The environmental movement in Germany

About this book

"German environmentalism did not begin with the emergence of the Green Party in the 1970s. As this book shows, an active environmental movement has existed in Germany for more than a century. Until now, this story has been told only in fragments or not at all, and many have concluded that Germany came late and contributed little to conservation and environmental protection. This book should help to correct that view." "Raymond H. Dominick relates a story of environmental activism that ranges from NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) protests, in which neighbors banded together to try to halt the environmental destruction, to the origins and evolution of Germany's long-lived conservation societies. Using their forgotten newsletters and archives, Dominick reconstructs the agendas and tactics of these latter groups from their formation around the beginning of the twentieth century until the early 1970s. He finds that in Germany nature has found defenders among persons whose politics ranged from conservative to socialist and whose social standing ranged from the Kaiser to factory workers. In one fascinating chapter, Dominick carefully explores the intellectual and organizational ties between the conservationists and the Nazis. He concludes his book with a look at today's Green movement and its connection with earlier ideologies of conservation and environmentalism."--BOOK JACKET.