Product Description

The Earth's human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Thomas Homer-Dixon argues in this sobering book that these environmental scarcities will have profound social consequences--contributing to insurrections, ethnic clashes, urban unrest, and other forms of civil violence, especially in the developing world.

Homer-Dixon synthesizes work from a wide range of international research projects to develop a detailed model of the sources of environmental scarcity. He refers to water shortages in China, population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and land distribution in Mexico, for example, to show that scarcities stem from the degradation and depletion of renewable resources, the increased demand for these resources, and/or their unequal distribution. He shows that these scarcities can lead to deepened poverty, large-scale migrations, sharpened social cleavages, and weakened institutions. And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in Chiapas, Mexico and ongoing turmoil in many African and Asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity.

Homer-Dixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. But he argues that the violent consequences of scarcity should not be underestimated--especially when about half the world's population depends directly on local renewables for their day-to-day well-being. In the next decades, he writes, growing scarcities will affect billions of people with unprecedented severity and at an unparalleled scale and pace.

Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #373079 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
[The book's] assertion that violence and the environment may be linked, and its conclusion that most big developing countries appear to be hurtling toward more internal conflict, are too important and intriguing to be left to an academic audience.
(John Stackhouse Toronto Globe and Mail )

This volume is for anyone with professional or deep personal interests in the relationships of natural resource management to economic development and human societies.
(Joseph P. Dudley The Quarterly Review of Biology )

[A] comprehensible model linking environmental scarcity and violence.
(Stephen P. Adamian Boston Book Review )

Important and intriguing.
(John Stackhouse Globe and Mail )

Clearly written and forcefully argued, Environment, Scarcity, and Violence is an excellent work.
(Biology Digest )

Thomas Homer-Dixon . . . has conducted extensive research on the links between environmental stress and violence in developing countries. . . . The book addresses the fact that environmental scarcity is not in itself a necessary or sufficient cause of conflict. Homer-Dixon evaluates why some societies are able to adapt well to environmental scarcity while others are not.
(Nikola Smith Journal of International Affairs )

Review
This is an important book. Homer-Dixon moves the arguments about environmental scarcity and violent conflict forward a big step. I doubt if much will be written about the subjects in the next ten years that does not build on it, follow out some of its leads, or try to refute it.
(Robert Jervis, Institute for War and Peace Studies, Columbia University )

From the Back Cover

"This is an important book. Homer-Dixon moves the arguments about environmental scarcity and violent conflict forward a big step. I doubt if much will be written about the subjects in the next ten years that does not build on it, follow out some of its leads, or try to refute it."--Robert Jervis, Institute for War and Peace Studies, Columbia University

"Thomas Homer-Dixon has thought more deeply, reasoned more carefully, and written more coherently about the environment/scarcity/violence nexus than anyone else I know of. This is a brilliant book--must reading for anyone concerned about the human condition in the twenty-first century."--John P. Holdren, Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Customer Reviews

Sources of strife
Using an amazing array of information, this book is a call for answers - a welcome departure from the usual array of studies of environment and social issues. Homer-Dixon's argues that the many works published on the impact of humanity on the environment don't even ask the correct questions, let alone provide worthwhile solutions. Realizing that the impact of environmental degradation will be difficult to forecast, he examines the relation of resource loss and social change. The underlying theme is whether the scacity will lead to violent action. With this tight focus, he proposes a straightforward formula of environmental scarcity leading through social effects resulting in violent conflict. Is this a valid chain of causation? The book examines this question with numerous case studies of nations in the "developing" world. The wealth of information presented with Homer-Dixon's penetrating analyses of the circumstances makes this book an important resource for politicians, social planners and anyone interested in our planet's future.

The author carefully defines his terms, methods and intentions at the outset. Resource availability, partcularly renewable resources, are a key foundation, since so many social actions result from whether crops, forests and fisheries are plentiful or depleted. While the author argues that wars are rarely the result of resource depletion, internal strife can often be traced to environmental degradation. He cites examples in Mexico, India, African states, Haiti and the Philippine Islands. He uses in-depth studies to present his cases. He's uncompromising in his analyses, but keeping up with his presentation isn't difficult. His prose is clear and undemanding.

A fundamental issue is the expansion of humanity over the planet. He contests the research that indicates population pressures are levelling out, noting that "the largest cohorts of girls ever been born have yet to reach their reproductive years, ensures tremendous momentum behind global population growth." This rise in world population is having local impact already. Resource depletion is causing internal strife along class and ethnic lines, but hasn't escalated into international conflicts, according to Homer-Dixon. Even so, the world is interdependent. He cites the conditions in China as a prime example: "We all have a stake in the success of the grand Chinese experiment with economic liberalization, . . . Whether and how China breaks out of the vicious cycle [of economic growth versus resource depletion] will shape much of human history for decades, if not centuries, to come."

Homer-Dixon's status as a first-rate global analyst was established with this monumental study. He sees "environmental scarcity" leading to civil unrest, with ethnic and class clashes dominating. "Scarcity" refers to resources needed to sustain the growing human population - water, cropland, forest assets, fisheries. How will investing countries/firms react to these conflicts? Environmental scarcity often derided as a source of conflict, but he argues that since daily living requirements are so dependent on these available resources, they become a root cause, even when this is not readily apparent. Although these conflicts usually remain internal, resources such as depleted river water supplies may spark international clashes. He offers no policy recommendations for the lazy. However, his analyse of physical and social conditions should lead to improved policy making. He posits a strong call for more research, itself a major policy step. This book is a must-read for policy makers and those who support them - we taxpayers. It's a vivid insight into to world conditions today and a window into tomorrow.