Social movements, public spheres and the European politics of the environment
Subtitle: green power Europe?
By: Hein-Anton van der Heijden
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke; New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780230236141
Description: This book examines how the European environmental movement, as part of an emerging European civil society, has impinged on the problem definitions and solution strategies in the European politics of the environment. Examining core case studies in European environmental policy - biodiversity politics (Natura 2000), the politics of genetically modified organisms, Trans-European Transport Networks, and the European politics of climate change - this study, written at the crossroads of social movement, public sphere and political discourse theory, argues that a social movement's most important feature is its 'cognitive praxis', its ability to successfully challenge dominant conceptions of reality and to create new green public spheres. It examines whether 'ecological modernization' is able to solve the tension between economic growth and environmental protection, and to what extent European environmentalism has contributed to the emergence of a green 'normative power Europe'.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Social movements, civil society and public spheres; title: European environmental politics; title: Environmental groups in Brussels; title: In search of a green 'good society'; title: The Natura 2000 discourse; title: Framing genetically modified organisms; title: Ecological modernization and the Trans-European Transport Network; title: The European politics of climate change; title: Conclusion.