Venue: Tan Chin Tuan Lecture Theatre, Elm College

About Benjamin Cashore

Professor Cashore’s research interests include the emergence of non-state, market-driven environmental governance; the impact of globalisation, internationalisation, and transnational networks on domestic policy choices; comparative environmental and forest policy development; and firm-level “beyond compliance” sustainability initiatives. His book, “Governing Through Markets: Forest Certification and the Emergence of Non-state Authority” (with Graeme Auld and Deanna Newsom), was awarded the International Studies Association’s 2005 Sprout Prize for the best book on international environmental policy and politics. Published by Yale University, the book is part of a large research effort aimed at understanding the emergence of non-state market-driven global environmental governance and its interactions with state authority, regulations, and institutions. Through the GEM initiative he helps shepherd five interrelated thematic efforts: forest policy and governance; private authority/corporate social responsibility; climate change as a “super wicked” problem; policy change and policy learning; and democracy, environment and human rights.

Recent or current research efforts include an international comparison (with Constance McDermott and Peter Kanowski) of twenty countries’ domestic forest policy regulations (Earthscan); a comparative study on firms’ responses to forest certification in the US forest sector (with Auld, Prakash, and Sasser); and an analysis (with Bernstein) of the emergence of non-state market-driven global governance generally. He is author or co-author of several articles that have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Global Environmental Politics, Governance, Policy Sciences, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Regulation and Governance, Business and Politics, Forest Policy and Economics, the Journal of Forestry, Canadian Public Administration, Canadian-American Public Policy, and the Forestry Chronicle, as well as chapters in several edited books. He serves on the editorial boards of Business and Politics, the Journal of Forest Policy and Economics , and the Journal of Sustainable Forestry. He was awarded (with Steven Bernstein) the 2001 John McMenemy Prize for the best article to appear in the Canadian Journal of Political Science in the year 2000 for their article “Globalization, Four Paths of Internationalisation and Domestic Policy Change: The Case of Eco-forestry Policy Change in British Columbia, Canada.”