Environmentalism (Seminar Studies) - Softcover

Why are our environmental problems still growing despite a huge increase in global conservation efforts? Peterson del Mar untangles this paradox by showing how prosperity is essential to environmentalism. Industrialization drove people to look for meaning in nature even as they consumed its products more relentlessly. Hence England led the way in both manufacturing and preserving its countryside, and the United States created a matchless set of national parks as it became the world's pre-eminent economic and military power.

Environmental movements have produced some impressive results, including cleaner air and the preservation of selected species and places.  But agendas that challenged western prosperity and comfort seldom made much progress, and many radical environmentalists have been unabashed utopianists. Environmentalism considers a wide range of conservation and preservation movements and less organized forms of nature loving (from seaside vacations to ecotourism) to argue that these activities have commonly distracted us from the hard work of creating a sustainable and sensible relationship with the environment.

We live in a century already characterised by fears about global warming, rising pollution and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. At the same time, there appears to be a greater interest in nature and conservation than ever before. In Environmentalism David Peterson del Mar uncovers one of the principal paradoxes of western society’s erratic relationship with its surroundings: celebrations of and efforts to conserve nature have been most intense at times and in places where people have most exploited it.

Industrialisation drove people to look for meaning in nature even as they relentlessly consumed its products, and the western world has turned to nature in search of meanings that have proved elusive in a world dominated by economic prosperity, urbanisation and technological advances. Peterson del Mar here examines the political and economic movements of environmentalism in the context of broader cultural forces, to provide an engaging and critically astute cultural history of our attitude to the environment. Primary source documents and a collection of colour photographs serve to demonstrate and develop the argument that while nature loving may soothe our sense of alienation from our natural surroundings, it also serves to distract us from the hard work of creating a sustainable relationship with the environment.

Topics covered include:

• the birth and development of conservation and preservation
• the effects of post-war affluence
• radical movements such as deep economy, ecofeminism and ecoregionalism
• the politics of environmentalism in Europe and worldwide

With increased awareness of the fate of the environment already a dominant concern of the twenty-first century, this new Seminar Study will be an essential introduction for anyone interested in the history of environmentalism.

David Peterson del Mar has taught courses on environmental history in Canada and the US and currently teaches for Portland State University. He is the author of five books on social and environmental history, including Beaten Down: A History of Interpersonal Violence in the West (2005).