Political Theory
In this book Andrew Jamison, who is both an academic and an environmental activist, offers his fellow environmentalists and other interested parties what he refers to as a ‘progress report’ on humanity’s journey towards a sustainable society. It comprises a historically oriented and strongly contextualized account of what he sees as an emerging ecological culture. This, he argues, is growing out of the interactions of a variety of environmental actors from different social and cultural backgrounds with the various social, political and economic facets of the hegemonic culture of liberal capitalism.
The account uses a theoretical perspective inspired by the work on social movements of the social theorist Alain Touraine and the sociologist Alberto Melucci. The theory posits a cyclical process of growth and stagnation in the scientific/technological field in which cultural forces radically reconstruct social processes during the crisis phase.
Jamison examines, firstly, historical examples of oppositional social movements and their reconstructive effect – complex and indirect, but palpable – on mainstream society, before considering the recent history of environmentalism. Themes and issues discussed include the different national styles of environmentalism, the nature and importance of ecological modernization and the forms of radical environmentalism. In conclusion, some ruminations are proffered on the importance of keeping open a public space for the strategic reflection needed to push the dominant culture further in the direction of sustainability.
The book is a valuable source of perspectives on what Jamison refers to as the ‘actual historical trajectory of environmentalism’ (p. 2). It does full justice to the immense complexity of the interactions between different theoretical, cultural, historical and practical forces and processes in the development of environmentalism. The theoretical perspective employed is not as convincing or useful as the rich examples drawn from the history of green movements that make the book well worth reading.
