New book announcement- States of Transition

15 views

Skip to first unread message

Peter Newell

unread,

Nov 7, 2025, 4:54:14 AMNov 7

to 'Stacy VanDeveer' via gep-ed

Dear GEP-ed community,

Apologies for self-publicity, but in case of interest my new book States of Transition: From Governing the Environment to Transforming Society has just been published by Cambridge University Press.

I hope it is of interest to researchers and students alike.

Here's the blurb:

States of Transition takes a deep dive into the multiple roles states are playing in supporting transitions to a more sustainable world and where there is scope for their transformation. Going beyond unhelpful binaries - which cast the state as the central problem or the all-encompassing solution to ecological and social crises - it explores diverse current state practice across key domains: military, democracy, welfare, entrepreneurial, industrial, and foreign policy. It builds on theoretical resources from a range of disciplines, as befits the challenge of making sense of these diverse aspects of state power. It moves beyond existing analysis of the 'environmental state' to explore scope for a 'transition state' to emerge, capable of corralling and transforming all aspects of state power behind the goal of responding to the existential threat of planetary collapse. The book will be invaluable to students, academics, and practitioners concerned with environmental policy and sustainability.

Offers crucial theoretical and practical context by exploring the different dimensions of state power, contributing much-needed balance to debates about the role of the state in addressing sustainability challenges
Draws on insights from a variety of disciplines, providing readers with a holistic understanding of the 'how' and 'why' when considering state practices in relation to socioecological issues
Adopts a positive, pragmatic approach by highlighting the scope of state transformation and alternative pathways to sustainability

Endorsements

‘As we hurtle towards accelerating polycrises, the battle over the role of the state has never been more important. States of Transition is therefore essential reading. Rigorous and forensic, Newell makes a compelling case that, if we’re to rise to the threat of planetary collapse, the state must move beyond enabling transitions within and for capitalism, to supporting the necessary deeper transformations in the economy, politics and society. There could be no better guide through the complexities and contradictions of the role of the state at this critical time.’

Caroline Lucas, Former MP, Green Party of England and Wales

‘… a superb exploration of what it will take for states to move from governing for the transition to sustainability to governing for more radical transformations … provides a critical examination of state power that exposes its contradictions and assesses prospects for transformative change.’

Professor Jennifer Clapp, University of Waterloo

‘Rather like remaking the ship while at sea, States of Transition offers a timely analysis of the crisis and opportunities we face as requiring the reconfiguration and restructuring of the state and its complex and contradictory institutionalised capacities as ineliminable and unavoidable features of how humanity navigates the uncertainties and turbulences it now faces on a destabilised Earth’.

Professor John Barry, Queens University, Belfast

Best wishes

Pete

Peter Newell

Professor of International Relations

Department of International Relations

School of Global Studies

University of Sussex

Brighton

East Sussex

BN1 9SN

T: (0044) 1273 873159