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The contributors to this volume focus on the political and value issues that, in their shared view, underlie the global environmental crisis facing us today. They argue that only by transforming our dominant values, social institutions and way of living can we avoid ecological disaster

Oscar Wilde's paradoxical quip about human tragedy being getting what one wants serves as a starting point to discuss the nature of the environmental crisis & its consequences for modern society's postmodern shift & why such a shift is wanted & needed. At issue is the value basis of the global environmental crisis. The words of Henry Kissinger are seen to shed some light on Wilde's comment, finding that the latter's concept of human tragedy suggests that getting our wants requires reflecting on our values, goals, & worldview because achieving them is often unsatisfying. This realization fosters value erosion & necessitates looking at the success of the modern world order that has precipitated this achievement of empty wants & pursuing a transformation of the dominant social paradigm. A challenge to this is examined in terms of the possibility of being satisfied with getting what we want despite the negative outcome. Attention turns to how Thomas Hobbes's political theory of humanity relates to Wilde's view of human tragedy, & Hobbes's basic methodological error identified by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The core idea of limits pertaining to human desires & its role in modernity are scrutinized, finding that the above discussed ideas of human tragedy reflect a fatal flaw in modern thought & society as manifest in the environmental crisis. It is argued that the foundational idea of modernity, its values, worldview, & social institutions has been to deny the possibility of the satiation of wants & the limits to the human condition such satiation would imply. The ideas of Adam Smith show the materialist turn in modern thought & society wherein the idea that the ceaseless & limitless net increase in material goods will produce a corresponding increase in human happiness is paramount. How this take on tragedy relates to the environment, environmental crisis, & the global environmental movement for social change is addressed in conclusion. J. Zendejas

A conclusion to an essay collection on environmental political theory sheds light on key questions emerging from the contributions. The idea is to promote contemplation, thus encouraging the advance of individual &, by extension, civilizational humanity, seen here as the purpose of political theory. Discussion centers on a critical notion in environmental political theory: that of the normative political basis of the environmental crisis. J. Zendejas

An Afterword to an essay collection on environmental political theory addresses the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in terms of the emotion of despair. It is contended that such an emotion, largely viewed as negative, has the capacity to catalyze positive social transformation. At issue is demonstrating how the despair associated with the environmental crisis can provide insight to the aftermath of September 11 & also foster profoundly salutary outcomes. Such positive results are seen as inhibited by a tendency toward wishful or reality-denying thought & action. It is concluded that any path to a new civilization requires the experience of despair, which cultivates the necessary shifts in values & institutions. J. Zendejas

Introduces a collection of essays whose main premise is that the global environmental crisis is basically political. Contributors demonstrate the relevance of political theory for (1) understanding the political character of environmental problems; (2) comprehending how humanity reached the point where the long-term survival of all species is in question; & (3) recognizing & responding to the fact that ecological catastrophe might only be avoided through a shift in dominant values, social institutions, & modern lifestyle. Environmental political theory is here viewed as "deep" environmental politics in contrast to other scientifically oriented or policy analyses seen as "shallow" for not reaching down to the value-based foundation of the environmental crisis & pursuing social change. The practical scholarly goals of the volume are discussed, highlighting its value for education, before briefly presenting the contributions. J. Zendejas

China's environmental crisis : a global crisis with Chinese characteristics : from Confucius to cell phones / Joel Jay Kassiola and Sujian Guo -- Desertificaton in China : problems with policies and perceptions / Hong Jiang -- Network public management and the challenge of biodiversity management in China / Sara R. Jordan -- Changing climate? : China's new interest in global climate change negotiations / Wei Liang -- Environmental stressors and food security in China / Jerry McBeath and Jennifer McBeath -- State and society in China's environmental politics / Bjorn Alpermann -- Responding to climate disaster : the cosmopolitan challenge in China / Paul G. Harris -- Digital power : public participation in an environmental controversy / Yanmin Yu and Fanxu Zeng -- Confucianizing modernity and "modernizing" Confucianism : environmentalism and the need for a confucian positive argument for social change / Joel Jay Kassiola.

This wide-ranging and path-breaking collection of essays on China's environmental crisis takes a new approach, transcending the typical "gloom and doom" media and scholarly report on China's environmental crisis, to address how the Chinese political and social systems were impacted and how they responded, or should respond, to the ecological challenges confronting China. Therefore, this collection provides innovative analyses about the impacts and responses - both domestically and globally - of China's political and social systems encompassing its social values, ameliorative, and preventative policies. It leaves us with such an important question to ponder: What social action will be needed in the near- and long-term future in order to avoid environmental disaster as well as to achieve environmental sustainability and social justice for the long term in China?

Intro -- About This Book -- Praise for The Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Politics and Theory -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- List of Figures -- Introduction: The Time for Social and Political Transformation Based on the Environment Is Now -- Our Present Environmental Emergency -- Objectives of the Handbook -- The Long Genesis and Creation Saga of the Handbook -- COVID-19 and the Handbook: Transforming the Unavoidable into a Window of Opportunity -- The IPCC Threats, the Need for Positive Visions for Social Transformation and EPT -- The Handbook Itself -- The Structure and Summary Content of the Handbook -- Section I: Environmental Political Theory -- Section II: Environmental Politics and Theory in the Policy-Making Process -- Section III: Environmental Politics and Theory in the City -- Section IV: Environmental Politics and Theory in Specific International Regions -- Section V: Environmental Politics and Theory in the Anthropocene -- Conclusion -- Environmental Politics and Theory -- Environmentalism and Political Ideologies -- What Kind of Ecologism? -- The Skeptical Liberal -- The Difficult Way to Eco-Socialism -- Ecologism vs Conservatism -- Conclusion -- References -- Democracy, Citizenship and Nationalism in Environmental Political Theory -- Introduction -- Awkward Siblings: Democracy and "Liberal Morality" -- Citizenship and the Convergence on Morality -- Green Citizenship and the Convergence on Morality -- Critiques of Green Citizenship -- Conclusion -- References -- Eco-Anxiety and the Responses of Ecological Citizenship and Mindfulness -- Introduction -- Defining "Eco-Anxiety" -- Three Features of Eco-Anxiety -- Three Eco-Anxiety Disorders -- Three Categories of Exposed Population -- Coping with Eco-Anxiety -- Resilience -- Ecological Citizenship -- Mindfulness -- Conclusion -- References.