This book shows why political theorists must take account of
ecological concerns as part of their core enterprise, and how they
can do so. It mounts a challenge to the received wisdom, of
political theorists and their ecological critics alike, that
specifically ecological values go against human interests.

In Part I, Hayward criticizes those accounts of ecological values
which appeal to nature's 'intrinsic value' or advocate a
'non-anthropolocentric' ethic. Such appeals are bound to fail, he
argues, not because their moral impulse is too demanding but
because 'values' unrelated to human interests are conceptually
incoherent. Insisting on them is politically counterproductive.

Part II reveals how it is actually in humans' interests to
integrate ecological concern into political institutions and
policies. Following a nuanced discussion of 'self-interest',
Hayward goes on to show how some ecological problems can be solved
by harnessing humans' rational self-interest to market-based and
fiscal policies, and others by using more enlightened interests in
the provision of social goods. The argument regarding ecological
problems that affect non-humans more directly than humans is that
humans have an interest in self-respect and integrity which
provides reasons to respect non-human beings and their
environmental interests.

The concluding chapter indicates how the articulation of
ecological values in terms of interests makes it possible to
integrate them into a political theory of basic social
institutions.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars in political
theory and environmental studies.