This book is the first major study of the history of
environmentalism, from its origins in romanticism and the nature
cults of the late 18th century to the global environmental
movements of today.
Radkau shows that this is not a single story of the steady ascent
of environmentalism but rather a multiplicity of stories, each with
its own dramatic tension: between single-issue movements and the
challenges posed by the interconnection of environmental issues,
between charismatic leaders and bureaucratic organizations, and
between grassroot movements and global players. While the history
can be traced back several centuries, environmentalism has
flourished since the ‘environmental revolution’ of
1970, spurred on by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 and the
growing concern about global warming. While environmentalists often
opposed the scientific mainstream, they were also often led by
scientific knowledge. Environmentalism is the true Enlightenment of
our time D so much so that we can call our era ‘the age
of ecology’.
This timely and comprehensive global history of environmentalism
will be essential reading for anyone concerned with the most
pressing global issues of our time.
Table of Content
Preface to the English Edition vii
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction: The Green Chameleon 1
One Environmentalism before the Environmental Movement
11
1 Good Mother Nature and the ‘Appalling Wood
Shortage’: The Twin Face of Nature in the Decline of the
Commons 11
2 Nature in Need of Protection and Nature as Healing Power:
Environmental Activism in the ‘Nervous Age’ 24
3 ‘The Desert Threatens’: Environmental Fears in the
Age of Crisis – the New Deal and Nazi Germany 46
4 Think Big! A Charismatic Intermezzo on the Olympian Heights
61
Two The Great Chain Reaction: The ‘Ecological
Revolution’ in and around 1970 79
Three Networked Thinking and Practical Priorities: An Endless
Interplay 114
1 On the Ecology of Ecologism 121
2 Water and the Atom 137
3 Changing Priorities: The Movement in Motion 162
Four Charismatics and Ecocrats 182
1 Spiritual Quest and Charismatic Moments 182
2 Ten Heroines Embodying Tensions in the Movement 201
3 Institutionalization, Routinization, Revitalization 237
Five A Friend-Enemy or Win-Win Scenario? 259
1 From Nuclear Power to the Spotted Owl 259
2 Violence and the Green Conscience 288
3 Ecology and Economics: The Challenge of Conceptual Analogy
320
Six Ecology and the Historic Turn of 1990: From Social
Justice to Climate Justice? 339
Conclusion: The Dialectic of Green Enlightenment 425
Notes 432
Index 517
About the author
Joachim Radkau is professor of modern history at Bielefeld University, Germany. His previous publications include Wood: A History and Max Weber: A Biography.
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