Cambridge University Press Elements Series on
Organizational Response to Climate Change:
Business, Governments, and Nonprofits
Climate change is a defining issue of our times and poses enormous governance challenges for governments, firms, and nonprofits. Since the industrial revolution, the economic system is based on the availability of cheap fossil fuels. This has affected the industrial processes, consumption choices, household behaviors. However, the operations of economic, political, and social organizations, the system’s workhorses, have been shaped by carbon-intensive economic processes. What is less clear is how these organizations address climate change and the pressures for decarbonization. Are they resisting, reluctantly changing, or enthusiastically incorporating decarbonization in their internal governance systems and external strategies? Is it business as usual with a new focus on climate issues, or are they incorporating transformative changes to respond to, take advantage of, or protect themselves from the profound societal changes that decarbonization will bring about? Are nonprofits providing services in, say, human rights field incorporating climate concerns? Are the advocacy strategies of climate-focused nonprofits – be it citizen groups or trade associations – different from that of other types of advocacy organizations?
Any massive structural change disrupts the status quo, creating winners and losers. How an organization recognizes and pursues decarbonization varies, depending on factors both internal and external to the organization. Organizations make different choices, and this series seeks to understand why and how they make these choices and with what consequence for the organization and the eco-system within which it functions.
The Cambridge Element Series will provide a platform for scholars to assess the climate response of different categories of organizations – governments, firms, labor unions, and nonprofits. The typical manuscript will be about 20,000-30,000 words, written in an accessible format. It could focus on a single case, compare cases, or present accessible statistical analyses.
These mini-books are distinct from review essays or various excellent handbooks that provide authoritative literature reviews on a given topic. Our focus is to present evidence and analysis on organizational response to climate change in order to understand both the strengths and limitations of the organization’s climate strategies.
Given the nature of the topic, we welcome submissions from scholars from any discipline, including natural and physical sciences, as long as they focus on the organizational dimensions of climate change.
Book Proposal Template
To facilitate the review process, we ask that book proposals to this series contain the following components:
1) Project Description: a discussion of the book’s main argument, data sources and methods, and implications for scholarship and/or policy.
2) Market/Audience Description: a short assessment of who the audience will be for this book, including other relevant books to which the proposed book can be compared.
3) Author Bio: a brief description of the author’s background and accomplishments, including relevant publishing experience.
4) Chapter Outline: a listing of the proposed chapters and expected contents.
Please email your proposal (about 2,000 words) to the Series Editor
Aseem Prakash (aseem@uw.edu) and/or the editor responsible for the subseries on Business, Government, or Nonprofits:
Jennifer Hadden (jhadden1@umd.edu)
Nonprofit Response to the Climate Challenge
These titles focus on environmental and other nonprofits that supply goods and services as well as NGOs who advocate policy positions. In addition, we also welcome submissions examining how interest groups, foundations, labor unions, and religious organizations are responding to the climate challenge.
David Konisky (dkonisky@indiana.edu)
Governmental Response to the Climate Challenge.
These titles examine how governments (local, state, and international), as well as inter-governmental organizations, are responding to the climate challenge.
Matt Potoski (mpotoski@bren.ucsb.edu)
Business Response to the Climate Challenge
These titles examine responses at the level of individual firms as well as the industry-level to climate change.
