Green Political Thinking

1
Lecture 2

• Green Political Thinking

2
Paradigms

• In general Sets of beliefs, ideas and values
  from which public policies and whole systems of
  behaviour flow.
• Dominant social paradigm rich/ infinite supply
  of resources damage limitation through
  technology econ. growth inherently good
  environmental concerns secondary.

3
The Challenge

• Rachel Carson Silent Spring (1962)
• Meadows et al Limits to Growth (1972)
• Schumacher Small is Beautiful (1973)

4
The Counter Challenge

• Scare-mongering (Small is Stupid)
• Human ingenuity
• Absorb it
• Björn Lomborg The Sceptical Environmentalist
  (2001)

5
Environmental Protection

• Old and new
• From single issue to wider picture
• Goodin Green Political Theory 1992
• cute is out cosmic is in

6
Holism

• Native American roots
• James Lovelock Gaia. A new look at life on Earth
  (1979)
• Eco-centrism

7
Sustainability Sustainable development

• Sustainable Development Brundtland definition
  intergenerational, merging environmental, social
  and economic spheres.
• Sustainability emphasis on environment
  reassessment of relationship with nature and
  fundamental issues of life.

8
Different shades of Green

• Depending on level of radicalism
• intrinsic value
• Deep Shallow
• Ecologists Environmentalists
• Ecocentric Anthropocentric
• Fundi Realo

9
Deep Greens

• Arne Naess (1972)
• Radical re-conception
• Taking holism to its logical conclusion earth
  first
• Spin-offs habitat protection population (Dave
  Foreman) animal rights bio-regionalism.

10
Shallow Greens

• Practicality and pragmatism
• Anthropocentric
• Focusing on Environmental Quality
• Work with system not against it

11
Deep Shallow Debate

• Deeps criticise Shallows sell-outs, re-enforcing
  exploitative attitude/ behaviour, having it both
  ways, too slow if ever.
• Shallows criticise Deeps dogmatists, why burden
  public with eco-claims, by demanding too much
  endangering goal.

12
Jonathan Porritt

• The politics of the industrial age is like a
  3-lane motorway with left, right and centre where
  different vehicles move in the three lanes but
  all are heading in the same direction. Greens
  feel that it is the very direction that is wrong
  rather than the choice of any one lane.