Green Ideology

This chapter identifies four key commitments of green ideology—ecological restructuring, radical democratization, ecological law, and non-violence as a principle of action. It then examines whether these core principles effectively constrain the potential decontestations of other, adjacent principles. Is green ideology a ‘thin’ ideology that is open to co-optation by more developed rivals, or does it stand on more distinctive conceptual territory, placing firm limits on such ideological appropriations? The chapter then assesses some of the challenges that have emerged in recent years from ‘sceptical environmentalism’ and ‘post-ecologism’, whose proponents claim sympathy with the broad objectives of the environmental movement. The chapter concludes by suggesting that such internal diversity represents a maturing of green ideology, but it may also indicate that the version of green ideology that constituted a radical challenge to existing forms of political and economic organization now stands increasingly marginalized.