Table Of ContentGreen Political Thought
Fourth Edition
We are all environmentalists now – or are we?
This highly acclaimed introduction to green political thought is now
available in a new edition, having been fully revised and updated to take
into account the areas which have grown in importance since the third
edition was published.
The author describes and assesses the political ideology of ‘ecolo-
gism’, and compares this radical view of remedies for the environ-
mental crisis with the ‘environmentalism’ of mainstream politics.
Dobson examines the philosophical basis of ecological thinking, the
potential shape of a sustainable society and the means at hand for
achieving it. The relationship between ecologism and other political
ideologies is also discussed.
New to this edition:
•
Analysis of the ‘green state’
•
An account of ‘hybridity’ and the ‘ecological footprint’
• The effect of globalization on ecologism
•
Ecological citizenship
•
Analysis of recent Green Party experience
Green Political Thought remains the starting point for all students,
academics and activists who want an introduction to green political
theory.
Andrew Dobson is Professor of Politics at Keele University, UK.
Webpage: www.andrewdobson.com
Green Political Thought
Fourth Edition
Andrew Dobson
First Edition published 1990
by HarperCollins Academic
Reprinted 1991
Reprinted 1992, 1994
by Routledge
Second Edition first published 1995
Third Edition first published 2000
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2007 Andrew Dobson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Dobson, Andrew.
Green political thought / by Andrew Dobson. – 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Green movement. I. Title.
JA75.8.D63 2007
320.5'8– dc22
ISBN 0–203–96462–4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–40351–0 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–40352–9 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96462–4 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40351–1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–40352–8 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–96462–0 (ebk)
Contents
Preface to the fourth edition vii
Preface to the third edition viii
Preface to the second edition x
Introduction 1
1 Thinking about ecologism 10
Sustainable societies 12
Reasons to care for the environment 15
Crisis and its political-strategic consequences 16
Universality and social change 17
Left and right: communism and capitalism 18
Historical specificity 22
Conclusion 26
2 Philosophical foundations 28
Deep ecology: ethics as a code of conduct 31
Deep ecology: Ethics as a state of being 37
Anthropocentrism 42
Earth first! and social ecology 46
Hybridity 49
Conclusion 51
3 The sustainable society 53
Limits to growth 53
Possible positions 62
More problems with growth 67
Questioning consumption 70
vi Contents
Energy 80
Trade and travel 82
Work 85
Bioregionalism 90
Agriculture 93
Diversity 94
Decentralization and its limits 95
Conclusion 102
4 Strategies for green change 103
Democracy and authoritarianism 105
Action through and around the legislature 115
Lifestyle 119
Communities 123
Direct action 129
Fiscal incentives and ecological citizenship 132
Class 134
Conclusion 147
5 Ecologism and other ideologies 148
Liberalism 149
Conservatism 158
Socialism 165
Feminism 176
Conclusion 188
Conclusion 189
Bibliography 203
Index 219
Preface to the fourth edition
‘The environment’ is now a regular presence on the front pages of
newspapers and in the headlines of TV news bulletins. This would have
been unimaginable when the first edition of this book was published in
1990. The paradox, though, is that this increased exposure has not
necessarily resulted in a better understanding of the causes and con-
sequences of, and solutions to, environmental problems. In fact the
range of analyses of unsustainability, and what to do about it, is quite
often much narrower than it should be. The original aim of this
book, then, which was to offer readers a contrast between ‘radical’
and ‘reformist’ environmentalism, is perhaps even more important
now than it was in 1990. Many of the warnings of environmentalists
that appeared outlandish in what we might call the ‘pre-environmental’
era have become common currency today, as we are confronted with
evidence of environmental stress on a daily basis. We should at least
be aware, therefore, of the variety of routes to sustainability – and the
ideas about what the sustainable society itself might look like – that are
available to us. That is what this book is about.
I would like to thank Craig Fowlie and Natalja Mortensen at
Routledge for their work on this fourth edition, and to Ann King for
her excellent and sympathetic copy-editing.
Andrew Dobson
Keele University, December 2006
Preface to the third edition
In the preface to the second edition of this book I noted the explosion
of material on its central theme – ecologism – that surrounded publica-
tion of the first. This rush has shown no signs of abating – indeed, it has
become even faster and more furious. The standard of this material is
very high, and to the chapter-length analyses of ecologism referred to in
the preface to the second edition, we must now add some outstanding
longer reflections: for example, Goodin, 1992; Hayward, 1995, 1998;
Dryzek, 1997; Smith, 1998; and J. Barry, 1999. These books form part
of what we might call the ‘second wave’ of theorizing about environ-
mental politics. The first wave was devoted to explaining and analysing
the politicalideological aspects of environmental politics, and the first
edition of this book was very much a part of that wave. Second-wave
work, on the other hand, has focused more on political theory than on
political ideology, and has taken the form of a critical exploration of
the relationship between environmental politics and enduring themes
and concepts in political theory such as democracy, justice and citizen-
ship. Something of the influence of this second wave can be found in the
third edition of Green Political Thought where I have added a section
to Chapter 4 entitled ‘Democracy and authoritarianism’ and made ref-
erences in Chapter 5 to the prickly relationship between social justice
and environmental objectives. Chapter 5, indeed, has been changed
rather radically. I have responded to the interest students have shown in
the relationship between ecologism and other ideologies, and to some
outstanding comparative studies by scholars working in that area, by
expanding the coverage to include not only socialism and feminism, but
liberalism and conservatism too. I have taken the opportunity this pre-
sented to cement the central theme of the book: that ecologism is a
political ideology in its own right, distinct and different from the others
with which it competes at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The
sympathetic and not-so-sympathetic reactions to the development of
Preface to the third edition ix
ecologism which I identified and discussed in the Conclusion to the
second edition have continued unabated. There is now a strong belief
that the objectives of ecologism can be achieved without it, as it were. I
think this is wrong, and I have updated the Conclusion once again to
try to explain why. I am happy to report that the community of scholars
working on environmental politics is strong, vibrant and still growing,
and it continues to be an intellectual and social pleasure to work with
them. It is particularly gratifying to see scholars from outside the ‘green
field’ beginning to grapple with the intellectual challenges that
environmental political theory has uncovered. I am, as ever, grateful to
all those who have participated in this coruscating conversation for
their influence on what I have written here. I am also grateful to my
editor at Routledge, Mark Kavanagh, for inviting me to throw my hat in
the ring once again. Finally, thanks to the building contractors at Keele
University who unwittingly provided the material for Miho Suganami’s
cover photograph.
Andrew Dobson
Keele University August 1999
