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This paper challenges “Big Society (BS) Localism”, seeing it as an example of impoverished localist thinking which neglects social justice considerations. We do this through a critical examination of recent turns in the localist discourse in the UK which emphasise self-reliant communities and envisage a diminished role for the state. We establish a heuristic distinction between positive and negative approaches to localism. We argue that the Coalition Government's BS programme fits with a negative localist frame as it starts from an ideological assumption that the state acts as a barrier to community-level associational activity and that it should play a minimal role. “BS localism” (as we call it) has been influential over the making of social policy, but it also has implications for the achievement of environmental goals. We argue that this latest incarnation of localism is largely ineffective in solving problems requiring collective action because it neglects the important role that inequalities play in inhibiting the development of associational society. Drawing upon preliminary research being undertaken at the community scale, we argue that staking environmental policy success on the ability of local civil society to fill the gap left after state retrenchment runs the risk of no activity at all. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK to reducing carbon emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. With household emissions constituting more than a quarter of current total energy use in the UK, energy practices in the home have taken on increased policy attention. In this paper, we argue that the UK government's approach is founded upon a variant of methodological individualism that assumes that providing greater energy information to individuals will effect behaviour change in relation to energy use. Such an approach is potentially limited in its effectiveness and does not afford appropriate recognition to all those affected by energy policy. In contrast to this approach, we set out an alternative perspective, a community knowledge networks approach to energy and justice which recognises the contexts and relationships in which people live and use energy. Such an approach emphasises situated knowledge and practices in order to gain a greater understanding of how individuals and communities use energy, but, importantly, offers a means for affording greater recognitional justice to different social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capsule The majority of Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus that spend the winter in England are derived from the British breeding population. Aims To investigate the popular hypothesis that Hen Harriers which over-winter in England are derived principally from breeding populations in mainland Europe. Methods Demographic data were used to estimate numbers of Hen Harriers in Britain at the end of the breeding season. This figure was used, together with data from winter (October–March inclusive) recoveries of Hen Harriers ringed in Britain during the breeding season, to estimate the number of birds from the British breeding population wintering in England and in other parts of Europe. Results It was estimated that Hen Harriers wintering in England are derived primarily from British breeding populations. Published winter population figures for British Hen Harriers may be significant underestimates. Conclusion The link between breeding and wintering populations of Hen Harriers in Britain is closer than previously thought. Conservation action should be spread more equally between the environmental factors which limit populations in different seasons. The winter population in Britain, as monitored by the Hen Harrier Winter Roost Survey, may provide a good indication of the status of the breeding population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Capsule At a communal roost in Cambridgeshire, selection of common birds of arable farmland as prey is interpreted in terms of differences in prey species' behaviour and size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses a critique on an article about citizenship and the environment. Criticism against the conception of ecological citizenship; Criteria for determining membership; Claims against virtues.

For a number of years now, green social and political theory has made a habit of holding an environmental mirror up to mainstream theory and asking it to reflect on what it sees. Social justice, democracy, rights, freedom – and others – all look rather different when confronted with the descriptive and normative elements of an environmental frame of reference. Citizenship, as concept and practice, is a relative newcomer to this mutually enriching dance between mainstream and green theory, and this Environmental Politics Special Issue is one of the foundational statements in what will surely become a lengthy conversation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the theory of environmental sustainability. Forms of `discursive'; Involvement of the belief in perfect substitutability; Summary of the results of the study conducted; Description of critical natural capital as capital in two senses; Distinction between capital and resources; Misleading concept of cornucopian technocentrism.

Presents information on developments related to the journal "Environmental Politics" as of September 2005. Style of the journal; Emphasis of the concentration of the journal on the environmental politics of the industrialized world; Consequence of the increase in the number of articles submitted to the journal.

Focuses on the 10th anniversary issue of the 'Environmental Politics' journal.