1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777371703321

Autore

Brulle Robert J

Titolo

Agency, democracy, and nature : the U.S. environmental movement from a critical theory perspective / / Robert J. Brulle

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : MIT Press, 2000

©2000

ISBN

0-262-26165-0

0-262-26940-6

1-4237-3083-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 347 pages) : illustrations

Disciplina

333.7/0973

Soggetti

Environmentalism - United States - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-341) and index.

Sommario/riassunto

Annotation In this book Robert Brulle draws on a broad range of empirical and theoretical research to investigate the effectiveness of U.S. environmental groups. Brulle shows how Critical Theory--in particular the work of Jürgen Habermas--can expand our understanding of the social causes of environmental degradation and the political actions necessary to deal with it. He then develops both a pragmatic and a moral argument for broad-based democratization of society as a prerequisite to the achievement of ecological sustainability. From the perspectives of frame analysis, resource mobilization, and historical sociology, using data on more than one hundred environmental groups, Brulle examines the core beliefs, structures, funding, and political practices of a wide variety of environmental organizations. He identifies the social processes that foster the development of a democratic environmental movement and those that hinder it. He concludes with suggestions for how environmental groups can make their organizational practices more democratic and politically effective.