MACMILLAN Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace: Navigating the Great Transition

This book addresses the need to develop a holistic approach to countering violence that integrates notions of peace, justice and care of the Earth. It is unique in that it does not stop with the move toward articulating ‘Just Peace’ as a human concern but probes the mindset needed for the shift to a ‘Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace’. It explores the values and principles that can guide this shift, theoretically and in practice.  International in scope and grounded in the reality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific context, the book brings together important insights drawn from the Indigenous relationship to land, ecological feminism, ecological philosophy, the social sciences more generally, and a range of religious and non-religious cosmologies.  Drawn from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the contributors in this book apply their combined professional expertise and active engagement to illuminate the difficult choices that lie ahead. Review “It takes us on a journey into new perspectives and offers us hope of a way through the crisis we and the earth face. … The good news is that most presenters write in elegant English to make their message accessible to the general reader. … it is a book to be seen as an investment, a point of reference for the long haul.” (Disarming Times, Vol. 45 (4), December, 2020) Review “It is becoming increasingly clear that peace on earth, generally understood as an intra-human affair, cannot be realised in the absence of peace with earth. What this marvellously multidimensional volume makes plain is that the reverse is also the case: that is, the pursuit of a just peace amongst peoples, which is shown to be an inherently decolonial project, is a prerequisite for arresting ecocide. Bringing together a richly multi-disciplinary mix of contributors, including political scientists, historians, poets, philosophers, and scholars of diverse religions, Guess’s and Camilleri’s collection models the ethos of creative collaboration and peaceable dialogue that it advocates. Integrating theoretical reflection with inspiring examples of transformative practice from around the world, it embodies what Mark Brett terms ‘prophetic hope’ to put a spring in our steps as we pursue the path to peace.” (Kate Rigby, Professor of Environmental Humanities, Bath Spa University, author of Dancing with Disaster: Environmental Histories, Narratives and Ethics for Perilous Times (2015)) “Our world is living through an epoch-making time of rapidly accelerating crises. The order built on the horrors of two world conflicts is disintegrating under new geopolitical and ecological pressures. Navigating the Great Transition is a timely intellectual and political intervention as it tries to chart innovative pathways that can help us navigate these turbulent seas. This thought-provoking collection of essays rekindles the hope that a promised land of peace, justice and ecological balance can still be reached.” (Fabio Petito, University of Sussex) “ Towards a Just and Ecologically Sustainable Peace challenges much conventional academic wisdom by adopting a holistic, trans-disciplinary approach to the tectonic forces generating inequality, conflict, pollution, and climate change. Several of its authors acknowledge the radical centrality of different ethical and spiritual perspectives and how these might contribute to a 21st century ethic of care and compassion. Essential reading for anyone searching for ways to confront populism, militarism and unsustainable growth models.” (Kevin Clements Director, Toda Peace Institute, Tokyo) “Using a plurality of perspectives and narratives, this fine book elaborates with courage and prophetic hope the intellectual and experiential tools we need to navigate the crucial transition to a nonviolent ethic of a just and ecologically sustainable peace.” (Bishop Philip Huggins, President of