Green States and Social Movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway
John S. Dryzek, David Downes, Christian Hunold, David Schlosberg, and Hans-Kristian Hernes
Abstract
Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to democracy and democratization. This book examines the interaction between states and environmentalism, emblematic of contemporary social movements. The analysis covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era that begins in the 1970s, emphasizing the comparative history of four countries: the US, UK, Germany, and Norway, each of which captures a particular kind of interest representation. Inte ... More
Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to democracy and democratization. This book examines the interaction between states and environmentalism, emblematic of contemporary social movements. The analysis covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era that begins in the 1970s, emphasizing the comparative history of four countries: the US, UK, Germany, and Norway, each of which captures a particular kind of interest representation. Interest groups, parties, mass mobilizations, protest businesses, and oppositional public spheres vary in their weight and significance across the four countries. The book explains why the US was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, why Germany now shows the way, and why the UK has been a laggard throughout. Ecological modernization and the growing salience of environmental risks mean that environmental conservation can now emerge as a basic priority of government, growing out of entrenched economic and legitimation imperatives. The end in view is a green state, on a par with earlier transformations that produced first the liberal capitalist state and then the welfare state. Any such transformation can be envisaged only to the extent environmentalism maintains its focus as a critical social movement that confronts as well as engages the state.
Keywords:
democracy,
ecological modernization,
environmental risks,
environmentalism,
green state,
interest representation,
legitimation,
public sphere,
social movements,
states
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2003 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199249022 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2003 |
DOI:10.1093/0199249024.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
John S. Dryzek, author
Australian National University
Author Webpage
David Downes, author
Victoria Department of Education and Training
Christian Hunold, author
Drexel University
Author Webpage
David Schlosberg, author
Northern Arizona University
Author Webpage
Hans-Kristian Hernes, author
University of Tromsø
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