Overview

Worldwide, half a million people die from air pollution each year-more than perish in all wars combined. One in every five mammal species on the planet is threatened with extinction. Our climate is warming, our forests are in decline, and every day we hear news of the latest ecological crisis. What will it really take to move society onto a more sustainable path? Many of us are already doing the little things to help the earth, like recycling or buying organic produce. These are important steps-but they're not enough. In Who Rules the Earth?, Paul Steinberg, a leading scholar of environmental politics, shows that the shift toward a sustainable world requires modifying the very rules that guide human behavior and shape the ways we interact with the earth. We know these rules by familiar names like city codes, product design standards, business contracts, public policies, cultural norms, and national constitutions. Though these rules are largely invisible, their impact across the planet has been dramatic. By changing the rules, Ontario, Canada has cut the levels of pesticides in its waterways in half. The city of Copenhagen has adopted new planning codes that will reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 2025. In the United States, a handful of industry mavericks designed new rules to promote greener buildings, and transformed the world's largest industry into a more sustainable enterprise.Steinberg takes the reader on a series of journeys, from a familiar walk on the beach to a remote village deep in the jungles of Peru, helping the reader to see the social rules that pattern our physical reality and showing why these are the big levers that will ultimately determine the health of our planet. By unveiling the influence of social rules at all levels of society-from private property to government policy, and from the rules governing our oceans to the dynamics of innovation and change within corporations and communities-Who Rules the Earth? is essential reading for anyone who understands that sustainability is not just a personal choice, but a political struggle.

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9780190692216

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Reviews

Gerner Innovative Teaching Award Revealing the hidden architecture of rules that must be changed to protect our planet, Steinberg offers a fresh perspective on how to achieve a sustainable future. Who Rules the Earth? will be a source of inspiration for anyone who wonders what more we can do to overcome our most daunting environmental challenges. -Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Paul Steinberg provides profound insights into how societies function and why this matters for the health of the planet. After reading this book, you will not view the world in the same way again. -Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy for Costa Rica, 2002-2006, and Vice President, Center for Environment and Peace, Conservation International This book makes a fascinating contribution to understanding the forces that shape our world. -Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change I was genuinely moved by this book. Steinberg goes where few scholars have dared, taking an incredibly rich research literature on global environmental governance and distilling practical insights that, instead of just making us feel good about ourselves, might actually help us solve our toughest environmental problems. I am going to make this required reading not only for my students, but also my children. -Ben Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Steinberg masterfully 'skims the cream' from the best social science research to argue that environmental reformers must focus their energies on changing institutions, and suggests concrete ways in which to accomplish this ambitious goal. A great read! -Lisa L. Martin, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison Steinberg does an excellent job of drawing together existing research to offer a coherent, accessible argument about how it applies to the current ecological problem...Overall, Who Rules the Earth? offers a clear argument, firm grounding in research, and practical guidance for those who want to have a voice in shaping the rules that we live by --Gerda Kits, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

Steinberg does an excellent job of drawing together existing research to offer a coherent, accessible argument about how it applies to the current ecological problem...Overall, Who Rules the Earth? offers a clear argument, firm grounding in research, and practical guidance for those who want to have a voice in shaping the rules that we live by * Gerda Kits, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith * Steinberg masterfully 'skims the cream' from the best social science research to argue that environmental reformers must focus their energies on changing institutions, and suggests concrete ways in which to accomplish this ambitious goal. A great read! -Lisa L. Martin, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison I was genuinely moved by this book. Steinberg goes where few scholars have dared, taking an incredibly rich research literature on global environmental governance and distilling practical insights that, instead of just making us feel good about ourselves, might actually help us solve our toughest environmental problems. I am going to make this required reading not only for my students, but also my children. -Ben Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies This book makes a fascinating contribution to understanding the forces that shape our world. -Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Paul Steinberg provides profound insights into how societies function and why this matters for the health of the planet. After reading this book, you will not view the world in the same way again. -Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy for Costa Rica, 2002-2006, and Vice President, Center for Environment and Peace, Conservation International Revealing the hidden architecture of rules that must be changed to protect our planet, Steinberg offers a fresh perspective on how to achieve a sustainable future. Who Rules the Earth? will be a source of inspiration for anyone who wonders what more we can do to overcome our most daunting environmental challenges. -Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Gerner Innovative Teaching Award

Author Information

Paul F. Steinberg is the Malcolm Lewis Professor of Sustainability and Society and Professor of Political Science and Environmental Policy at Harvey Mudd College. He is the author of Comparative Environmental Politics and Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries, which won the International Studies Association's Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for the best book in international environmental affairs. He is the director of the Social Rules Project, a multi-media initiative designed to raise public awareness about the importance of changing policies and other binding rules to promote sustainability.

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