Abstract
The history and nature of the new environmental movement in the United States are reviewed. Since understanding of a social movement is enhanced by learning the views and perceptions of outsiders, the continuing debate between the environmental movement and its critics is examined. First, disagreements over the nature and the severity of the so-called environmental crisis are described. Second, the ideological differences between environmentalists and their critics are reviewed, particularly their contrasting views of man, society, nature, and economic growth. Finally, the political critique of the movement is examined, with attention given to the composition of the membership, the alleged superficiality of its proposed solutions to environmental problems, and the alleged discrimination against both poor people in the United States and the poor nations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aaronson, T. (1972). World priorities.Environment 14(6): 4–13.
Adler, C. A. (1973).Ecological Fantasies, Glen Eagle Press, New York.
Albrecht, S. L. (1972). Environmental social movements and countermovements: An overview and an illustration.Journal of Voluntary Action Research 1 (4): 2–11.
The American People and Their Environment — 1973 (1973). A survey conducted by the J. M. Viladas Company, Greenwich, Conn., for EPA's Office of Public Affairs. Summarized inBehavioral Sciences Newsletter (American Institutes for Research) 11(2): 4 (January 18, 1974).
Anonymous (1970). Ecology Action East.Rat, 10 (January 7)
Anonymous (1973). Down with limits to growth.Development Forum (April).
Anonymous (1974). American Survey.The Economist (London), 45 (March 30).
Bachrach, P. E., and Bergman, E. (1973).Power and Choice: The Formulation of American Population Policy, Lexington Books, Boston.
Barber, B. (1971). Function, variability, and change in ideological systems. In Barber, B., and Inkeles, A. (eds.),Stability and Social Change, Little, Brown, Boston, pp. 244–262.
Behan, R. W. (1974). The liturgy of the environment.Worldview, 27–32 (January).
Bennett, J. W. (1974). Personal communication.
Bennett, J. W., Hasegawa, S., and Levine, S. B. (1973). Japan: Are there limits to growth?Environment 15(10): 6–13.
Benoit, E. (1974). Comment.Society, 14–25 (March/April).
Bering, C. (1973). Review.Environmental Action 5(14): 14–15.
Bookchin, M. (1970). Ecology and revolutionary thought.Motive, 33–41 (April/May).
Boulding, K. E. (1970). Fun and games with the gross national product. In Helfrich, H. W., Jr. (ed.),The Environmental Crisis, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Bretsky, S. S. (1974). Ecologists are male chauvinist pigs.Development Forum 2(4): 12.
Brown, L. R. (1970).Seeds of Change: The Green Revolution and Development in the 1970's, Praeger, New York.
Burch, W. R., Jr. (1971).Daydreams and Nightmares: A Sociological Essay on the American Environment, Harper and Row, New York.
Buttell, F. H., and Flinn, W. L. (1973). The structure of support for the environmental movement: 1968–1970. Unpublished paper.
Carson, R. (1962).Silent Spring, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Claus, G., and Bolander, K. (1974).Ecological Sanity: A Critical Examination of the Bad Science, Good Intentions, and Premature Doomsday Announcements of the Ecology Lobby, David McKay, New York.
Coale, A. J. (1970a). Man and his environment.Science 170: 132–136.
Coale, A. J. (1970b). Review of Ehrlich and Ehrlich,Population, Resources, Environment. Science 170: 428–429.
Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.) (1973).Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York.
Commoner, B. (1971).The Closing Circle, Knopf, New York.
Commoner, B. (1972a). A Bulletin dialogue on “The Closing Circle.” Response: Barry Commoner.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 16–17 (May).
Commoner, B. (1972b). The environmental cost of economic growth. In Ridker, R. G. (ed.),Population, Resources, and the Environment, Vol. 3, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Commoner, B. (1972c). Review: “The Closing Circle.”Environment 14(3): 23–52.
Cox, J. (1974). Letter to the editor.New York Times, 22 (August 12).
Crosland, A. (1971).A Social Democratic Britain, Fabian Society, London.
Daedalus (1973). The no-growth society. 102(4): 1–245.
Daly, H. E. (ed.) (1973).Toward a Steady-State Economy, Freeman, San Francisco.
de Castro, J. (1973). Pollution problem No. 1: Under-development.Unesco Courier, 20–23 (January).
Devall, W. (1970). The governing of a voluntary organization: Oligarchy and democracy in the Sierra Club. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon.
Downs, A. (1972). Up and down with ecology — the “issue-attention cycle.”Public Interest, 38–50 (Summer).
Drucker, P. F. (1972). Saving the crusade.Harpers 244: 66–71.
Dubos, R. J. (1973). Humanizing the earth.Science 179: 769–772.
Ehrlich, P. (1968).The Population Bomb, Ballantine, New York.
Ehrlich, P. (1972). The hysteria against the case.Arnoldia 32(5): 226–240.
Ehrlich, P., and Ehrlich, A. H. (1972).Population, Resources, Environment: Issues in Human Ecology, Freeman, San Francisco.
Ehrlich, P., and Holdren, J. P. (1972a). A Bulletin dialogue on “The Closing Circle.”Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 27(5): 16–17.
Ehrlich, P., and Holdren, J. P. (1972b). Impact of population growth. In Ridker, R. G. (ed.),Population, Resources, and the Environment, Vol. 3, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 365–377.
Ehrlich, P., and Holdren, J. P. (1972c). Review: “The Closing Circle.”Environment 14(3): 24–52.
England, R., and Bluestone, B. (1973). Ecology and social conflict. In Daly, H. E. (ed.),Toward a Steady-State Economy, Freeman, San Francisco, pp. 199–214.
Epstein, J. (1973). Can we afford sliced eggplant?The New York Review, 13–16 (April 5).
Faich, R. G., and Gale, R. P. (1971). The environmental movement: From recreation to politics.Pacific Soc. Rev. 14: 270–287.
Fischman, L. L., and Landsberg, H. H. (1972). Adequacy of nonfuel minerals and forest resources. In Ridker, R. G. (ed.),Population, Resources, and the Environment, Vol. 3, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 77–101.
Fleming, D. (1972). Roots of the new conservation movement.Perspectives in American History 6: 7–91.
Fuchs, S. (1970). Ecology movement exposed.Progressive Labor 7(6): 50–63.
Gallagher, C. F. (1973).The Environment in Japan, The American University Field Staff Reports, East Asia Series, Vol. XX, p. 2.
Gandhi, I. (1972). The unfinished revolution.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 28(7): 35–38.
Goldman, M. I. (1970). The convergence of environmental disruption.Science 170: 37–42.
Grayson, M. J., and Shepard, T. R., Jr. (1973).The Disaster Lobby: Prophets of Ecological Doom and Other Absurdities, Follett, Chicago.
Hardin, G. (1972). Population skeletons in the environmental closet.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 37–41 (June).
Harroy, J. P. (1974). Stop the train, the bridge is down!Development Forum 2(3): 3.
Harry, J., Gale, R., and Hendee, J. (1969). Conservation: An upper-middle class social movement.Journal of Leisure Research 1(3): 246–254.
Hauser, P. M. (1971). Review of Ehrlich, Paul R. and Anne H., “Population, resources, environment: Issues in human ecology.”Social Biology, 443–446 (December).
Hawley, A. H. (1973). Ecology and population.Science 179: 1196–1201.
Holdren, J. P. (1973). Population and the American predicament: The case against complacency.Daedalus 102(4): 31–44.
Hornback, K. E. (1974). Orbits of opinion: The role of age in the environmental movement's attentive public, 1968–1972. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University.
Horowitz, I. L. (1972). The environmental cleavage: Social ecology versus political economy.Social Theory and Practice 2(1): 125–134.
Huth, H. (1957).Nature and the American, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Jacoby, N. (1970). The environmental crisis.Center Magazine 3(6): 37–48.
Jahoda, M. (1973). Postscript on social change. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 209–215.
Johnson, S. (1973).The Politics of Environment: The British Experience, Tom Stacey, London.
Kaysen, C. (1972). The computer that printed out W*O*L*F*.Foreign Affairs 50(4): 660–668.
Kifner, J. (1974). Franconia Notch: Highway battle site.New York Times, 25 (July 29).
Kirk, D. (1973). Computerized prophecy: “The Limits to Growth.”Contemporary Psychology 18(1): 1–3.
Kirk, D. (1974). Personal communication.
Klausner, S. Z. (1972). Alienation in ecological perspective. In Bier, W. C. (ed.),Alienation: Plight of Modern Man? Fordham University Press, New York, pp. 33–50.
Kohl, D. (1972). Review of Richard Neuhaus,In Defense of People. Unpublished paper.
Krieger, M. H. (1970). Six propositions on the poor and pollution.Policy Sciences 1: 311–324.
Krieger, M. H. (1973). What's wrong with plastic trees?Science 179: 446–455.
Kruvant, W. J. (1974). Who gets polluted? An investigation of the incidence of air pollution in Washington, D.C. Unpublished paper, Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies, Washington, D.C.
Landsberg, H. H. (1967). The U.S. resource outlook: Quantity and quality.Daedalus, 1034–1057 (Fall).
Landsberg, H. H. (1974). Materials resources in 1990 and beyond: What will we have left to work with? Unpublished paper, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
Lowenthal, D. (1970a). Earth day.Area 4: 1–10.
Lowenthal, D. (1970b). The environmental crusade: Ideal and realities.Landscape Architecture, 290–296 (July).
Lowry, R. P. (1971). Toward a radical view of the ecological crisis.Environmental Affairs 1(2): 350–359.
Luten, D. B. (1971). Population growth. In Brown, M. (ed.),The Social Responsibility of the Scientist, Free Press, New York, pp. 184–197.
Luten, D. B. (1973). Fading away?Western Outdoors Annual 40: 8–12.
MacLeish, A. (1971). Quoted in Neuhaus, R.,In Defense of People, Macmillan, New York, p. 72.
Maddox, J. (1972).The Doomsday Syndrome, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Mandel, W. M. (1972). The Soviet ecology movement.Science & Society 36(4): 385–416.
Marcuse, P. (1974). Quoted in a leaflet announcing the Planning and Conservation League's Conference, “Saving Our Cities: The Last Wilderness,” held in San Francisco, June 8, 1974.
Marstrand, P. K., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (1973). The agricultural sub-system. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 56–65.
Marx, L. (1964).The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America, Oxford University Press, New York.
Marx, L. (1970). American institutions and ecological ideals.Science 170: 945–952.
Mazur, A. (1973a). Disputes between experts.Minerva 11(2): 243–262.
Mazur, A. (1973b). Personal communication.
McCarthy, J. D., and Zald, M. N. (1973).The Trend of Social Movements in America: Professionalization and Resource Mobilization, General Learning Press, Morristown, N.J.
McEvoy, J., III (1972). The American concern with environment. In Burch, W. R., Jr., Cheek, N. H., Jr., and Taylor, L. (eds.),Social Behavior, Natural Resources, and the Environment, Harper and Row, New York, pp. 214–236.
McKean, R. N. (1973). Growth vs. no growth: An evaluation.Daedalus 102(4): 207–227.
McPhee, J. (1972).Encounters with the Archdruid, Ballantine, New York.
Mead, M. (1973). Personal communication.
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., and Behrens, W. W., III (1972).The Limits to Growth, Universe Books, New York.
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., and Behrens, W. W., III (1973). A response to Sussex. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 217–240.
Meier, R. L. (1973). The other side of pollution. In Pohlman, E. (ed.),Population: A Clash of Prophets, New American Library, New York, pp. 204–223.
Mishan, E. J. (1970).Technology and Growth: The Price We Pay, Praeger, New York.
Mishan, E. J. (1973). Ills, bads, and disamenities: The wages of growth.Daedalus 102(4): 63–87.
Morrison, D. E. (1973). The environmental movement: Conflict dynamics.Journal of Voluntary Action Research 2(2): 74–85.
Morrison, D. E., Hornback, K. E., and Warner, W. K. (1972). The environmental movement: Some preliminary observations and predictions. In Burch, W. R., Jr., Cheek, N. H., Jr., and Taylor, L. (eds.),Social Behavior, Natural Resources, and the Environment, Harper and Row, New York, pp. 259–279.
Morrison, D. E., Hornback, K. E., and Warner, W. K. (compilers) (1974).Environment: A Bibliography of Social Science and Related Literature, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
Munson, B. E. (1972). The ecology movement: An assessment. Unpublished paper, Department of Sociology, Eastern Illinois University.
Nash, R. (1973).Wilderness and the American Mind, rev. ed., Yale University Press, New Haven (first published in 1967).
Neuhaus, R. (1971).In Defense of People: Ecology and the Seduction of Radicalism, Macmillan, New York.
Newman, D. K., and Wachtel, D. D. (1974). Energy, the environment, and the poor. Unpublished paper, Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies, Washington, D.C.
Notestein, F. W. (1970). Personal communication.
Novick, S. (1974). Personal communication.
Olson, M., Landsberg, H. H., and Fisher, J. L. (1973). Epilogue.Daedalus 102(4): 229–241.
Oltmans, W. L. (1974).On Growth: The Crisis of Exploding Populations and Resource Depletion, Putnam, Boston.
Ozorio de Almeida, M. A. (1973). The myth of ecological equilibrium.Unesco Courier, 25–28 (January).
Paddock, W., and Paddock, P. (1967).Famine — 1975! Little, Brown, Boston.
Page, W. (1973). The population sub-system. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 43–55.
Passell, P., and Ross, L. (1971). Review of Richard Neuhaus' “In Defense of People,”New York Times Book Review 6: 16 (October 17).
Passell, P., and Ross, L. (1973).The Retreat from Riches: Affluence and Its Enemies, Viking, New York.
Passmore, J. (1974).Man's Responsibility for Nature: Ecological Problems and Western Traditions, Scribners, New York.
Pavitt, K. L. R. (1973). Malthus and other economists: Some doomsdays revisited. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York.
Pole, N. (1973). An interview with Paul Ehrlich.The Ecologist 3(1): 18–24.
Quarles, J. R., Jr. (1973). A test of our commitment.Environmental News, 1–8 (November).
Quigg, P. W. (ed.) (1973).World Directory of Environmental Education Programs, Bowker, New York.
Quigg, P. W. (1974). Of conservationists and their critics.Saturday Review/World, 35 (June 1).
Reich, M., and Huddle, E. G. (1973). Pollution and social response.Area Development in Japan 7: 34–47.
Ridker, R. G. (1973). To grow or not to grow: That's not the relevant question.Science 182: 1315–1318.
Robinson, W. C. (1969). A critical note on the new conservationism.Land Economics 42: 453–456.
Salgo, H. (1973). The obsolescence of growth: Capitalism and the environmental crisis.Review of Radical Political Economics 5(3): 26–45.
Schnaiberg, A. (1973a). Politics, participation, and pollution: The environmental movement. In Walton, J., and Carns, D. E. (eds.),Cities in Change: Studies on the Urban Condition, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, pp. 605–627.
Schnaiberg, A. (1973b). Social conflicts in environmental decisions. Unpublished paper, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University.
Schnaiberg, A. (1974). The first and last dialectic: Social impacts of environmental quality and societal scarcity. Unpublished paper, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University.
Schultz, T. W. (1972). The ecosystem doom.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 12–17 (April).
Shepard, P., and McKinley, D. (eds.) (1969).The Subversive Science: Essays Toward an Ecology of Man, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
Sherman, H., and Hunt, E. K. (1972). Pollution in radical perspective.Business and Society Review 3: 48–53.
Simcock, B. L. (1972). Environmental pollution and citizens' movement: The social sources and significance of anti-pollution protest in Japan.Area Development in Japan 5: 13–22.
Sinclair, T. C. (1973). Environmentalism: A la recherche du temps perdu — bien perdu? In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 175–191.
Smith, C., and Freedman, A. (1972).Voluntary Associations: Perspectives on the Literature, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Smith, D. H. (1973). Methodology of the study “Profile of the environmental movement.” In Zinger, C., Dalsemer, R., and Magargle, H. (eds.),Environmental Volunteers in America, Environmental Protection Agency, PB 214 186, Washington, D.C., pp. 508–555.
Smith, J. N. (ed.) (1974).Environmental Quality and Social Justice in Urban America, Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Sprout, M., and Sprout, H. (1971).Ecology and Politics in America: Some Issues and Alternatives, General Learning Press, New York.
Stone, P. B. (1973).Did We Save the Earth at Stockholm? Earth Island, London.
Surrey, A. J., and Bromley, A. J. (1973). Energy resources. In Cole, H. S. D., Freeman, C., Jahoda, M., and Pavitt, K. L. R. (eds.),Models of Doom: A Critique of “The Limits to Growth,” Universe Books, New York, pp. 192–208.
Train, R. E. (1974). Remarks before the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Environmental News, 3–11 (April).
Trop, C., and Roos, L. L., Jr. (1971). Public opinion and the environment. In Roos, L. L., Jr. (ed.),The Politics of Ecosuicide, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp. 52–63.
Wallich, H. (1972). Zero growth.Newsweek 79: 62 (January 24).
Weisberg, B. (1971).Beyond Repair: The Ecology of Capitalism. Beacon Press, Boston.
Weisberg, B. (1972). The browning of Stockholm: America takes its ecology show abroad.Ramparts, 33–40 (September).
Wharton, C. R., Jr. (1969). The green revolution: Cornucopia or Pandora's box?Foreign Affairs 47: 464–476.
White, L., Jr. (1969). The historical roots of our ecologic crisis.Science 155: 1203–1207.
Whyte, W. H. (1968).The Last Landscape, Doubleday, New York.
Zinger, C. L., Dalsemer, R., and Magargle, H. (1973).Environmental Volunteers in America, Environmental Protection Agency, PB 214 186, Washington, D.C.
Zwerdling, D. (1973). Poverty and pollution.The Progressive 37(1): 25–29.
Zwerling, S. (1973). Bart.Environment 15(10): 14–19.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sills, D.L. The environmental movement and its critics. Hum Ecol 3, 1–41 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531771
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531771