Politics and scale: some implications for environmental governance

This essay explores themes related to differences of scale and the challenge of environmental governance. It argues that scale issues are always important in politics, but that the density of physical and social scales implicated in the constitution and resolution of environmental problems is particularly notable. It discusses recent changes in governmental approaches to managing environmental burdens in the developed countries, and considers the implications of scale-complexities for the future of environmental governance. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.