Edited by a leading scholar in the field, this new four-volume Routledge Major Work brings together canonical and cutting-edge research in ecological economics. In tracing both the development of thought in the field, as well as exploring the most recent scholarship, diverse elements of the rapidly expanding literature are brought together for the first time, providing an overview of—and vision for—ecological economics.
While the roots of ecological economics can be traced back to the late 1800s the modern movement developed from diverse writings in the following century. The field became fully established and institutionalized in the late 1980s. This collection shows how research questioning the basis of mainstream economics combined with a concern for environmental degradation and limits to growth to produce ecological economics. There are also many academics who, while not calling themselves ecological economists, have ideas which are directly of relevance. The common interest, as shown especially in Parts 1–3 of the collection, has been to move beyond standard economic approaches and towards a new political economy which takes note of learning in other sciences.
Besides identifying and collecting seminal works, the editor has also chosen pieces for their ability cogently to summarize and explain developments and ongoing thinking. Ecological economics is now a vibrant and dynamic field, but it has to date lacked a coherent guide to its rapidly expanding literature. Aided by the collection’s thematic organization and the editor’s newly written general and volume introductions, this Routledge Major Work will enable users to make sense of the wide range of approaches, theories, and concepts that have informed research in ecological economics to date. It is an essential collection destined to be valued as a vital research resource by all scholars and students of the subject.