Edited by Thomas Homer-Dixon and Jessica Blitt

"These days speculation is rampant about whether environmental stresses and scarcities are factors contributing to violent conflict within societies. This volume -- based on carefully structured case studies from five very different countries -- offers a valuable reality check. Ecoviolence effectively demonstrates that the causal relationships between the environment and societal unrest are considerably more complex than is widely presumed."
Marvin S. Soroos, North Carolina State University

Ecoviolence explores links between environmental scarcities of key renewal resources -- such as cropland, fresh water, and forests -- and violent rebellions, insurgencies, and ethnic clashes in developing countries. Detailed contemporary studies of civil violence in Chiapas, Gaza, South Africa, Pakistan, and Rwanda show how environmental scarcity has played a limited to significant role in causing social instability in each of these contexts. Drawing upon theory and key findings form the case studies, the authors suggest that environmental scarcity will worsen in many poor countries in coming decades and will become an increasingly important cause of major civil violence.

Contributors: Jessica Blitt, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Peter Gizewski, Philip Howard, Kimberly Kelly, Valerie Percival.