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Book cover. Title reads The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. Photo of two hands holding a ball representing earth. There is a glow coming from the hands and earth.

Environmental Movements and Activism around the World: Book and Videos

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Introduction

This series of videos introduces the 38 chapters of the Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements edited by Maria Grasso and Marco Giugni. The book was published in 2022, and provides an overview of the current state of the art and future development of environmental movements and activism around the world.

It is divided into four parts covering:

  1. environmental movements across different parts of the world, including Oceania
  2. the macrostructural conditions and processes underlying environmental mobilisation
  3. the social-psychological dimensions of environmental activism
  4. current trends and future scenarios for environmental movements and social change

Professor Winnifred Louis, who is a co-author on the chapter on the Oceanian environmental movement, led a project inviting chapter authors for a short discussion on each of their chapters. Each discussion was videoed and is available to be watched on YouTube. You can also contact chapter authors directly for a copy of their chapter. 

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Part I: Environmental movements around the world

Part 1 of the book provides an overview of the history, development and diversity of environmental movements and activism in different regions of the world. Each chapter covers a different geographic location, namely Western Europe, East Central Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The chapters describe how environmental movements have emerged and evolved in response to various environmental problems and challenges specific to their geographic regions, such as pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change and extractivism.

It also considers the particular historical and cultural conditions of those regions, and how they have influenced the environmental movement within it. Some chapters use local examples to discuss how environmental movements have articulated local struggles with regional and global agendas, contested dominant development models and discourses, and envisioned alternative forms of living with nature. 

  • Chapter 1: Environmental movements worldwide
  • Chapter 2: Environmental movements in Western Europe
  • Chapter 3: Environmental movements in East Central Europe
  • Chapter 4: The “Tar Wars” and climate justice activism in North America
  • Chapter 5: Geographies of Latin American social-environmental movements
  • Chapter 6: Environmental movements in Africa
  • Chapter 7: Environmental movements in Asia
  • Chapter 8: Environmental movements in Oceania

Part II: Macrostructural conditions and processes underlying environmental mobilisation

Part two turns to a more global view of the environmental movement, and examines how different conditions and processes influence how environmental movements emerge, develop and transform. One of these conditions are the particular political structures in which environmental movements are situated. These political structures – such as the degree of openness or closure of the political system, the availability of allies or adversaries, and the presence or absence of repression or facilitation – can significantly influence the activities of environmental organisations.

This chapter also considers the effect of economic conditions, exploring how environmental movements have adapted to and challenged the economic opportunity structure, such as the level of development, inequality, globalisation and neoliberalism. Two chapters consider the cultural and institutional opportunity structures which influence environmental movements. This includes an analysis of how movements interacted with and contributed to the cultural opportunity structure, such as the dominant values, norms, beliefs and frames in society, as well as the extent to which movements have made use of institutional opportunities such as transnational networks, organisations, events and issues that transcend national boundaries.

  • Chapter 9: The political opportunity structure of environmental movements
  • Chapter 10: The economic opportunity structure of environmental movements
  • Chapter 11: The cultural opportunity structure of environmental movements
  • Chapter 12: The institutional opportunity structure of environmental movements
  • Chapter 13: The global opportunity structure of environmental movements

Part III: Microstructural and social-psychological dimensions of environmental activism

Part three then looks at how individual characteristics can influence how, why and when people participate in environmental movements. The chapter on social composition looks at how movements have been composed of and supported by different social groups, such as class, gender, age, ethnicity and education, while chapter 14 looks at the particular patterns of recruitment and mobilisation across different forms of action such as protests and campaigns.

Framing – a well established communication theory explaining why some messages resonate while others do not – specifically analyses how environmental movements have framed their issues and demands, and constructed and maintained their collective identities using various mechanisms, such as boundaries, symbols and rituals. This section then concludes with two chapters examining how environmental movements have enabled individuals to express and manage their emotions, such as anger, fear, hope and joy as well as how they have communicated and interacted with the media.

  • Chapter 14: The social composition of environmental movements
  • Chapter 15: The mobilisation strategies of environmental movements
  • Chapter 16: The framing processes of environmental movements
  • Chapter 17: The collective identities of environmental movements
  • Chapter 18: The emotions of environmental movements
  • Chapter 19: The media coverage of environmental movements

Part IV: Current trends and future scenarios for environmental movements and social change

Part four looks to the future of environmental movements and discusses current trends and future scenarios for movement development and social change. It considers the outcomes and impacts achieved by movements to date, such as policy change, cultural change, behavioural change and biophysical change. It also analyses how environmental movements have evaluated their success and failure, using different criteria and indicators. It examines the challenges faced, such as Covid-19, populism and authoritarianism, as well as how the environmental movement has allied with other movements such as human rights, peace, feminism, anti-racism and indigenous movements.

The final chapters take a deep dive into the varied and innovative forms of action consolidating in recent years, such as radical or moderate, online or offline, local or global, individual or collective, as well as new modes of expression, such as art, humour, music and storytelling.

  • Chapter 20: The outcomes and impacts of environmental activism
  • Chapter 21: The challenges and prospects for environmental activism in the Anthropocene
  • Chapter 22: The intersections and alliances of environmental movements with other social movements
  • Chapter 23: The varieties and innovations of environmental activism in the digital age
  • Chapter 24: The radicalization and moderation of environmental activism in the twenty-first century

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