Trouble in Paradise:
Globalization and Environmental Crises in Latin America
by J. Timmons Roberts and Nikki Demetria Thanos
Routledge, July 2003 ISBN:
0415929806
$18.95 paperback, currently $13.27 at Amazon.com
J. Timmons
Roberts is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Science
and Policy Program at the College of William and Mary, USA.
Nikki Demetria
Thanos works in Mexico as a Popular Educator and Political Analyst for
Witness for Peace.
"Trouble in Paradise helps the non-indigenous,
non-Spanish speaking citizens of the world to take a peep into Latin
America's ecological crisis, its roots in globalization and unequal development,
and the indigenous responses to ensure survival in the 21st century." --Vandana
Shiva, Executive Director, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and
Ecology
"This eminently readable book is a "must read." Grounded in an
understanding of global, historical, structural, and cultural forces, the
authors explore the "other side of development," namely pollution, disease,
deforestation, habitat loss, and social dislocation. Yet the authors also
address how social movements and democratic processes can enhance sustainable
development."
--Susan Eckstein, Professor of Sociology, Boston
University
"Trouble in Paradise is particularly impressive in that the
authors construct a coherent account of the diverse environmental issues of
Latin America by framing them in terms of globalization and neo-liberalization
processes while at the same time providing an empirically rich portrayal
of these issues. Roberts and Thanos' topical coverage of Latin
American environmental issues is impressive, ranging from the industrial
maquiladoras at the U.S.-Mexico border and the suburban industrial wastelands of
southern Brazil to the green revolution fields of Central America and the Amazon
rainforests. The authors' thoughtful concluding chapter, on the key role that
"building a global civil society" must play in solving Latin American
environmental problems, is a particularly bold, but pragmatic statement of the
agenda we face as global citizens."
Frederick H. Buttel, William H. Sewell Professor of
Rural Sociology and Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin,
Madison
Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: The Scene, Its Problems and
Roots
Chapter 2: Pollution Havens on the U.S./Mexico
Border? NAFTA, Free Trade, and the Environment
Chapter 3: Green Revolutions, Deforestation, and New
Ideas
Chapter 4:
Hazards of an Urban Continent Chapter
5: Bio-splendor, Devastation and Competing Visions in
the Amazon Chapter
6: Indigenous Peoples, Development Megaprojects, and
Internet Resistance
With Leo B. Gorman
Chapter 7: Building a Global Civil Society: Living What
We Know
Online Resources
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Gentileza: Dr. David Robinson