Introduction: Ecological Political Economy and Socio-ecological Crisis

Abstract

This chapter introduces the enterprise of ecological political economy, locating it within the broader fields of political economy and political ecology. In it, I begin to unpack the concept of ‘socio-ecological crisis’, drawing particular attention to the medical roots of the term ‘crisis’: a moment in which a ‘decisive response’ marks the difference between death or recovery. After considering what it means to speak of socio-ecological crisis in these terms, I summarise the broader aims and structure of the book.