Planetary Political Ecology

A growing body of literature has recently adopted and advanced a newfound planetary perspective to explore its implications for understanding and influencing environmental and developmental politics and planning. It asserts that the focus on globalization that has dominated discussions of the international world order for the past several decades is increasingly being overtaken by contemporary dynamics that signal the need for a new conceptual frame. Central to this discussion is the assertion that the capitalist system is itself undergoing a shift from a global to a planetary regime, thereby also transforming broader processes and perceptions in ways that demand a new reckoning. Yet despite its importance as an interdisciplinary field examining many of the topics analyzed within this new planetary literature, political ecology has yet to contribute significantly to this discussion. To understand the planetary context within which political ecologists are working, and indeed can and will help shape, this article therefore endeavors to define and outline a planetary political ecology. I focus in particular on how a planetary perspective can help illuminate three interrelated issues of importance to political ecologists: development, conservation and tourism. If the rise of planetary thinking can indeed be understood in part as a response to the recent development of the capitalist system into an unprecedented planetary form, then confronting this shift may require a similarly planetary scale politics transcending current strategies that tend to focus on international, national, or local level action, respectively. In the conclusion, I explore what such a novel planetary environmental politics might look like to outline ways that political ecologists can productively engage with the various issues showcased in the article.