
established to look into steps that could be taken to green the
section. The committee is being chaired by Beth deSombre.
12. The ESS has pulled in sponsorship from Ashgate Publishing Co. and
MIT Press for its reception at the annual conference. Another
potential sponsorship is currently under discussion.
*2. Section Membership*
Section Membership of the ESS has been steadily increasing, doubling in
the past five years. The section has worked to expand its membership,
working to recruit not only established, but also junior and
international scholars.
March 2005 = 159
March 2006 = 171
March 2007 = 184
March 2008 = 213
March 2009 = 304
March 2010 = 324
Happy Holiday Wishes to all.
Miranda Schreurs (writing in my role as Chair of the Environmental
Studies Section of the ISA)
--
*************************************
Prof. Miranda Schreurs
Director, Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU)
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science
Freie Universitat Berlin
Ihnestr. 22 / D - 14195 Berlin-Dahlem
phone: (+)49 - 30 - 838 56687
fax: (+)49 - 30 - 838 566 85
web: www.fu-berlin.de/ffu
