What is it about?
Green movements played an early and central role in almost all the revolutions that ended communist rule in Eastern Europe. Grass roots mobilizations but also some elites used environmentalist ideas to challenge or reform not just the capitalist but also the state socialist system. Ideas about a people power, a global world, limits and criticism of modern industrial society are an overlooked legacy of the dramatic events of 1989.
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Why is it important?
We usually think we know the big ideas behind the French (1789) and the Russian (1917) revolutions, but what was 1989 about? Often it is seen simply as a rejection of socialism with no new political ideas or visions emerging from it. This view ignores the role of green movements and ideas in the revolutions and contributes to the 'End of History' fallacy. Remembering the environmental dimension to opposition to state socialism and its role in shaping current political visions can help to clarify what is at stake in global politics today.
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This page is a summary of: The Green Legacy of 1989: Revolutions, Environmentalism and the Global Age, Political Studies, May 2013, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9248.12034.
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