A mainstream source on environmental regulation..
Mine
Volume 2, Review 1, 1996
http://csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/jwsr.html
ISSN 1076-156X
World Resources Institute. WORLD RESOURCES 1994-95: A GUIDE TO
THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
xii+400 pp. ISBN 0-19-521044-1, $35.00 (hardcover); ISBN
0-19-521045-X, $21.95 (paper).
Reviewed by
Brad Bullock, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Randolph-Macon
Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA
v. 8/12/96
Scholars familiar with the difficulties of finding good
sources of comparable, international statistics will appreciate
the stated purpose of the WORLD RESOURCES series: "to meet the
critical need for accessible, accurate information on environment
and development" (p. ix). The volumes are published biennially by
the World Resources Institute (WRI), an independent,
not-for-profit corporation, in collaboration with the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the related United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP). The 1994-95 report, sixth in the
series, examines the relationship between people and the
environment and emphasizes global resource consumption, population
growth, and the roles of women -- especially how women will figure
into efforts to protect or manage environmental resources.
The structure and style of WORLD RESOURCES will remind you of
the UNDP's HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT, or perhaps even more the
World Bank's WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT -- a particular theme is
presented in analytical overview, complete with multitudinous
color graphics and all the boxed inserts one could possibly want.
A distinguishing feature here is the tradition of examining, in
painstaking detail, the volume's thematic issues for a particular
region (in this volume China and India, the world's two most
populous nations and those facing the most serious resource
challenges). For research and teaching, this series excels in its
conscious focus on the environment and who actually uses the
world's resources. WRI claims, validly, that their organizational
status allows them to take a more independent stance on
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Journal of World-Systems Research
development issues. The ongoing project of data gathering is
guided by the premise that sustainable development requires wise
resource management that "puts people first." Clearly stated,
"sustainable development is based on the recognition that a nation
cannot reach its economic goals without also achieving
environmental and social goals -- that is, universal education and
employment opportunity, universal health and reproductive care,
equitable access to and distribution of resources, stable
populations, and a sustained natural resource base" (p. 43).
By now scholars generally appreciate the growing
interdependency of environmental and development issues, as
socioeconomic facts about the consequences of resource depletion
and degradation continue to pile up. This resource book, however,
stands out for how thoroughly it explores related conditions and
trends. The sheer breadth of the topics covered is impressive --
e.g., there are whole chapters devoted to forest and rangelands,
biodiversity, atmospheric pollution and climate, and the structure
of national and local policies. I found particularly impressive
the chapters on food and agriculture and on energy. It should not
surprise us that such a careful look at trends in resource
consumption or patterns of trade, while confirming some of our
worst suspicions, also challenges conventional wisdom. For
example, the resources most in danger of depletion are the
renewable, rather than the nonrenewable ones, and manufactured
exports from developing countries are growing considerably more
rapidly than are raw material exports.
This volume is also commendable for acknowledging as primary,
rather than secondary, the roles of women in achieving sustainable
development. At least since Ester Boserups' A ROLE IN ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT (1970), a growing literature has criticized
traditional schemes for marginalizing women, and more recent works
(e.g., Gita Sen and Caren Grown, DEVELOPMENT, CRISES, AND
ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, 1987) stress that the reigning development
models themselves are flawed and must be redrawn to fully utilize
the potential of women in development. The present work
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Journal of World-Systems Research
emphasizes that "women have greater influence than men on rates of
population growth and infant and child mortality, on health and
nutrition, on children's education, and on natural resource
management . . . inequalities that are detrimental to them . . . are
detrimental as well to society at large and to the environment"
(p. 43).
The data tables and technical notes presented in the back of
the publication are extensive and, generally, the country data is
fairly complete. Among interesting tables of note: Carbon Dioxide
Emissions from Industrial Processes; Other Greenhouse Gas
Emissions (for 1991, by country). Some scholars may be drawn to
claims of wider coverage, more countries, and new variables (see
preface and introduction), but this series will be most useful as
a compendium of data that may be found in various other sources
(it relies heavily on UN data). It does assemble in one place a
wealth of international information about the global environment
that is not usually available in similar publications. While the
narrative is clear and concise, the use of statistics is sometimes
confusing -- e.g., per capita and absolute statistics are
sometimes mixed indiscriminately to support generalities about the
growth of consumption or trade.
The entire data series presented in this volume is offered on
3.5" or 5.25" high-density, IBM-compatible diskettes for $99.95.
The database is touted as "expanded to include additional
countries, variables, and where possible a 20-year time series for
many of the variables" (p. ix), but the book does not indicate how
many or which countries and variables are added. A TEACHER'S
GUIDE TO WORLD RESOURCES is also available.
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Journal of World-Systems Research
--
Mine Aysen Doyran
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222
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