Research Guides: RELG 022: Religion and Ecology (SC) [Spring 2014]: Getting Started

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of religion
This encyclopedia covers all areas of religion. As it was published in 2005, the articles and their bibliographies are fairly current, though some of the bibliographies are not as up to date as others. The entry “Ecology and Religion” consists of fourteen articles.

Encyclopedias not only provide background information on your topic but usually also have bibliographies which can lead you to more specialized materials.

Encyclopedia of religion and nature
This 1800 page work covers a wide range of topics. It does have an occasional weak entry. The bibliographies are usually good.

Good Starting Points

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology by Roger S. Gottlieb (Editor)
Publication Date: 2006-11-09
The first half of this book has chapters on religious traditions, including three chapters on Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox). The second half of the book has chapters on approaches (ecofeminism) and information on religious environmental activism. The footnotes and bibliographies will lead you to related sources.

Religions of the World and Ecology
An important series that has individual volumes on major religious traditions.
Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment by Richard C. Foltz
Publication Date: 2002-06-25
Excellent collection of articles on various religious traditions and contemporary perspectives (ecofeminism etc.). The bibliographies at the end of each section list the most important books on that topic, though not all bibliographies are up to date.
Religion and the New Ecology by David M. Lodge (Editor); Christopher Hamlin (Editor); Peter H. Raven (Foreword by)
Publication Date: 2006-05-01
Chapter Four, “The Various Christian Ethics of Species Conservation,” lists ecological position statements by denominations, organizations, and individuals and categorizes them.
What Are They Saying about Environmental Theology? by John Hart
Publication Date: 2004-05-01
Surveys Catholic environmentalism in North and South America.
Environmental Ethics by Andrew Light (Editor); Holmes Rolston (Editor)
Publication Date: 2002-08-26
A collection of both mainstream and alternative essays.
Environmental Philosophy by Michael E. Zimmerman; J. Baird Callicott; John Clark; Irene J. Klaver; Karen J. Warren
Publication Date: 2004-06-04
Collection of important essays. Has good introduction to Ecofeminism and Environmental Continental Philosophy. Also has interesting essay by Sturgeon on ecofeminism and indigenous women.
Ethics and the Environment by Dale Jamieson
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
"What is the environment, and how does it figure in an ethical life? This book is an introduction to the philosophical issues involved in this important question, focusing primarily on ethics but also encompassing questions in aesthetics and political philosophy. Topics discussed include the environment as an ethical question, human morality, meta-ethics, normative ethics, humans and other animals, the value of nature, and nature's future. ."--BOOK JACKET.
Ecological Imaginations in the World Religions by Tony Watling
Publication Date: 2009-07-01
After two useful overview chapters, other chapters survey the following traditions: Hindu, Jain, Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic.