As part of the rethinking process underway in the environmental movement, some are questioning its fundamental modern premises. Without endorsing everything in this piece, I recommend it as thought-provoking:
"Perhaps in its fragmentation, institutionalization and complexity environmentalism has become a failed social movement - capable only of bringing about limited changes institutionalized into the continuing social and cultural structures of contemporary society. The failure of environmentalism to fashion a compelling core narrative of contemporary society, with a critique of the present, a vision of the future and a map for getting there, may have a very high cost. We have to ask, can a diverse, fragmented, often technical narrative stand a chance of being persuasive against mass media promotion of mass consumption? Should we not try to locate the particular and specialized narratives of a diverse movement in the context of a larger narrative which is simple, clear and widely shared?"
http://www.sustreport.org/resource/shoenfeld.html
Posted by Dave at February 19, 2005 12:10 PM