Across the globe, environmental questions feature more and more in today's social and political agendas. In Western countries environmental campaigns target issues at home and abroad. They have a special urgency, which draws in an astonishing range of field campaigners, from young militants to rebel aristocrats. This book examines the roots of contemporary environmental consciousness and action in terms of both popular experience and tradition. The global reach of this book reflects the character of contemporary environmentalism. It examines a geographically and thematically diverse range of case studies, including: British environmental campaigners in the Brazilian rainforest; ecocriticism and literature; the environmental movement in Kazakhstan; and medieval church iconography. The common theme linking each chapter is that environmental consciousness and activism are shaped through people's life stories, and that their memories are shaped not only through individual experience but also through myth, tradition, and collective memory. Containing a wealth of empirical source material, Environmental Consciousness will be invaluable for sociologists and historians alike. It offers a cutting-edge illustration of how narrative and oral history can illuminate our understanding of an uncertain present. Stephen Hussey is a research associate at the School of Education at the University of Cambridge. His previous publications include Childhood in Question and his next publication will be a book for the wider market entitled Headline History. Paul Thompson is research professor in sociology and director of Qualidata at the University of Essex. He is also founder of the National Life Story Collection at the British Library National Sound Archive and founder-editor of Oral History. His previous publications include The Voice of the Past, The Edwardians, and The Work of William Morris.

Seattle, often called the "Emerald City," did not achieve its green, clean, and sustainable environment easily. This thriving ecotopia is the byproduct of continuing efforts by residents, businesses, and civic leaders alike. In Seattle and the Roots of Urban Sustainability, Jeffrey Craig Sanders examines the rise of environmental activism in Seattle amidst the "urban crisis" of the 1960s and its aftermath. Like much activism during this period, the environmental movement began at the grassroots level—in local neighborhoods over local issues. Sanders links the rise of local environmentalism to larger movements for economic, racial, and gender equality and to a counterculture that changed the social and political landscape. He examines emblematic battles that erupted over the planned demolition of Pike Place Market, a local landmark, and environmental organizing in the Central District during the War on Poverty. Sanders also relates the story of Fort Lawton, a decommissioned army base, where Audubon Society members and Native American activists feuded over future land use. The rise and popularity of environmental consciousness among Seattle's residents came to influence everything from industry to politics, planning, and global environmental movements. Yet, as Sanders reveals, it was in the small, local struggles that urban environmental activism began.

A fresh look at the history of environmentalism in the United States, challenging current thinking and presenting an innovative perspective.

Originally published in 1984, The Roots of Modern Environmentalism provides a historical, philosophical and ideological background to environmentalism. Topics covered include, the roots of technological environmentalism, the medieval cosmology and Bacon’s philosophy, the non-scientific roots of ecological environmentalism, such as Romanticism and its scientific roots in the theories of Malthus and Darwin. The Marxist perspective on Nature is also discussed. The concluding chapter is a criticism of education which challenges its usefulness as an agent of socio-economic change. This book will be of interest to academics and students of environmentalism and geography.

This is a history of the Alabama Environmental Quality Association (AEQA). The AEQA helped to establish environmental protection and natural resource preservation policies for the state and the region and grew into one of the nation's most progressive environmental education efforts.

The Origins of Modern Environmental Thought provides readers with a concise and lively introduction to the seminal thinkers who created the modern environmental movement and inspired activism and policy change. Beginning with a brief overview of the works of Thoreau, Mill, Malthus, Leopold, and others, de Steiguer examines some of the earliest philosophies that underlie the field. He then describes major socioeconomic factors in postÐWorld War II America that created the milieu in which the modern environmental movement began, with the publication of Rachel CarsonÕs Silent Spring. The following chapters offer summaries and critical reviews of landmark works by scholars who helped shape and define modern environmentalism. Among others, de Steiguer examines works by Barry Commoner, Paul Ehrlich, Kenneth Boulding, Garrett Hardin, Herman Daly, and Arne Naess. He describes the growth of the environmental movement from 1962 to 1973 and explains a number of factors that led to a decline in environmental interest during the mid-1970s. He then reveals changes in environmental awareness in the 1980s and concludes with commentary on the movement through 2004. Updated and revised from The Age of Environmentalism, this expanded edition includes three new chapters on Stewart Udall, Roderick Nash, and E. F. Schumacher, as well as a new concluding chapter, bibliography, and updated material throughout. This primer on the history and development of environmental consciousness and the many modern scholars who have shaped the movement will be useful to students in all branches of environmental studies and philosophy, as well as biology, economics, and physics.