This fully updated new edition introduces the core concepts, central thinkers, and major works of the burgeoning field of political ecology. * Explores the key arguments and contemporary explanatory challenges facing the sub-discipline * Provides the first full history of the development of political ecology over the last century and its theoretical underpinnings * Considers the major challenges facing the field now and for the future * Study boxes introduce key figures in the development of the discipline and summarize their most important works * Fully updated to include recent events, such as the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, as well as both urban and rural examples, from the developed and underdeveloped world