Preliminary Programme

The paper discusses the background and roots of the Finnish green movement that gathered together heterogeneous group of traditional nature conservationists, younger environmental activists, feminists, alternative culture activists, movement against the nuclear power, and Third World solidarity groups. Three key words describe the movement: alternative lifestyle, environmental concern, and new politics. Deep environmental concern formed the basis to seek alternatives both in personal life and political level. The movement was united to oppose western culture based on economic growth and exploitation of nature. The alternatives for that culture varied from self-sufficient communities and direct action to pragmatic political reforms.

Finnish greens entered the parliament in 1983 which meant that practical reforms were emphasized instead of utopias. However, some basic green assumptions had to be reconsidered. In everyday politics the greens engaged to the ideas of social justice, and welfare for all citizens. The paper will examine what was alternative in green politics in Finnish political context. At least, the greens were different from the old political actors as they didn’t form a party until 1988. Instead, the greens wanted to offer the alternative to old parties which were blamed to be too hierarchical and centered in terms of power. Finnish greens tried to form an open network, which would be able to hold on to basic green practices, for example rotation of leading positions, and making decisions through open discussion. (Show less)

The proposed paper considers the German environmental movement of the 1970s in novel ways. In particular, it discusses the ways in which many of its local activities were less connected to post-materialist ideas but more connected to specific conflicts around nature protection around the uses of military sites. The movement profited from the opening up of the space of the political around 1968 as well as from certain networks of mobilisation. While it is well known that German environmentalism during this earlier period was strongly influenced by state intervention, this paper proposes to demonstrate how state intervention in nature protection gave rise, in a dialectical process, to a series of local and grassroots campaigns that paved the way for a more fully-fledged environmental movement. (Show less)

The Green Party in the UK began quite differently from many of its sister parties in Europe. Formed as ‘PEOPLE’ in 1973 it did not start out as part of the ‘alternative milieu’ or New Social Movement (NSM) groups that most green parties in European countries began as. However, the party was and is definitely part of the ‘green’ party family, not just because of its ecological credentials but because from very early on it sought to explore alternative ways to approach politics. This paper will explore the particular circumstances of the emergence of the Green Party in the UK based on two main sources: fifty interviews with individuals who were members of the party between 1973 and 1979 and a detailed survey of relevant archive sources from the 1970s. It will argue that general, ‘new politics’ theories about NSMs, the new middle class and post-materialism are of limited used in explaining why the party emerged. Instead, it will employ a ‘life story’ approach – drawing off individuals’ accounts of how and why they came to be concerned about environmental issues during this period to help explain the party’s emergence. (Show less)