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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Environmental Policy

University of Massachusetts Boston

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Is Dismissing The Precautionary Principle The Manly Thing To Do? Gender And The Economics Of Climate Change, Julie Nelson Sep 2012

Is Dismissing The Precautionary Principle The Manly Thing To Do? Gender And The Economics Of Climate Change, Julie Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

Many public debates about climate change now focus on the economic "costs" of taking action. When called on to advise about these, many leading mainstream economists downplay the need for care and caution on climate issues, forecasting a future with infinitely continued economic growth. This essay highlights the roles of binary metaphors and cultural archetypes in creating the highly gendered, sexist, and age-ist attitudes that underlie this dominant advice. Gung-ho economic growth advocates aspire to the role of The Hero, rejecting the conservatism of The Old Wife. But in a world that is not actually as safe and predictable as …


Unep In Global Environmental Governance: Design, Leadership, Location, Maria Ivanova Feb 2010

Unep In Global Environmental Governance: Design, Leadership, Location, Maria Ivanova

Maria Ivanova

As debates on reform of global environmental governance intensify, the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has come into acute political focus. Many argue that the organization has faltered in its role as the UN's leading agency for the environment. In this article, I use historical institutional analysis in combination with current international relations and management theory to explain UNEP's creation and evolution. Having described how the creators of UNEP envisioned the nascent organization, I analyze its subsequent performance, identifying the key factors that have shaped its record. I argue that the original vision for UNEP was ambitious …