The Fading of the Greens

Although the green movement has had a major impact on public awareness and concern for environmental issues, green political parties in Europe and the United States have not won elections. This book-a witty and controversial look at the development of green parties and ideology since World War II-is [...]
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Although the green movement has had a major impact on public awareness and concern for environmental issues, green political parties in Europe and the United States have not won elections. This book-a witty and controversial look at the development of green parties and ideology since World War II-is neither a green text nor a political history but a survey of the failure of the greens to create a new politics. Anna Bramwell, an environmental expert and policymaker, focuses on the cultural context in which greens developed in England, Germany, and the United States. She examines the shift from lonely conservative ecologists, fighting a losing battle against the emphasis on growth and reconstruction, to the appearance of deep ecologists with their revulsion against the increasing industrialization of the West. She discusses the paradox of a movement hostile to orthodox science yet deeply bound to science for its justification, its rationale, and its values.Bramwell shows how green consciousness became skewed in political practice, a development that prevented the greens from attracting the support they needed, and she tracks this development largely to the dominance of the German greens and their particular and atypical characteristics. Arguing that the green frontier now lies with international organizations rather than with political parties, this lively and provocative book will be important reading for activists and political scientists alike.