America's Environmental Legacies

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Introduction: Interpreting America’s Two Constitutions—Looking Through an Environmental Lens

   • Franklin Kalinowski

   Pages 1-24

3. Environmental Politics and Our Written Constitution

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25

      PDF

   2. The Scope and Limits of Mainstream Environmentalism

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 27-59

   3. Radical Environmentalism: Challenging Our Institutions and Beliefs

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 61-104

   4. The Constitution and the Environment: Ecological Principles and Liberal Policy Making

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 105-138

4. Cultural Legacies: America’s Unwritten Constitution

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Political Theory and the American Founding: The Tension Between Logic and History

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 141-175

   3. The Environmental Legacy of Thomas Jefferson: Cultivating the Rooted Citizen

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 177-214

   4. The Environmental Legacy of Alexander Hamilton: Manufacturing Power from Delusion

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 215-252

   5. The Environmental Legacy of James Madison: Pursuing Stability in a World of Limits

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 253-283

5. The Heritage: Environmentalism and the Evolving Constitution

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 285-285

      PDF

   2. The Constitution After 100 Years: Environmental Theory in the Gilded Age

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 287-322

   3. Living with the Legacies: Our Culture Confronts Our Environment

      • Franklin Kalinowski

      Pages 323-355

6. Back Matter

   Pages 357-362

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This powerful book focuses on the capacity of the American political system to respond to ecological challenges through policy perspectives, the constraints of our written Constitution, and the determination we muster to address these tests of national character. Put simply, this is a book about politics, policy, and political will. Kalinowski brilliantly shows that America’s collective will is found in the cultural values enunciated by the Founding Fathers and passed down through history with modifications. It comprises the essential missing ingredient in determining how we currently respond to crises. Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison had distinct ideas concerning the role that Nature might play in the future. Recognizing the origins and impacts of their environmental legacies is the key to interpreting where American environmental politics is today, how we got here, and where we might be headed.

• Environmental Politics
• Ecological Politics
• National Politics
• US Constitution
• Cultural Legacies
• climate change
• American environmentalism
• Thomas Jefferson
• Alexander Hamilton
• James Madison
• American Founding Fathers
• theory of moral sense
• political theory
• American political thought
• us politics
• Climate change management

“Jefferson famously encouraged every generation to reexamine The Constitution and the State to make them fit the times. Kalinowski has brilliantly done so for this generation.  He has imaginatively and authoritatively reexamined Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton for this generation, as humanity faces ecological disaster and species extinction. This is truly a much-needed book for the times.” - Richard Matthews, Distinguished University Professor, Political Science, Lehigh University, USA


"A necessary book that clarifies the American approach to environmental politics better than anything I've read. Well-written, insightful, and essential reading." – David W. Orr, Counselor to the President, Oberlin College, USA

• Warren Wilson College, Morganton, USA

  Franklin Kalinowski

Franklin Kalinowski has taught at the University of Delaware, USA, Goddard College, USA, St. Lawrence University, USA, Colorado State University, USA, Tulane University, USA, and Warren Wilson College, USA. He received his PhD in Government from Claremont Graduate School, USA. He is the recipient of two excellence-in-teaching awards, and has published over seventeen reviews, articles, and book chapters.

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